FBI Investigated Graham and Clyburn Over Federal Contract Bribery Scheme

A ProPublica report reveals that two of South Carolina's most prominent federal lawmakers, one Republican and one Democrat, were examined in connection with the same alleged scheme, raising...

The FBI investigated whether the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) were involved in a bribery scheme connected to Hawaiian naval defense contractor Navatek and the acquisition of federal contracts in South Carolina, according to a report published by ProPublica on October 14, 2026.

According to ProPublica, Graham met with two executives associated with Navatek as part of the sequence of events examined by investigators. The specific nature of those meetings and what investigators concluded about Graham's conduct has not been fully disclosed in available public records.

Clyburn, a longtime House Democratic leader and former House Majority Whip, was also named in the FBI inquiry according to the same ProPublica report. The report did not state that either lawmaker was charged, indicted, or formally accused of wrongdoing. Neither the Department of Justice nor the FBI has issued a public statement confirming or detailing the scope of the investigation, as of the publication date of this article.

Navatek is a Hawaii-based naval defense contractor. Federal contracting records on USASpending.gov list Navatek as a recipient of Department of Defense contracts, though the specific contracts allegedly connected to the bribery inquiry were not identified in the publicly available summary of the ProPublica report reviewed for this story.

The Lobbying Disclosure Act database maintained by the Senate Office of Public Records is one public source that would show whether Navatek or affiliated entities retained lobbyists who interacted with Graham's or Clyburn's offices. As of publication, a search of that database for this specific inquiry was not completed, and any such filings would constitute a separate line of reporting.

Federal Election Commission records, searchable at FEC.gov, would reveal whether Navatek executives or affiliated political action committees made campaign contributions to Graham or Clyburn during the relevant period. This story does not assert that such contributions were made; that determination requires a direct search of FEC filings, which was not completed before publication.

Graham died in office; the precise date of his death was not confirmed in the source material available to this publication. Clyburn, as of the publication of the ProPublica report, remained a sitting member of the House of Representatives. Neither office has issued a public response to the ProPublica findings that was available to this publication at the time of writing.

The investigation, if confirmed through official channels, would represent a case in which federal law enforcement examined a potential pay-to-play arrangement spanning both parties and both chambers of Congress in connection with a single contractor. Congressional ethics rules prohibit members from accepting things of value in exchange for official acts, under House Rule 23 and Senate Rule 37 respectively. Criminal liability for such conduct is governed by 18 U.S.C. Section 201, the federal bribery statute.

Historically, federal bribery investigations involving sitting members of Congress have resulted in charges in a minority of cases. The Justice Department's internal policy does not bar indictment of sitting members of Congress, unlike its separate policy regarding sitting presidents.

Several material facts remain unknown from the public record currently available. These include: the date the FBI opened its investigation, whether a grand jury was convened, whether either lawmaker was interviewed under oath, what specific contracts are at issue, and whether the investigation was closed without action or referred for prosecution. The document that would most directly answer whether charges were considered is a Department of Justice prosecutorial declination memo, which is not routinely made public. A Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI and DOJ would be the appropriate mechanism to seek those records.