Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rep. Chris Collins Resigns From Congress, Expected To Plead Guilty In Drug Company Insider Trading Case
The New York Times: Rep. Chris Collins Resigns Before Expected Guilty Plea In Insider Trading Case
Representative Chris Collins, a fourth-term Republican from Western New York who narrowly won re-election last year despite fighting federal securities fraud charges, resigned on Monday in advance of an expected guilty plea. Mr. Collins, 69, the first sitting member of Congress to endorse President Trump in 2016, had been accused of using private information about a drug company in which he was invested to help his son and others avoid financial losses. (Weiser and Wang, 9/30)
Read KHN's initial coverage of Collins's sweetheart deal: Trump’s HHS Nominee Got A Sweetheart Deal From A Foreign Biotech Firm (Hancock and Bluth, 1/13/2017)
The Wall Street Journal: Rep. Chris Collins, Charged In Insider-Trading Case, Resigns
It wasn’t immediately clear exactly what charges Mr. Collins would plead guilty to Tuesday. In September, the representative from western New York pleaded not guilty to a revised set of insider-trading charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Prosecutors accused him of passing a confidential tip to his son, Cameron Collins, so he could sell shares in the biotechnology company before the public disclosure of a failed drug trial. (Ramey, 9/30)
CQ: Republican Chris Collins Resigning Ahead Of New Plea Hearing
Collins faces eight counts of federal criminal charges involving conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and false statements. His trial is scheduled for Feb. 3. Collins, along with his son, Cameron, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s fiancée at the time, are alleged by federal prosecutors to have engaged in an insider trading scheme involving an Australian biotechnology company — Innate Immunotherapeutics. (Marquette and Bowman, 9/30)
Buffalo (N.Y.) News: Business Ties Ultimately Spell Doom For Collins' Congressional Career
As he rose in stature in the House Republican Conference after being the first GOP lawmaker to endorse Donald Trump for president in 2016, Collins even brought his business interests to the floor of the House of Representatives. Then-Rep. Tom Price, a Georgia Republican nominated to be Trump's health secretary, told senators all about it at his confirmation hearing in early 2017. Price said Collins had given him a stock tip, that he really ought to buy shares of an Australian biotech called Innate Immunotherapeutics, where Collins served on the board. Price did just that. Hearing Collins brag that Innate might be on the cusp of discovering a successful treatment for the most dreadful form of multiple sclerosis, several other members of Congress bought Innate stock, too. (Zremski, 9/30)
Politico: Republican Rep. Chris Collins Resigns Ahead Of Expected Guilty Plea
Collins was the largest investor and a member of the board of directors for Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company. He was charged with passing inside information on the company to his son and Zarsky, father of Cameron Collins' fiancee. Using that information, Cameron Collins and Zarsky were able to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses after a drug trial failed, authorities say. At that time, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled with Lauren Zarsky, Cameron Collins' fiancee, and her mother, Dorothy Zarsky, over allegations of insider trading. The pair neither admitted nor denied, but they agreed to give up "ill-gotten gains" and pay fines, the SEC said. (Bresnahan, 9/30)
