Augusta, ME – Yesterday, Maine veterans gathered in Bangor to call out Susan Collins for steering federal taxpayer dollars meant to defend our nation to a company whose CEO had donated to her campaign. Last week, ProPublica’s bombshell investigation found that the FBI was circling Collins due to a pay-to-play scheme until Donald Trump gutted the unit looking into her.
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ANCHOR: Meanwhile, a group of Maine veterans spoke out today about their upset over allegations that Senator Susan Collins allegedly took campaign bribes in exchange for defense contracts. Members of a group called the Maine Veterans Alliance gathered today, demanding full transparency from the Collins campaign about her relationship with the Hawaii-based company Navatek, as well as all communications related to an alleged FBI investigation surrounding the alleged pay-to-play scheme.
VETERAN: We’re demanding answers. Senator Collins must release every communication between her office, her campaign, the 1820 PAC, Navatek, and Martin Kao, and restore the FBI’s public corruption unit so this investigation can finish.
VETERAN: Hearing that military contracts were given that didn’t have a purpose, that the Navy didn’t even purchase, and then just hearing that our benefits are being robbed elsewhere, that’s what galvanized us.
ANCHOR: A group of Maine veterans spoke out in Bangor on Monday, rallying over allegations of campaign bribes tied to Senator Susan Collins and her 2020 reelection campaign.
ANCHOR: Members of the group, called the Maine Veterans Alliance, are demanding what they call full transparency over the allegations involving the Collins campaign and the defense contractor Navatek, as outlined last week in a national report. For her part, Collins and her staff have categorically denied any allegations of wrongdoing on their part. But this group says these are serious allegations and calls for a full accounting.
VETERAN: We’re demanding answers. Senator Collins must release every communication between her office, her campaign, the 1820 PAC, Navatek, and Martin Kao, and restore the FBI’s public corruption unit so this investigation can finish.
VETERAN: Hearing that military contracts were given that didn’t have a purpose, that the Navy didn’t even purchase, and then just hearing that our benefits are being robbed elsewhere, that’s what galvanized us.
ANCHOR: A group of Maine veterans is calling on Senator Susan Collins to take accountability after a recent ProPublica article saying Collins was at the center of an FBI probe involving a pay-to-play scheme with former CEO of Navatek, Martin Kao. Senator Collins has since denied the claims, calling them “categorically false.”
ANCHOR: The Maine Veterans Alliance says they found the report incredibly frustrating and urge Collins to respond to the veterans she serves.
VETERAN: Senator Collins chairs the Appropriations Committee, the committee that controls enormous federal spending. That power comes with a responsibility to taxpayers and service members who depend on those dollars.
ANCHOR: Members of the Maine Veterans Alliance held a press conference this afternoon, calling on Senator Collins to take accountability amid allegations made in a recently released report.
ANCHOR: According to a report by ProPublica, Collins was allegedly at the center of an FBI probe involving a pay-to-play scheme with the former CEO of naval defense company Navatek, Martin Kao. Kao told the FBI that he funneled campaign donations to lawmakers in exchange for lucrative military contracts, including a donation of $150,000 to the [PAC supporting the] Collins campaign in exchange for $32 million in committed naval defense contracts.
ANCHOR: Senator Collins denies the claims, calling them “categorically false.” Those in attendance at the press conference today said they found the report incredibly frustrating and urged Collins to respond to the veterans she serves.
VETERAN: Senator Collins chairs the Appropriations Committee, the committee that controls enormous federal spending. That power comes with a responsibility to taxpayers and service members who depend on those dollars.
VETERAN: Our troops deserve the tools, technology, and resources they need, not expensive pet projects yielding no return on investment of taxpayer dollars.
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