John Thune
Role at the time: Senate majority leader
Challenged the characterization
Statement summary
John Thune rejected the suggestion that Collins participated in a pay-to-play scheme, calling the allegations politically motivated.
“a political hit job”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Collins campaign and John Thune respond to Navatek allegationsConcluding paragraph, Thune's response; Opening section, Wednesday campaign-manager response
John Thune rejected the suggestion that Collins participated in a pay-to-play scheme, calling the allegations politically motivated. Steve Abbott denied that Collins exchanged contracts for campaign money and rejected the allegation that her campaign charged for meetings.
Why we used this label
Denies the alleged exchange; does not defend bribery.