Donations to Sen. Susan Collins were the subject of another story from a national news outlet Tuesday.

Executives at a company that produces an armored vehicle for the Army donated to political committees supporting Collins, R-Maine, and other appropriators this year after they approved funding for the vehicle — despite Army leaders saying they did not need it, according to a new report from The Intercept.

Monday’s story comes after ProPublica published an investigation in September that focused on how the FBI was probing allegations of a “pay-to-play” scheme involving a convicted former defense contractor and a pro-Collins super PAC before President Donald Trump’s administration ended the investigation in 2025.

The Republican senator and her staff have bashed the recent reporting and have never been charged in connection with any of the allegations. However, the stories have become the source of fresh campaign fodder for former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson and Collins critics amid the high-profile Senate reelection battle between Jackson and Collins.

In February, Congress approved a defense spending bill that included $345 million for the Army to acquire more deliveries of what is known as a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. Within the next few weeks of that bill’s passage, employees with the vehicle’s maker, AM General, and the company’s PAC gave at least a combined $50,000 to committees supporting Collins, The Intercept reported.

Last year, AM General was ramping up its production line in Indiana when then-Army Secretary Dan Driscoll announced he would cancel its order, saying the additional deliveries of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle would result in an “excess.” The Intercept noted another appropriator, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., also received five-figure donations from employees with AM General and the private equity firm that owns it.

Collins’ office said in response to The Intercept’s reporting that Collins did not make the decision to appropriate funds for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. It was instead the defense subcommittee chair, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and vice chair Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del.

Lawmakers in both parties supported the revival of the Army’s order, including the top House Democrat for defense appropriations, Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota. 

“Sen. Collins was not involved in this decision,” Collins spokesperson Phoebe Keller told The Intercept.

McConnell did not receive donations from employees at AM General or its parent group this election cycle, while the company’s employee PAC gave $2,500 to Coons, The Intercept noted. FEC records show McCollum’s leadership PAC received $5,000 from AM General’s employee PAC last year.

AM General CEO John Chadbourne told the news outlet in an email that the company does not comment on campaign donations, “all of which fully comply with FEC rules and regulations.”

In response to Driscoll’s comment on not needing additional vehicles, a joint statement from the House and Senate, which Collins’ office said was produced by the defense subcommittees, said that the Army had provided “inadequate supporting analysis.”

One concern was that without the efficiencies from a larger order that included the Army, the cost-per-unit price of vehicles that the Marines still wanted would rise, as The Intercept noted.