GOP Rep. Chris Collins resigns
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) resigned, effective Tuesday, ahead of a scheduled hearing to change his plea to guilty in an insider trading case.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) received Collins' resignation letter Monday, The Buffalo News confirmed via a spokesperson for Pelosi's office. It came more than a year after Collins was arrested on insider trading charges, but just a day before his plea change hearing was scheduled in New York.
On Monday morning, U.S. District Court Judge Vernon Broderick scheduled a change of plea hearing for Collins later in the day. Broderick set up similar hearings for Collins' son Cameron Collins and Cameron Collins' soon-to-be father-in-law Stephen Zarsky for Thursday. Collins was on the board of an Australian biotech firm and was accused of telling his son and Zarsky to make "timely trades" on their investments that spared them massive losses. Collins himself lost millions when the firm's drug failed clinical trials.
Collins originally pleaded not guilty to the charges of securities fraud and lying to the FBI last fall. A trial was scheduled for early 2020, but in the meantime, Collins was narrowly re-elected to represent his heavily Republican district, albeit stripped of his congressional committee seats. Collins was the first congressmember to endorse President Trump's campaign and remained a strong supporter ever since.
Collins' 2018 Democratic challenger had already pledged to challenge him again next year, while several local Republicans had also announced they'd compete for Collins' seat. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) will likely call a special election to fill the seat sooner than next year.
