GOP lawmaker calls for ethics rules changes after Collins charged with insider trading

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) on Thursday said Congress should reform its ethics code to avoid conflicts of interest.

During an appearance on CNN, Reed suggested that a revamped code could prohibit members from sitting on the boards of publicly traded companies while serving in Congress.

“Obviously, any type of conflict of interest, we need to do a better job in Congress to send the message to the people that we’re making sure that the integrity of the House is in place and that no one is above the law,” Reed said. 

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Reed’s remarks come one day after Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) was charged with insider trading. Collins, who represents parts of western New York, turned himself in to the FBI early Wednesday.

Prosecutors allege that, while serving on the board of the Australia-based pharmaceutical company Innate Immunotherapeutics, Collins gave nonpublic information about drug trial results to his son to help him “make timely trades in Innate stock and tip others.” 

Outgoing Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) removed Collins from his position on the Energy and Commerce Committee after his arrest.

Multiple Republican lawmakers told The Hill last year that Collins had urged other members of Congress to invest in the pharmaceutical company.

Collins has been under investigation by congressional officials for his ties to Innate since last year. In the fall, a report from the Office of Congressional Ethics found there was “substantial reason” to believe he violated federal law by sharing inside information with the company’s investors.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price bought Innate stock when he was a Georgia congressman, as did House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.).

Prosecutors also charged Collins’ son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron Collins’s fiancée.