Hours after a Tuesday plea hearing was scheduled in a New York federal court for Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY), who is under indictment on charges of insider trading and lying to the FBI, the New York Republican resigned his seat in the U.S. House.
The office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday afternoon confirmed that a resignation letter had been received from Collins, as the resignation will become official on Tuesday, when the House is scheduled to convene for a short pro forma session.
The first member of Congress to endorse President Donald Trump, Collins often played the role of a key adviser for the President on Capitol Hill - but that changed after he was indicted in August of 2018.
The feds accused Collins of giving non-public information to his son about an Australian bio-tech firm - where Collins was on the board - allowing his son and his son's in-laws to sell their stock in the company and avoid major financial losses.
The charges stemmed from a failed drug trial, involving an Australian bio-tech firm, in which Collins was a member of the company's board.
While attending an event at the White House in the summer of 2017, Collins took a phone call from a company executive, in which he was told of the drug trial failure.
While the New York Republican was unable to sell his stock holdings, the feds charged that the Congressman passed on the information to his son, and his son's in-laws, allowing them to sell the stock, and avoid major financial losses.
A second filing on Monday showed that Collins's son would be in court later this week for a change of plea as well.
Collins found out about the failed drug trial while attending an event at the White House in the summer of 2017.
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