Republicans rally around Susan Collins amid pay-to-play allegations

WASHINGTON – Maine Sen. Susan Collins' Republican colleagues swiftly came to her defense the day after the news outlet ProPublica published an investigative story that laid out evidence of alleged involvement in a pay-to-play scheme involving a defense contractor.

The story, which came out on Tuesday, Sept. 22, said that records and emails showed the FBI sought to launch a sweeping investigation examining Collins' interactions with a top donor who won lucrative federal contracts. By late 2024, the agency reportedly had enough evidence to pursue a sweeping bribery probe involving Collins and other members of Congress.

But that effort, according to the ProPublica story, evaporated after the Trump administration purged the Justice Department and FBI of its teams that handle public corruption cases.

It's unclear whether the accusations laid out in the article will resonate with Maine voters in November, when Collins is up for reelection in a toss-up race that will prove crucial to whichever party ultimately controls the Senate.

The story does, however, add to a maze of obstacles she's facing to retain her coveted seat in Congress. While she has a track record as a Teflon political candidate in the Pine Tree State, her campaign is already being hurt by an unpopular war, President Trump's trade disputes with Canada and the sudden departure of her initial, scandal-plagued opponent.

Both Collins and her top spokespeople denied any impropriety following the publication of the ProPublica article, saying the Justice Department, dating back to the Biden administration, cleared the senator and her staff of any alleged wrongdoing.

Collins told a Wall Street Journal opinion columnist she was the victim of a "partisan hit job" and questioned why anyone would "take the word of a convicted felon," referring to the defense contractor at the center of the scandal whose cooperation was relied on by investigators to build their case.

"It is so offensive," she said. "This is a smear job."

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told USA TODAY the accusations were a "bunch of BS." Asked why he thought so, he said, "because I know Susan Collins." Cornyn and Collins have served together in the Senate for more than two decades.

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, who sits on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee which Collins leads, argued her Maine colleague has the "utmost ethical standards."

"I have zero concern for any kind of baseless accusations," she told USA TODAY.

Perhaps Collins' quickest – and most politically important – defender was Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

"I don't think there's ever been any implication that she or her campaign were in any way implicated in that," the South Dakota Republican told reporters. "This, to me, looks like a political hit job by a left-wing outlet that's trying to score points going into an election."

Much of Collins' reelection campaign was initially built around fighting Graham Platner, the oyster farmer who eventually dropped out amid a series of sexual misconduct allegations, which he denied. Troy Jackson, a logger and former president of the Maine state Senate, replaced Platner as the Democratic candidate whose name will be on the fall ballot.

In the day since the ProPublica story published, Jackson slammed his opponent over what he called "corruption of the highest order."

"We can’t afford six more years of being sold out to Trump and Collins’ corporate cronies," he wrote in a social media post.

Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com and on Signal @zachschermele.02. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Republicans rally around Susan Collins amid pay-to-play scheme allegations