NEW: following our 2020 complaint, FBI is investigating illegal contributions to Susan Collins & her super PAC from a federal contractor, Navatek.
Collins helped Navatek land an $8M contract, and in the months that followed, Navatek illegally laundered funds into Collins’ race.
In Feb 2020, we spotted a mysterious LLC that gave $150k to Collins’ super PAC just 5 weeks after forming. That timeline indicated that the money came from elsewhere.
We filed an FEC complaint alleging the donation violated federal law’s straw donor ban. campaignlegal.org/update/clc-cal…
The FBI investigation revealed that we were right: the LLC was not the true source of the $150K contribution to the Collins super PAC.
Instead, the money apparently came from Navatek. Navatek gave the LLC $150K one day, and the LLC gave the super PAC $150K the next day.
Navatek is a federal contractor, and contractors are prohibited from making political contributions.
So not only does it appear that Navatek violated the straw donor ban by funneling a super PAC contribution through an LLC, it also violated the contractor contribution ban. Bad!
Navatek's CEO, Martin Kao, appears to have TOLD super PAC officials that he and his company should get credit for the $150K donation made in the name of a sham LLC.
Super PACs are prohibited from accepting a contribution if they know the money came from another source, btw.
This is a reminder that dark money is only "dark" when it comes to the public's knowledge: the beneficiaries of dark money often know where the funds are coming from.
The public had no idea who "SYWSE LLC" was or where the $150K came from, but Collins' super PAC sure did.
This is also a reminder that dark money donors often have something to hide!
Here, Navatek could not lawfully donate to Collins' super PAC because it was a federal contractor. So it tried to keep its name off of the super PAC's FEC reports by laundering the money through an LLC.
The FBI is also probing how Kao and Navatek illegally reimbursed employees and family members for their contributions to Collins' campaign.
@nickgrube first spotted this pattern of contributions in 2020. civilbeat.org/2020/02/tangle…
Taken together, the timeline and available evidence sure make it look like Kao & Navatek illegally poured money into Collins' race as gratitude for her help in landing an $8M taxpayer-funded contract...
In Aug 2019, Collins announced that she helped secure Navatek's contract.
In Sept 2019, Navatek’s CEO, Kao, emailed Collins’ campaign finance director and thanked COLLINS for her support.
Typically, a campaign thanks a donor for their help, rather than the other way around.
Also in Sept 2019, around the same time that Kao was offering Collins additional "help...financially or whatever," Navatek illegally laundered contributions to Collins’ campaign in the name of others.
Then, in Nov 2019, Kao sets up an LLC "pretty vaguely."
In Dec 2019, Kao emails super PAC officials (subject line "Navatek/Martin Kao") telling them to expect a contribution in the name of the LLC.
Within weeks, Navatek gave to the LLC, and the LLC then gave to the super PAC.
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