Rep. Chris Collins is pleading guilty after all

You may recall Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican known for his early support of President Trump and his voluble promotion of a penny-stock biotech called Innate Immunotherapeutics. In 2017, Innate’s only drug came up a dud, which left Collins and some of his House colleagues with sizable paper losses. Then came federal allegations that the congressman illegally tipped off his family before the failure was public, charges Collins denied on his way to a 2018 re-election.

That brings us to yesterday, when Collins tendered his resignation while reportedly preparing to change his plea to guilty. His trial was slated to begin in February.

It ends a fairly bizarre saga for Collins, who briefly suspended his re-election campaign before declaring the charges “fake news” and pressing on. He won his deeply red district by less than half a percentage point and vowed to beat the charges. What changed between November and now is unclear.