Chris Collins Out!

Disgraceful Republican Chris Collins of New York pleas guilty to wire fraud and insider trading. He is the latest Republican who is quitting Congress.

Disgraceful lawmaker Chris Collins is expected to plead guilty to insider trading and has resign from the House of Representatives. The Republican who is nine months into his current term was accused of federal securities fraud. New York governor Andrew Cuomo will now have to issue a special election to fill the remaining term.

The four-term Republican from the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area narrowly won reelection last year despite fighting a federal sandwich.

Collins, was the first lawmaker to support Donald J. Trump in his presidential bid is accused of using private information about a drug company in which he was invested to help his son and others avoid financial losses.

Collins and his son Cameron, 26 along with Stephen Zarsky were indicted.

The suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The federal charges carry up to five years in the iron college. Insider trading is a very serious white collar criminal act. It's basically stealing from investors while protecting your own interests.

Collins, who surrendered to federal agents in August 2018, had previously maintained his innocence and just last month pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges brought against him in a superseding indictment.

In his hearing, Collins told U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick that he was sorry for what he'd done, but added that there was nothing he could change.

"I'm embarrassed and dismayed,” Collins said.

Collins faces up to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Prosecutors said the three avoided more than $768,000 in losses by trading ahead of the public announcement of some failed drug trials.

The advocacy group Public Citizen filed a request for an investigation of Collins' stock dealings with the Office of Congressional Ethics and the Securities and Exchange Commission in January 2017.

Following the charges brought against Collins last year, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan removed Collins from his post on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and called the insider trading charges "a clear violation of the public trust."

Collins is the latest Republican to resign or retire. There will be more. We will cover this exodus of Republicans stepping down.

Donald J. Trump's impeachment inquiry is heating up.