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Chris Collins suspends reelection campaign following insider trading charges

Posted at 10:50 AM, Aug 11, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-11 10:50:18-04

New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins suspended his reelection campaign on Saturday following charges earlier this week related to insider trading.

“After extensive discussions with my family and friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interests of the constituents of NY-27, the Republican Party and President Trump’s agenda for me to suspend my campaign for re-election to Congress,” Collins said in a statement.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Collins, his son and another man with 13 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements stemming from an alleged insider trading scheme centered on an Australian pharmaceutical company. He could face up to 150 years in prison if convicted on all counts, according to Nick Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.

Collins has maintained that he is not guilty of the charges, saying in his statement on Saturday that he would “continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look toward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Collins also said he’s not immediately stepping down and will “fill out the remaining few months of my term.”