Easy to loose the forest from the trees with this stuff, so here's a quick thread/timeline on the relationship between Susan Collins and Martin Kao, her biggest contributor to her 2020 campaign, who plead guilty of illegal donations to Collins yesterday. #mepolitics 1/X 1. Kao and his wife give the maximum legal contribution to Susan Collins campaign (early 2019)

2. Susan Collins helps Kao's company win an $8,000,000 contract with the Navy and joins him at a press event to celebrate (August 2019) #mepolitics 2/X

In anticipation of Susan Collins inevitable PR offensive to mitigate the reputational damage of Roe getting reversed after she set herself out as a reliable last line of defense for abortion rights...some thoughts. #mepolitics 1/X Though media reflexively called Collins "pro-choice" till recently, her abortion record has actually always been pretty mixed.

E.g. in 2000s she voted for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and was silent re: a Bush admin rule meant to limit contraception access. #mepolitics 2/X

A few weeks ago there was a telling incident that, while of no great consequence in the scheme of things, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Collins spin apparatus and says a lot about the Maine media. Worth unpacking briefly. #mepolitics 1/X On June 28 @KJ_Online ran a sharp, carefully-crafted letter from Cornelius Donovan V focusing on Susan Collins muted reaction to Trump administration anti-LGBT acts and policies. It was especially salient b/c it spoke to the fraudulence of Collins moderate brand. #mepolitics 2/X