By Rhineback Dromedary | AuxBeacon News Reader
[Editors Note: We have received an impressive number of comments and contact submissions on the arrest of Representative Chris Collins for insider trading. A few of them will take some time to investigate before we dare release them.]
Good evening. One of CAP’s political advocates here in New York Wing has been arrested. You should do your own story on him or at least relay one of the standard media fare until you sort it all out. Collins was a big supporter of the CAP Congressional Gold Medal and, in my opinion, he is often present for cadet achievements such as the Spaatz Award for his own political gain. You can find the stories if you search on this word-salad to help.
“Certain folks are just born leaders, and some of us learn these traits in other ways. Valerie (Duell) raised a daughter who is a born leader,” said Congressman Collins. “On behalf of Western New York, I want to congratulate Meghan (Duell) on her prestigious achievement and thank her for her leadership and commitment to keeping our communities safe.”
“This award was a long time in the making and I really appreciate all of the support from my friends and family that pushed me to succeed,” said Meghan Duell, Captain of the Civil Air Patrol’s New York Wing. “It was an honor to be a part of this program and I want to express my sincere thanks to Congressman Collins for presenting me with this award.”
In my opinion, this should be a really good story for your effort because it supports what you exposed from former CAP-USAF Inspector General Lt Col Allan Stein.
[Editor: Per Old Rhineback’s suggestion, here is one version of the story. Clever name, by the way, one of our editors figured it out. Thank you to those who make good use of the name field in our comment and contact forms.]
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., used campaign funds to pay legal bills while he faced investigation for alleged insider trading for more than a year – By Brian Schwartz
A federal criminal investigation culminated in his arrest Wednesday, but before that he was under scrutiny by congressional ethics investigators.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege that Collins, while he was a board member of Australian company Innate Immunotherapeutics, gave a tip to his son Cameron last year about a failed drug trial that would soon be announced. His son used that information to dump the stock and avoid a six-figure loss, the Justice Department alleges, and Cameron Collins passed that information along to his father-in-law.
The two men were charged along with Collins. All three pleaded not guilty.
Since July 2017, Federal Election Commission records show Collins’ campaign has been paying up to $60,000 per month in legal services to prestigious law firm Baker Hostetler. The firm is representing Collins in the case.
While it is legal to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees, it’s not clear whether Collins’ constituents and supporters were aware that donations were being used to assist his legal fight.
These legal fees covered the time period of two separate House probes, including one by the Office of Congressional Ethics and another by the House Ethics Committee…
White-collar crime experts said that the evidence against Collins is immense, and that he could be on the verge of facing extreme legal punishment for his actions.
“It appears from the indictment that this is a slam dunk for the prosecutors,” said Nick Gravante, a white-collar defense attorney at Boies Schiller Flexner in New York.
Please start doing comments again. So much going on. Civil Air Patrol asset Chris Collins has resigned.
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/765762967/gop-rep-chris-collins-resigns-ahead-of-reported-guilty-plea-on-insider-trading
You should know that Duncan Hunter and his wife have been indicted out here in CAWG and how this ties to CAP. I will try to get more info to you.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells has exposed the intimidation in that district.
“I can’t lie to you… It’s been impossible to raise money; nobody wants to get involved,” said Wells, who’s running for the seat. “The Hunters have a dynasty. People are afraid of retribution. They’re afraid of destroying their own political career or their relationship with the Hunter family.”
Our children are being raised to believe that CAP pay-back politics is business as usual and it will be the death of us.
“I believe the nomination has been made and it’s too late to get Chris Collins off the ballot,” Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner told the Buffalo News.
Collins sure has some cojones in helping us Civil Air Patrol members of NY022 to keep filthy Nancy Pelosi type liberals away from the real vote in NY-27.
“I will… continue to fight the meritless charges brought against me and I look forward to having my good name cleared of any wrongdoing.”
We would like to verify something we are being told about AuxBeacon.
It is totally true that on Christmas Eve 1998, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, issued a pardon to Kevin Lester Teker for a 1989 conviction of buying and detonating explosives. And that when a reporter called Mr Teker in Seattle to inform him of his pardon, Teker stated:
“This is something that completes my greatest goal,” because with the pardon, he said, he can pass the background checks to become an active pilot for the Washington State Civil Air Patrol.
Can you verify and release this comment? It is related to CAP, doesn’t insult your effort, doesn’t make false accusations against you or anyone else.
[Editor: You apparently have the New York Times article, so you know that we can confirm. There was more detail in the December 26, 1998 Sandusky Register that we have in our Civil Air Patrol History archives. We will add the story in sequence and thank you for your contribution. Did you have anything else you wanted to add about Mr. Teker flying as a Mission Pilot for Washington Wing Civil Air Patrol?]