Collins Quits Congress
Written by Dan Fischer on September 30, 2019
Rep. Chris Collins
Rep. Chris Collins of New York is resigning from Congress ahead of expected guilty plea, Speaker Pelosi’s office says.
Collins is slated to plead guilty in connection to an insider trading case.
The Republican Congressman is scheduled to have a court hearing in Manhattan at 3 p.m. Tuesday. He originally pleaded not guilty and will plead guilty to at least one charge, according to the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of New York.
In August 2018, Collins was charged with insider trading and lying to the FBI, along with his son Cameron and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s girlfriend. Collins is accused of using non-public information from an Australian biotech firm to tip off his son to sell stock in the firm ahead of a failed clinical trial for a drug that treated multiple sclerosis. Collins was serving as a board member at the time.
Collins, who represents New York’s 27th District, narrowly won re-election in November over Democratic challenger Nate McMurray. In August 2019, Collins was dropped from three counts in a rewritten indictment filed in Manhattan federal court.
A trial date had tentatively been scheduled for February 3, 2020.
Earlier this month, Collins did not say whether the prospects of the 2020 trial might affect whether he runs for reelection next year. He did express confidence he’ll be exonerated.
