Augusta, ME – This week, a Maine attorney filed an ethics complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Susan Collins for her reported involvement in a pay-to-play scheme with former Navatek CEO Martin Kao, who donated to Collins’ PAC and then received millions in federal funding.

Watch Maine coverage here:

WGME: Maine attorney asks Senate to investigate bribery claims against Sen. Collins

• A Maine attorney, who is a Democrat, is asking the Senate’s Ethics Committee to formally pick up the investigation into a ProPublica report claiming Senator Susan Collins’ 2020 re-election campaign was involved in a bribery scheme.

• After the Trump administration slashed the FBI’s budget in early 2025, including its investigative unit, the FBI officially dropped any formal investigation into Collins, her campaign and her staff, in connection to a now convicted fraudster.
  

• But now, Maine attorney Valerie Adams wants the Senate to pick up the investigation […]

• Wednesday night, Adams, a Democrat, filed an ethics complaint against Collins, citing allegations her last campaign sought an illegal $150,000 campaign contribution connected to a man named Martin Kao, a former executive with Navatek.

• ProPublica recently reported that donation was part of a “pay-to-play scheme” involving a multi-million-dollar contract tied to a project at UMaine. […]

• Adams and other democrats insist the issue shouldn’t be dismissed, calling for a new ethics investigation.

• “If Susan Collins did nothing wrong, she should open herself up to the scrutiny and reveal what happened, reveal the truth,” Adams said. “We as voters and constituents should be able to see more and know more about what’s happening in our government.” […]

• CBS13 tried asking Collins about the ethics complaint Thursday, but we were turned away.

• It’s now up to the Senate Ethics Committee to decide whether they will take up Adams’ complaint, although with Republicans in control of the Senate right now, that appears unlikely.

WVII: Maine attorney increases pressure on ethics committee to investigate Susan Collins

• A Maine attorney is putting pressure on the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to launch a full investigation into Senator Susan Collins. It follows a complaint filed this week over an alleged campaign bribery scheme.

• “I believe the issue needs media attention in order to put pressure on the committee to open an investigation,” said Valerie Adams during a press conference in Yarmouth on Thursday.

• Criminal defense attorney Valerie Adams, a former assistant district attorney for Cumberland county, filed a complaint Wednesday with the ethics committee.

• The complaint stems from a ProPublica report alleging a pay-to-play scheme, claiming that Collins allegedly steered $8 million in contracts to defense contractor Navatek in exchange for illegal campaign contributions.

• “I filed the complaint because I believe that it’s important to demand the best of our elected officials, I believe that these are issues that we as voters should pay attention to and I hope that the committee will act on it and open an investigation,” said Adams. […]

• “My goal here was not to bring it into the news to make sure it stays in the news, my goal is to make sure this issue gets the attention from the ethics committee that it deserves and that it receives a full investigation,” said Adams.

• Adams said she is still waiting on a response from the committee.

WMTW: Maine attorney files ethics complaint against Sen. Susan Collins

• A Maine attorney has filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics against Sen. Susan Collins, hoping the committee will investigate allegations reported by ProPublica that Collins accepted campaign donations in exchange for government contracts.

• The bipartisan committee, which is composed of three Democrats and three Republicans, provides ethical guidance and investigates complaints against senators and Senate staff members.

• “I believe that it’s important to demand the best of our elected officials,” said Valerie Adams, who filed the complaint. “I believe that these are issues that we as voters should pay attention to, and I hope that the committee will act on it and open an investigation.” […]

• If the committee finds serious ethical concerns, it may open a formal review, which could result in disciplinary action. […]

• “I don’t think we should ever lose hope that what we’re doing will matter, and whether or not an investigation is opened, I think it’s important that the issue is getting attention and I think it’s important to request that an investigation be opened,” Adams said.

NewsCenter Maine: Maine private attorney urges ethics probe into Susan Collins ‘pay-to-play’ allegations

• A Maine private attorney, who ran as a Democrat to become District Attorney for Cumberland County this year, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee asking it to investigate allegations that Republican Sen. Susan Collins engaged in a “pay-to-play” arrangement involving a defense contractor who made campaign contributions for her last re-election race in 2020.

• Valerie Adams, who lost her DA bid, announced the complaint Wednesday night before speaking to reporters about it on Thursday.

• Adams is asking the Ethics Committee to investigate allegations in recent reporting by ProPublica involving Collins and Martin Kao, the former CEO of defense contractor Navatek, who donated $44,000 to the Collins campaign in 2020 and $150,000 to a the 1820 PAC, a super PAC (political action committee) that supported her last campaign.

• Between 2017 and 2020, Collins advocated for three Navatek contracts worth $18 million for work on Navy boats made in partnership with the University of Maine 3D printing lab.

• “The allegations against Senator Collins are very serious and warrant further investigation,” Adams said in a written statement.

• She added that if Collins “has done nothing wrong, then she should not shy away from scrutiny, and if she has engaged in a bribery scheme as alleged, then her constituents have a right to know.”