Rep. Chris Collins Refuses to Drop Out Despite Charges — But Said Roy Moore Should Quit in 2017

Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) told reporters on Wednesday evening that he would continue his campaign for re-election, despite being indicted and arrested in the morning on insider trading charges.

However, last November, Collins insisted that Judge Roy Moore drop out of the race for U.S. Senate in Alabama over accusations that he had inappropriate sexual contact with an underage teenage girl several decades ago — even though Moore had never been charged with a crime.

Buffalo-area CBS affiliate WIVB reported at the time:

Rep. Chris Collins believes Republican Roy Moore should bow out of the campaign to be Alabama’s next U.S. Senator, amid sexual misconduct allegations against the former judge.

Moore has been repeatedly accused of preying on young girls; he’s facing accusations from nine women, as of Monday.

It’s rare for the Republican Congressman from Western New York to break from President Donald Trump, as Collins was Trump’s first Congressional supporter. But that’s just what he did with his stance on the ongoing candidacy of Moore.

…

“This is the definition of a mess. He should step aside,” Collins said. …

Collins also says even if Moore were to win during the special election in December, the victory could be short lived.

“As I fight to clear my name, rest assured I will continue to work hard for the people and constituents of the 27th congressional district of New York, and I will remain on the ballot running for reelection this November,” Collins said at a press conference Wednesday.

Collins’s seat is considered reliably Republican, but experts said that news of Collins’s indictment had suddenly made the seat competitive. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) needs her party to win only 23 seats to return as Speaker of the House.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.