Chris Collins (New York politician)

For other people named Chris Collins, see Chris Collins (disambiguation).

Chris Collins
Official portrait, 2013
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 27th district
In office
January 3, 2013 – October 1, 2019
Preceded byKathy Hochul (Redistricting)
Succeeded byChris Jacobs
7th Executive of Erie County
In office
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2011
Preceded byJoel Giambra
Succeeded byMark Poloncarz
Personal details
Born
Christopher Carl Collins

(1950-05-20) May 20, 1950 (age 74)
Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Collins
Children3
EducationNorth Carolina State University (BS)
University of Alabama, Birmingham (MBA)
Criminal details
Criminal statusPardoned
Criminal chargeInsider trading
PenaltySentenced to 2 years

Christopher Carl Collins (born May 20, 1950) is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for New York's 27th congressional district from 2013 until his resignation in 2019. Collins was elected Erie County Executive in 2007 and held that position for one term. A member of the Republican Party, Collins was the first sitting U.S. Representative to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States in 2016, and he served on Trump's first presidential transition team. He resigned his seat in 2019 and afterwards pleaded guilty to insider trading and lying to the FBI.[1][2][3][4]

Collins and his son, Cameron Collins, were arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 8, 2018, and charged with insider trading and making false statements. Three days later, Collins announced that he was suspending his bid for a fourth term in Congress; however, on September 17, 2018, he resumed his re-election campaign. Collins was narrowly re-elected to Congress on November 6, 2018, with his 2016 percentage of 67% reduced to 49%. On September 30, 2019, Collins announced his resignation from the House of Representatives.[5] The resignation went into effect the following morning, and, later that day, Collins pleaded guilty.[1][3] He was pardoned by President Donald Trump on December 22, 2020.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b Wang, Vivian (October 1, 2019). "Ex-Rep Chris Collins Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading Charges". New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  2. ^ Brown, Stephen Rex; Sommerfeldt, Chris (October 1, 2019). "Upstate Congressman Chris Collins pleads guilty to insider trading". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Chris Collins resignation from Congress is official". WIVB-TV. October 1, 2019. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Weiser, Benjamin; Wang, Vivian (September 30, 2019). "Rep. Chris Collins to Plead Guilty in Insider Trading Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  5. ^ Ramey, Corinne (September 30, 2019). "Rep. Chris Collins, Charged in Insider-Trading Case, Resigns". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  6. ^ "Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  7. ^ Mangan, Dan (December 23, 2020). "Trump pardons 15, including people convicted in Mueller probe". CNBC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.