F.B.I. Shut Down Inquiry Into Top Ally of Senator Susan Collins

When the machinery of federal investigation turns toward the orbit of political power, even its silences carry weight. The FBI's decision to close an inquiry into a close ally of Senator Susan Collins — after senior officials judged a campaign donor's allegations insufficiently credible — is, on its surface, a routine act of evidentiary discretion. Yet the quiet closure, disclosed only now through anonymous voices, reminds us that in the space between allegation and investigation, between judgment and transparency, questions of institutional trust are perpetually at stake.