Maine Senator Susan Collins made her first appearance in public at an event in Gorham yesterday, after accusations of her involvement in a bribery scandal surfaced earlier this week.

The report from ProPublica centered around claims made by the currently imprisoned former head of Navatek Martin Kao, who said he made major donations to Collins and other lawmakers in 2019 and 2020 in exchange for contracts. The FBI had been investigating Kao’s claims about Collins until the Trump administration came into office and dropped the probe.

Collins didn’t address the allegations directly at the Gorham event, which also featured former gubernatorial candidate (and occasional Inside Maine host) Sean Moody, but did say that Democrats are “throwing everything and the kitchen sink at her.”

“They are not telling the truth and it is so offensive. I need your help in debunking the lies that are out there,” Collins said.

Collins’s campaign and ProPublica have been going back and forth on the relevance and accuracy of the claims, with Collins’s team saying that the allegations are all recycled and resolved. ProPublica fired back with a new report on Thursday disputing those claims.

Some of her supporters who attended the event said that with November right around the corner, they’re questioning the timing of the report.

“People have to have an understanding that it’s not necessarily true just because you hear it,” Marie Flaherty told CBS 13.

“People are going to do anything they can to try and throw shade at her,” Kyle Exchange said.

New polls show the race remains tight between her and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, though most polls reflect views prior to the scandal.

To read the original CBS 13 article, click here.