Week of Sept. 24, 2026

From the publisher’s desk

Because of the firehose gusher of news coming at us, you may have missed ProPublica’s latest humdinger of an investigation.

It involves Maine Sen. Susan Collins—who is currently fighting for her political life in a cloooose re-election race. Published on Tuesday, the piece’s headline is: “The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins—Until Trump Got in the Way.” It involves a defense contractor, Navatek, and its CEO, Martin Kao. The piece is pretty damning, and I highly recommend you give it a read. Here’s the gist:

Of all the politicians Navatek courted under Kao’s leadership, Collins was its most important patron. The senator’s office steered government contracts worth millions toward the company while her campaign was pumping Kao and his network for donations, according to emails seen by ProPublica. Sometimes they cut checks within 24 hours of the annual defense spending bill, which funds military contracts, clearing a key Senate hurdle.

Collins’ post-publication response to the piece is covered in a second ProPublica story, headlined “Susan Collins Dismissed Our Reporting as Old News. Some of Her Claims Aren’t True.” A snippet:

Collins: “The Biden-led Justice Department and FBI totally cleared my office, my campaign and me five years ago of these seven-year-old allegations.”

An FBI spokesperson told ProPublica the agency had investigated claims against Collins years ago “and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign.”

But the investigation at the center of ProPublica’s story was based on claims Kao made between 2022 through 2024—not seven years ago, as Collins states. That investigation did not conclude under President Joe Biden but under Trump, in 2025, after his administration purged the agents and Department of Justice attorneys assigned to the case.

Collins is, of course, innocent until proven guilty. But this got me thinking of the famous quote from Lord Acton: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

We’ve seen oh-so-many instances of powerful people—in politics and in business, both locally and beyond—doing illegal, immoral and crazy things, and I wondered: Is there any science behind Lord Acton’s claim—in other words, is there hard evidence that power does, in fact, corrupt?

It turns out there is—and it’s covered in a fascinating Aug. 21 piece in BBC’s Science Focus Magazine. This, too, is highly recommended reading. A snippet:

Power is quite the tonic. Attaining it doesn’t just affect a person’s behaviour or decision-making. It has a biological effect, leading to changes in a person’s brain and the flux of hormones in their body.

“Research shows that when people are put into positions of power, especially in non-crisis situations, their testosterone goes up, but their cortisol [a stress hormone] goes down,” (says Adam Galinsky, professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School in New York). “It’s very disinhibiting. It allows people to move forward, but without stress or fear.” …

Galinsky’s research showed that, when you ask someone to recall a time when they had power, their voice becomes steadier and louder, and fluctuates less in pitch.

“Other research has shown that before a stressful situation like giving a speech, if you recall a time of power, your heart rate drops and you actually deliver a better speech,” he says. “It helps people write better job applications and do better in job interviews. It boosts people’s optimism, confidence. It helps them see the big picture, helps them be more visionary.”

In other words, power can be positive. … But then comes the dark side. When the brakes are off, people are more impulsive. Other people’s perspectives and feelings can become shrouded, or the social costs of a particular action or behaviour might be minimised.

The piece later covers science showing “that high-power individuals are less empathetic and compassionate, with some displaying less distress at the suffering of others.”

Yikes. It sure does explain a lot, doesn’t it?

Washington Post: Flippo exaggerated military honors

There are myriad reasons why many local Republicans have lukewarm (or worse) feelings regarding David Flippo—including the congressman Flippo is seeking to replace. Today, The Washington Post offered another reason.

Here’s a gift link to the piece, headlined “Trump-backed Nevada Republican exaggerated Bronze Star award in two campaigns.” The lede:

David Flippo, a Republican congressional candidate in Nevada, inflated his military record multiple times in recent years by falsely claiming he received a Bronze Star “for valor” during his two-decade Air Force career.

Flippo received a Bronze Star in 2004 for his service, but not the Bronze Star with valor, a much rarer distinction that recognizes heroism in direct combat with an enemy. Experts on military awards say such exaggerations are tantamount to lying. The Flippo campaign acknowledged the misrepresentations but downplayed them as “honest mistakes” by staff members.

Honest mistakes or purposeful dishonesty? Either way, this is just one more reason why Northern Nevada could perhaps have a Democrat representing them in Congress come January.

Cheers,

—Jimmy Boegle, publisher/executive editor