Fact check
“Kao said that Scott Reed, the head of the Collins super PAC, promised to make the senator aware that Kao was the person behind a large, anonymous donation to the super PAC made through a shell company.”
Reasoning
The claim matches the content of the ProPublica article, which cites emails between Kao and Reed confirming Reed's knowledge of the donation and his promise to notify Senator Collins. No contradictory evidence is presented.
On confidence: Multiple excerpts from the same ProPublica investigative article directly state that Kao reported Reed promised to inform the senator and that emails corroborate Kao telling Reed the shell company used for the $150,000 donation.
Important context
The evidence comes from a single investigative source (ProPublica) that examined legal records and communications, providing direct quotations and email excerpts supporting the claim.
Evidence
Supporting (3)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe — ProPublica
gathered by the FBI. It also examined thousands of pages of legal records and interviewed dozens of people familiar with Navatek, its Washington operations and the FBI inquiry to independently corroborate much of Kao’s account. For…
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe — ProPublica
examined thousands of pages of legal records and interviewed dozens of people familiar with Navatek, its Washington operations and the FBI inquiry to independently corroborate much of Kao’s account. For instance, Kao said that Scott Reed,…
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceFBI Eyed Susan Collins Over Defense Contractor’s Donations — ProPublica
seen me deliver,” Kao said. Reed knew Kao was behind the $150,000 anonymous donation, emails showed, because Kao told Reed he planned to donate through a shell company. “Very smart,” Reed replied in an email viewed by ProPublica. Reed did…
Limitations
All evidence is from one outlet; independent verification from additional sources is not provided. The article’s stance is supporting, but no external corroboration beyond ProPublica is available.
- Last verified:
- Sep 27, 2026, 4:49 AM CDT
- Pipeline:
- 2.1.0
- Claim type:
- Factual
Where this claim appeared
Susan Collins Dismissed Our Reporting as Old News. Some of Her Claims Aren’t True.ProPublica · William Turton