Veterans File FEC Complaint Against Sen. Susan Collins, 1820 PAC, & Convicted Defense Contractor

PHOTO: Members of the Maine Veterans Alliance held an event at Davenport Park in downtown Bangor on Sept. 28, 2026, to call on Sen. Susan Collins to release all communications with Navatek and its CEO. Photo courtesy of Tristin Friend.

A group of Maine veterans held a press conference on Thursday to announce the filing of a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Sen. Susan Collins, her authorized campaign committee, 1820 PAC, and convicted defense contractor Martin Kao.

“Mainers deserve to know where their tax dollars went, what they produced for the country and whether political access played a role,” said Jason Tkacs, a Navy veteran from Bangor.

Tkacs is filing this complaint in the wake of new investigative reports revealing that Kao made campaign contributions to Collins and an allied super PAC, apparently in exchange for earmark-style naval research funding. Meanwhile, he privately admitted to law enforcement that the naval project funded by these targeted appropriations were neither sought nor deployed by the U.S. Navy.

The filing also spotlights the Collins campaign’s failure to return those unlawfully-obtained funds to the U.S. Treasury, as is required under federal campaign finance rules and precedents. Rather than surrendering the illicit cash to taxpayers, the Collins campaign publicly admitted it diverted the money to rebuild a local school—essentially converting criminal campaign funds into constituent goodwill.

This illicit campaign funding scheme was a central issue in the three recent Senate debates, casting a shadow over her claim to “deliver” for her constituents. In a statement, a Collins spokesperson dismissed the veterans’ complaint, claiming they have “absolutely no understanding of the law.”

About 250 Mainers have also requested the Maine Attorney General to investigate Collins for the alleged pay-to-play scandal.

“We believe Maine statutes compel the attorney general to pursue an objective investigation of the corruption charges revealed by the ProPublicaarticle,” the group wrote in a statement. “Maine law requires the state to determine if corruption has occurred and either to clear those implicated, or to apply the penalties to the full extent of the law.”

In response, Collins Campaign Communications Director Blaker Kernen called  the group “partisan activists” with “absolutely no first-hand knowledge about this and nothing to add. They read a story on the internet, and now they want the AG to investigate. Somebody should warn them not to click on any attachments if they get an email from a Nigerian prince."