ProPublica: FBI purge ended a bribery probe involving Graham and Clyburn

An FBI corruption investigation into a Navy contractor's alleged cash-for-contracts deals with South Carolina lawmakers, including the late Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. James Clyburn, went dark after the Trump administration dismantled anti-corruption teams, ProPublica reported. The lawmakers' offices deny wrongdoing.

An FBI investigation into whether powerful South Carolina lawmakers traded federal funding for campaign cash was effectively shut down after the Trump administration dismantled the bureau's and the Justice Department's public corruption teams, according to a ProPublica investigation published Tuesday.

The case grew out of the confessions of Martin Kao, former CEO of the Hawaii-based naval research contractor Navatek. Kao, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to illegal campaign donations and loan fraud and was sentenced in 2025 to 87 months in prison, told FBI agents that his business model relied on paying off public officials in exchange for government contracts. He said the scheme reached members of both parties.

A $40,000 steakhouse dinner

At the center of the probe was a March 3, 2020, dinner at a Washington steakhouse with then-Sen. Lindsey Graham, for which Graham's campaign sought $40,000 in contributions for 45 minutes of his time, according to emails reviewed by ProPublica. Kao told the FBI that Graham agreed at the dinner to steer a $10 million contract to Navatek in South Carolina and asked him to pledge $100,000 to his reelection campaign. Kao also said Navatek struck similar deals with Rep. James Clyburn, the state's top Democrat, and Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, each of whom he said asked for $100,000.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters in Washington

Agents found that much of Kao's account matched records seized from the company. The FBI formally named two former Navatek executives as subjects of the bribery inquiry and was actively examining the lawmakers' dealings with Kao, though it had not designated them as subjects. The two executives were never charged.

"The case is dead"

After Trump returned to the White House, the two veteran agents handling the case were swept up in a purge of anti-corruption investigators, and the career prosecutor assisting them resigned after Trump appointees barred the Justice Department's public integrity section from bringing new cases, ProPublica reported. No one is left to pursue Kao's allegations.

Graham died earlier this year at 71; his sister Darline Graham was appointed to his seat and is running for a full term in November. A spokeswoman for her office called the allegations "simply false" and "the ravings of a convicted felon," saying the office was never contacted by the FBI and returned Kao's donations after his arrest. Clyburn's office said a donation "would never cause" him to increase his support for a donor's request, while Wilson's office said he has always followed federal campaign finance rules. "But I am the only one rotting in prison," Kao wrote to ProPublica from federal detention.

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ProPublica: FBI purge ended a bribery probe involving Graham and Clyburn