Charges of insider trading drove Rep. Chris Collins to suspend his campaign and announce on Saturday that he will “fill out the remaining few months of [his] term.”
“Democrats are laser focused on taking back the House, electing Nancy Pelosi Speaker and then launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump,” Collins said in a statement issued Saturday morning. “They would like nothing more than to elect an ‘Impeach Trump’ Democrat in this District, which is something that neither our country or my party can afford.”
On Wednesday, federal prosecutors brought charges of insider trading against Collins.
Collins’ attorneys, Jonathan Barr and Jonathan New, responded to the charges:
We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name. It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated.
Collins called the charges “false” in a Wednesday news conference and vowed to “fight” to clear his name.
In his statement on Saturday, Collins revealed his decision to suspend his re-election campaign:
After extensive discussions with my family and my friends over the last few days, I have decided that it is in the best interest 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.
I will fill out the remaining few months of my term to assure that our community maintains its vote in Congress to support President Trump’s agenda to create jobs, eliminate regulations, reduce the size of government, address immigration and lower taxes.
Collins maintained, “I will also continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look forward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.
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