GOP Rep. Chris Collins resigns

(Image credit: Seth Wenig/AP)

last updated 30 September 2019

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.

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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.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.