BUFFALO (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - On Tuesday, it was announced that prosecutors have dropped three federal charges against Congressman Chris Collins, who is indicted in a federal insider trading case almost exactly one year ago.
Prosecutors said in a letter to the trial judge that the charges were modified to avoid a delay in the case.
They say the charges prompted Collins to complain that he was being accused of wrongdoing over statements related to a speech and debate clause that protects members of congress from being prosecuted for legislative acts.
"Things are plodding along; I'm certainly always pleased to see they dropped three charges against me and two against my son," said Collins on Wednesday afternoon. "I really can't comment on the case other than that, but of course it's better than not, so I continue to say I'm innocent, and I'll be exonerated - there's three less charges to now defend against."
Collins was asked whether he would ever consider taking a plea deal if approached with the scenario, and the congressman was adamant that he has no intention of accepting any sort of plea, as he simply wants to clear his name.
"I've said all along that I'm not doing anything to get a plea deal; I intend to go to trial to clear my name," he said. "Let's just say that the wheels of justice move slowly; we were certainly not expecting what happened (Tuesday), but against, I'm always happy to see three charges removed."
When asked if Collins would like to see the trial begin in February, as is currently expected.
"I want it to start when we are prepared, and we have asked for more information, as those were the motions we made way back in May, which have not been ruled on yet, and part of those were the speech and debate issues," said Collins. "Clearly, those issues were real enough and concerning enough to the Southern District that they did convene a new grand jury, which is extraordinarily rare, and at the same time, it would appear that they looked at the charges against us and decided, at least three against me and two against my son, should be dropped. We did not make that motion; they did that on their own, and I'll let others interpret that for what it is."