Maine Sen. Susan Collins has been accused of disrespecting voters ahead of the midterm elections.
In a scathing editorial, the Portland Press Herald criticized Collins, 73, for his handling of revelations that an investigation into possible corrupt actions by the senator had been shut down by the Trump administration.
“The senator’s complacent response to open allegations of corruption sends a very clear and disrespectful message to voters,” the editorial states.
Collins was the subject of a Pro Publica investigation released last week that said the Trump administration had gutted the FBI division that was investigating allegations of possible corruption against Collins, as well as cleaning out the lawyers in charge at the Justice Department.
Collins dismissed the allegations, saying they were seven years old, and ridiculed them as the ramblings of a convicted felon.
This response aroused the anger of the editorial board.
The newspaper said it had hoped that “the allegations of corruption by Sen. Susan Collins and her staff would be met with a degree of solemnity, even humility. Think again.”
Collins appears to be struggling in her seat, which she has held since 1997. Almost all polls since the end of July give her Democratic opponent Troy Jackson a lead of one to four points.
Collins’ seat is a must-win for Republicans trying to hold on to their House and Senate majorities against what appears to be a surging blue wave.
She quickly condemned Pro Publica’s investigation, calling it a “partisan hit.”
“It is extremely disappointing to see Collins and members of his team immediately move to discredit thorough and fair investigative journalism for political and personal reasons,” the Press Herald wrote in response.
“It is audacious to insist on innocence and fuel conspiratorial lines of thought by resorting to terms like ‘partisanship,’” Collins warned in the op-ed.
It states that “the Trump administration has bemoaned fraud while carefully dismantling the apparatus put in place to detect it.”
The board writes that “voters are bothered by this appearance of wrongdoing – it would be difficult not to be.”
They conclude by saying that Collins and his team should have at least “acknowledged this widespread concern. It did not happen. We are not at all hopeful that it will happen.”
The investigation alleges that as the 2020 election approached, Collins was short of cash and behind in the polls.
A representative of the senator allegedly met with a contact who promised him a campaign donation in exchange for business contracts in Maine.
The donation was made through a shell company, the senator was re-elected and the contracts were allegedly awarded.
Collins has vigorously denied the allegations against her. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
These revelations constitute the last obstacle to re-election in a difficult campaign.
In July, ICE agents shot and killed a man minutes from Collins’ office, after the senator was instrumental in passing legislation to fund ICE during the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
Abortion rights activists are also out in force against Collins, as her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is considered one of the defining reasons why the court was then able to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Collins appeared to luck out after the Democrats’ initial nominee, Graham Platner, was forced to drop out of the race after allegations of sexual misconduct and assault by more than one woman.
But his replacement, Troy Jackson, keeps the seat competitive.
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