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New York Republican congressman indicted on insider trading charges

Ikari

Ikari

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https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/08/politics/chris-collins-indicted-insider-trading/index.html?adkey=bn

New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins has been charged with alleged securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Collins, who was the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump's presidential bid, surrendered this morning at his attorney's office in Manhattan, according to the FBI.
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Interesting, I often wonder if they seriously looked into everyone in Congress, just how many of them would be found to be breaking the law in some manner. We'll have to see how this unfolds, I never really expect the rich and powerful to actually be punished for their crimes.
 
Praxas said:
I thought congress critters were exempted from insider trading laws?
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The exact charges are securities fraud, wire fraud and false statements
 
Praxas said:
I thought congress critters were exempted from insider trading laws?
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The headline and the story don't seem to match. I think you are correct on the insider trading laws, which of course, is nuts.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
The headline and the story don't seem to match. I think you are correct on the insider trading laws, which of course, is nuts.
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I think the 'insider trading' is a broad term that can mean many things, but in this case, the actual legal actions are much more specific.

I personally am interested in what this means to the race in teh 27th congressional district. The primary for them was held on June 26th. There is another primary coming up in Sept 13th, so he could be replaced on the ballot then.

Interesting note: Normally, the primary days are Tuesdays in NYS, but this year, they shifted it a couple of days, and are holding it on a Thursday because Tuesday is September 11th.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
The headline and the story don't seem to match. I think you are correct on the insider trading laws, which of course, is nuts.
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That is nuts, it does seem that, on some level anyway, they are immune to insider trading. That is likely why the charges are as they are, but I found an interesting article on this.

https://theintercept.com/2015/05/07/congress-argues-cant-investigated-insider-trading/

In a little-noticed brief filed last summer, lawyers for the House of Representatives claimed that an SEC investigation of congressional insider trading should be blocked on principle, because lawmakers and their staff are constitutionally protected from such inquiries given the nature of their work.

The legal team led by Kerry W. Kircher, who was appointed House General Counsel by Speaker John Boehner in 2011, claimed that the insider trading probe violated the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branch.
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The SEC investigation focused on how Brian Sutter, then a staffer for the House Ways and Means Committee, allegedly passed along information about an upcoming Medicare decision to a lobbyist, who then shared the tip with other firms. Leading hedge funds used the insider tip to trade on health insurance stocks that were affected by the soon-to-be announced Medicare decision.

Calling the SEC’s inquiry a “remarkable fishing expedition for congressional records,” Kircher and his team claimed that the SEC had no business issuing a subpoena to Sutter. “Communications with lobbyists, of course, are a normal and routine part of Committee information-gathering,” the brief continued, arguing that there “is no room for the SEC to inquire into the Committee’s or Mr. Sutter’s purpose or motives.”
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So I think they essentially rigged the system so they cannot be prosecuted for insider trading, likely because they and their buddies are making bank off of it.
 
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