Maine Sen. Susan Collins rejected a ProPublica report involving allegations about her office, campaign and a twice-convicted source. She called the reporting a “partisan hit job” and questioned why anyone would trust a convicted felon. Collins also defended her record, saying she had served with “the utmost integrity.”
The remarks came during a Wall Street Journal interview about the allegations and their timing. When asked why the story emerged now, Collins immediately challenged the source’s credibility. “He is a convicted liar,” she said, after citing his money laundering and bank fraud convictions.
She said the source had been convicted in two separate cases and had made false submissions to the FEC. “It is so offensive,” Collins said while contrasting those convictions with what she described as her own decades of honest public service.
She also said the Biden-led Justice Department and FBI had cleared her office and campaign five years earlier. Collins said the FBI again described the allegations as completely false. She argued that the timing of the report was not coincidental.
“This is a smear job,” Collins said, returning to the timing and her record. She said the report also offended staff in both her campaign and personal office. “Shame on ProPublica for taking the words of a twice convicted felon,” she added.
Susan Collins Faces Hypocrisy Backlash Over Felon Defense
The sharpest responses focused on Collins using a felony record to challenge her accuser’s credibility. “You support a felon who was convicted 34 times, Susan. Are you saying the President can never be trusted?” one user wrote. Another echoed Collins’ own argument: “I do not understand how anyone would take the word of a felon who’s been convicted thirty four times.”
A separate response questioned the consistency of her defense. “She takes the advice of Trump! That argument doesn’t hold water Susan,” the user stated. Another reaction put the criticism more bluntly: “Seems a tad hypocritical, don’t you think?”
Collins continues to reject the allegations, while questions remain over what investigators ultimately found. Whether the matter is truly closed remains disputed.
