A defense contractor's bribery confession died with the FBI unit that heard it

Navatek CEO Martin Kao funneled campaign donations to Sen. Susan Collins through a shell company, and Collins's office steered millions in Navy contracts to his firm, according to emails and FBI records reviewed by ProPublica. Kao pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions in 2022 and then spent two years telling FBI agents that the Collins arrangement was one piece of a pay-to-play operation spanning more than a dozen members of Congress.

Kao gave agents a 50-page document naming lobbyists, staffers, and lawmakers he said helped him trade cash for contracts. By late 2024, the FBI's anti-corruption unit had enough evidence to seek approval for a broader bribery investigation.

Then Trump returned to office. His FBI director, Kash Patel, dismantled the unit agent by agent. The agent who led Kao's interviews was fired for her role investigating Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section collapsed after staff were ordered to drop a case against a Trump ally. The investigation Kao opened is dead. No one working for Collins was charged. Collins's office calls Kao's claims "outlandish" and says the campaign cooperated fully.