Trump with his favorite House Republican, Chris CollinsIt was always just a matter of time. Chris Collins really had no viable defense. He was caught in multiple violations of insider trading statutes. The only reason it took so long (around 14 months since he was arrested) for him to resign is that he was using his seat as a bargaining chip with federal prosectors for lighter charges and a lighter sentence. Yesterday it all came together, beginning with a resignation from Congress, triggering a special election.As the progressive Democrat who nearly beat him last cycle, Nate McMurray, said this morning, "The real victims of Collins' crimes are the people of his district that he repeatedly lied to about his guilt. Collins and Republican party insiders robbed his constituents of the representation they need on important issues like the rising cost of healthcare, the opioid epidemic, and the fight for good paying jobs. They all failed us, so I’m going to keep talking about the critical issues Western New Yorkers face every day, because that’s what public service should be about, working to make other people’s lives just a little bit better."Jerry Zremski, the Buffalo News Collins beat reporter, wrote about the choreography early yesterday. Collins resigned yesterday and will plead guilty at 3pm today. "A new court filing in the case," wrote Zremski, "filed in federal court in Manhattan, shows that U.S. District Court Judge Vernon S. Broderick scheduled a court hearing where Collins-- who had pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him-- will change his plea. Moments after that docket entry was filed, a second appeared, indicating that Collins' co-defendants-- his son Cameron Collins and Cameron Collins' prospective father-in-law, Stephen Zarsky-- plan to change their not-guilty pleas as well. A hearing in their case is set for Thursday."Normally the way crooked congressmen are handled is that the prosecutor makes a deal to let the relatives off easy in return for a resignation from Congress, which, if the judges agree-- which they almost always do-- also results in a much lighter sentence, particularly for white crooked members of Congress.
Collins, his son and Zarsky are charged with securities and wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to the FBI. They were arrested in August 2018 in connection with an alleged insider trading scheme involving Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech.Collins, a Clarence Republican, served on Innate's board for years. Prosecutors said that while at a White House picnic in June 2017, he got inside information that the company's only product, an experimental drug for multiple sclerosis, had failed in clinical trials.Prosecutors say Collins then called his son, who started dumping his shares of Innate stock the next day. The indictment charges Cameron Collins with then sharing that inside information with Zarsky.
Collins also told several other Republican members of Congress the news and the insider trading was part of why former Georgia Congressman Tom Price, Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, resigned in return for not being prosecuted for that and several other instances of criminal behavior. Never charged for insider trading with 4 other crooked Republicans in the House-- Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Billy Long (R-MO), Mike Conaway (R-TX) and John Culberson (R-TX)-- defeated for reelection soon after-- all of whom bought shares in Innate Immuno at Collins' suggestion.Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Ban Conflicted Trading Act in response to the Collins scandal but it was unpopular among crooks on both sides of the aisle and never went anywhere. Imagine prohibiting members of Congress from abusing their public positions for personal financial gain! No, no, no... certainly not with Moscow Mitch running the Senate. The Ban Conflicted Trading Act would prohibit members of Congress and senior congressional staff from buying or selling individual stocks and other investments while in office and force new members to sell individual holdings within six months of being elected. Alternatively, members of Congress would be allowed to choose to hold existing investments while in office-- with no option for trading until they leave office-- or transfer them to a blind trust. Members of Congress would still be allowed to hold widely-held investments, such as diversified mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. In addition, the legislation would prohibit members of Congress from serving on any corporate boards while in office.AOC & Nate McMurray both want to clean up corruption in DC-- for realI'd like to recommend helping Nate McMurray take on whomever the GOP throws up against him. So far all the likely candidates appear as bad as Collins. Just click this 2020 congressional thermometer on the right and then hit the link on the right that says: "Click here to allocate amounts differently or view all recipients." Remember, Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump. Makes sense, right? Criminal thugs are attracted to each other. The third member of that three-some is Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who was nabbed around the same time as Collins was and is also trying to get a good deal for a plea and refuses to give up his House seat until he gets good terms. He sometimes argues that it was he, not Collins, who actually endorsed Trump first!In more congressional news, the Texodus continues.Yesterday Mac Thornberry, ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, announced that he won't be running for reelection. TX-13 though is one of the reddest districts in the country. Hillary couldn't even squeeze 20% of the votes out this place, which includes all or part of 40 counties, each which Thornberry won. Not even one county was close. Last cycle he won with 81.5% The PVI is R+33, but one of the counties, King performed as an R+94! The district is very rural and the two locations that pass for cities are Amarillo and Wichita Falls. If an anti-red tidal wave were to sweep over Texas in 2020, TX-13 would still remain in Republican hands. The local Democratic Party needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
