Steve Abbott on Political Lobbying

Public disputes concerning lobbying organizations, political influence, advocacy spending, access to officials, and claims about the effect of organized interests on public policy.

How we classify topics

Counts show individual statements. They do not assign an overall position.

Statement history

2 statements on this page. Dates: September 23, 2026 to October 6, 2026

2 matching statements. Dates: September 23, 2026 to October 6, 2026

2 published statements. Dates: September 23, 2026 to October 6, 2026

Denied

2 published statements. Dates: September 23, 2026 to October 6, 2026

2 statements on this page. Dates: September 23, 2026 to October 6, 2026

Steve Abbott

Role at the time: Campaign manager for Susan Collins

October 6, 2026Denied

Statement summary

Collins campaign manager Steve Abbott points to a photo of Collins meeting Kao in her office months before any donation and says it shows that ProPublica's account, that Kao had to donate before he could see Collins, is not true.

“ProPublica has the theory that Martin Kao, based on Martin Kao's word, had to make a donation before he could get in to see Susan Collins. As you can see from that picture, it's not true”

Open source

Collins campaign claims public records show that she was not involved in bribery scheme

WGME report on the Collins campaign's release of 2017 records and a photo of Collins meeting Kao, with a response from Maine Democrats.

Archived copy

Why we used this label

The case asks whether Collins traded support for Navatek's federal contracts for campaign donations. Abbott rejects a central part of that account, that Kao had to donate before meeting Collins, so we used the denies label.

Read statement Did Susan Collins Trade Federal Contract Support for Navatek Campaign Donations?

Steve Abbott

Role at the time: Campaign manager for Susan Collins

September 23, 2026Denied

Statement summary

Steve Abbott denied that Collins exchanged contracts for campaign money and rejected the allegation that her campaign charged for meetings.

“did not happen”

Open sourceCollins 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

Abbott explicitly denies that the alleged exchange happened.

Read statement Did Susan Collins Trade Federal Contract Support for Navatek Campaign Donations?