Indicted GOP congressman raises just $80 from local voters

Indicted Republican Congressman Chris Collins (R-NY) pocketed a grand total of $80 in donations from voters in his district during the entire third-quarter fundraising period.

Even with the help of out-of-district donors, Collins raised just $33,000 for the crucial third quarter.

That stunningly weak total, while his renegade Democratic opponent, Nate McMurray, raised $500,000 during the same period, is the latest indication that Collins’ seat in a district Trump won by 24 points in 2016 is officially in jeopardy for the GOP.

“[Collins’] new filing shows only three individuals within the 27th Congressional District donated to the Collins campaign after his indictment. The total from those contributions was $80,” WGRZ-TV in Buffalo reported.

Collins was indicted for insider trading in August and soon suspended his campaign. But he’s still on the ballot because Collins subsequently un-suspended his campaign.

Donors may be smart to walk away from Collins, since he seems to be using the contributions for rather dubious purposes.

“The campaign paid nearly $8,000 to Monarch Air Group on August 8, the same day he was arrested,” WGRZ noted. “That suggests the Congressman charged his campaign contributors for a private plane to fly to and from Manhattan, where he pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him.”

The case against Collins and his brazen insider trading appears to be damming.  when the indictment was announced, CNN legal analyst Pat Callan described the Congressman’s behavior as “completely idiotic,” adding, “It was the dumbest insider trade crime I’ve ever seen.”

Collins serves on the board of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company. He is also one its largest shareholders, owning nearly 17 percent of the company’s stock.

While attending a congressional picnic at the White House on the evening of June 22, 2017, Collins received word from Innate’s CEO that the company’s hallmark drug in development had failed its trial test. That meant the drug, which was designed to fight multiple sclerosis, was now totally worthless.

And that meant the value of Innate would plummet once the publicly traded company released that information.

Before that happened, though, Collins used his insider information to tip off his son, who then tipped off his fiance and his fiance’s family.

Back in February 2016 he became the first sitting member of Congress to support Trump’s presidential campaign. He later served on Trump’s transition team.

Collins is MAGA through and through. That worked out great for him.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.