The best moments in debates are when one opponent forces the other to explain some shady, underhanded process that they’ve engaged in, and Thursday night was no exception.
There’s been extensive reporting on Susan Collins’ laundered $150K contribution from Navatek, a company in Maine that wanted defense contracts for doing nothing.
But just to review, the FBI was investigating Collins for taking that large contribution as a quid pro quo for handing off millions in defense contracts in Maine. There’s even a photo of her christening a prototype that was never meant to be built but cost millions just for the spec.
Had Trump not gutted the public corruption unit of the DOJ, Collins might well be under indictment right now.
Which is why this debate moment is so delicious. Here we have Collins explaining exactly why that $150K donation was illegal. Be sure to read that whole ProPublica article, but as a quick refresher, Collins’ staff told Navatek’s then-CEO Martin Kao how to direct a large donation to her by circumventing the normal limits on PAC contributions.
First of all, corporations cannot give money directly to Collins for senator or for Jackson for senator.
They established political action committees called PACs that represent all their employees and are limited in giving $5,000 for the primary, $5,000 for the general election.
So far, so good.
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