Sep 25, 2026 · 35 min · 12 segments
William Turton is the Pro Publica investigative reporter who released a report this week alleging that Sen. Susan Collins and several members of her staff engaged in an elaborate conspiracy to funnel…
William TurtonGuestSteve RobinsonHost
Well, shortly after they made this donation, everything kind of blew up, right? The shell company was very quickly exposed because it was incredibly sloppy, right? A good governance group noticed it and reported it to the FEC.
And there was almost immediate scrutiny, like mere months after they had facilitated this donation.
Okay, so the FCC investigated at the time the pattern of straw donations from Cal and his family's associates?
Yeah, from what I understand, the FCC kind of just really scratched the surface, right? They looked at this PAC.
But, you know, I don't know whether they examined the entire kind of scheme of the ongoing relationship with Collins office.
when you say that they just scratched the surface, though, is that just based on a hunch because they didn't find what you reported on? Or do you were there sources at FCC who said, yeah, we investigated this, but just kind of, you know, gave it a leaving alone? Because I understand that there was an FEC commissioner who posted a message on X responding to it, saying I was a commissioner at the time.
Um, so did you have sources saying otherwise at the federal election commission who could speak to the nature of the investigation into those straw donations?
So obviously, you know, as you know, as a journalist, I can't talk about confidential sources, but my understanding is that the FBI investigation went on for much, much longer than the FEC investigation did.
And it was much more in depth, um, and covered a wider scope of Cal Navatex relationship with Collins.
OK, but yeah, I understand the FBI investigation separate from that, but I didn't know whether you were just making a judgment about the FCC based on your you're talking about as a political observer or based on something you'd found in your reporting.
Um, yeah, you know, I, I, our story doesn't really focus on FEC's investigation.
Well, shortly after they made this donation, everything kind of blew up, right? The shell company was very quickly exposed because it was incredibly sloppy, right? A good governance group noticed it and reported it to the FEC.
And there was almost immediate scrutiny, like mere months after they had facilitated this donation.
Okay, so the FCC investigated at the time the pattern of straw donations from Cal and his family's associates?
Yeah, from what I understand, the FCC kind of just really scratched the surface, right? They looked at this PAC.
But, you know, I don't know whether they examined the entire kind of scheme of the ongoing relationship with Collins office.
when you say that they just scratched the surface, though, is that just based on a hunch because they didn't find what you reported on? Or do you were there sources at FCC who said, yeah, we investigated this, but just kind of, you know, gave it a leaving alone? Because I understand that there was an FEC commissioner who posted a message on X responding to it, saying I was a commissioner at the time.
Um, so did you have sources saying otherwise at the federal election commission who could speak to the nature of the investigation into those straw donations?
So obviously, you know, as you know, as a journalist, I can't talk about confidential sources, but my understanding is that the FBI investigation went on for much, much longer than the FEC investigation did.
And it was much more in depth, um, and covered a wider scope of Cal Navatex relationship with Collins.
OK, but yeah, I understand the FBI investigation separate from that, but I didn't know whether you were just making a judgment about the FCC based on your you're talking about as a political observer or based on something you'd found in your reporting.
Um, yeah, you know, I, I, our story doesn't really focus on FEC's investigation.
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