CNN legal analyst: Collins could have committed ‘dumbest insider trading crime I’ve ever seen’

CNN legal analyst Paul Callan said Wednesday that Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) could have committed the “dumbest insider trading crime” he’s ever seen. 

“It’s completely idiotic,” Callan said on CNN, just hours after Collins was arrested and charged with federal securities fraud. The charge is related to an Australian pharmaceutical company of which Collins had been one of the largest shareholders.

Callan goes on to detail why he believes Collins acted so poorly, saying that federal officials appear to have access to all of his phone calls and text messages from the time he allegedly committed insider trading crimes. 

CNN legal analyst on Rep. Collins indictment: ‘It’s the dumbest insider trading crime I’ve ever seen’ pic.twitter.com/fg0DmMIG2X

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) August 8, 2018

“He’s been under investigation by Congress, and who knows, maybe the FBI, for a long time,” he added. “It’s the dumbest insider trading crime I’ve ever seen.

“I have to say alleged, though.” 

Prosecutors are alleging that Collins, who had served on the board of directors for Sydney-based Innate Immunotherapeutics gave nonpublic information about drug trial results to his son to help him “make timely trades in Innate stock and tip others.”

Collins’s son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins’s fiancée, were also charged in a federal indictment related to the case. 

Chris Collins turned himself in to the FBI on Wednesday and lawyers for the lawmaker indicated he would address the accusations later in the day. 

Collins’s legal team is arguing that the report was “spurred by unfounded accusations that trace their origin to political opponents.”

–This report was updated on Aug. 9 at 5:40 a.m.