Updated Sep 30, 2019

Rep. Chris Collins resigns ahead of guilty plea for insider trading

Rep. Chris Collins. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) is resigning ahead of a hearing Tuesday in which he is expected to change his "not guilty" plea in a criminal insider trading case, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office confirmed Monday.

Context: In August 2018, Collins was arrested in connection with an alleged insider trading scheme involving Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian drug company whose board he sat on for years. Prosecutors allege that Collins, the first congressman to endorse President Trump in 2016, received a tip about about a failed clinical trial involving the company's only product. He then allegedly called his son Cameron, who sold off shares of Innate stock the next day.

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Sara Fischer
4 mins ago - Technology

As boycott grows, Facebook juggles rights groups and advertisers

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

As an advertiser boycott of Facebook over its tolerance of hate speech continues to snowball, the company has begun making small, incremental changes to mollify activists while it tries to buy time to evolve its content policies.

Driving the news: Sources tell Axios that the product and policy changes sought by the #StopHateForProfit campaign were long under discussion both inside Facebook and with some external groups. Meanwhile, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly told employees that the boycotting advertisers will be back before long.

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Kim Hart
26 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Replacing the nursing home

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Nursing homes have been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, prompting more urgent discussions about alternative housing situations for elderly Americans.

Why it matters: Deaths in nursing homes and residential care facilities account for 45% of COVID-19 related deaths, per the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity — but there are few other viable housing options for seniors.

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Caitlin Owens
35 mins ago - Health

How Joe Biden would tackle the coronavirus

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

If Joe Biden wins in November, his coronavirus response would feature a no-expenses-spared federal approach to mitigating the virus and a beefed-up safety net for those suffering its economic consequences.

Why it matters: It’s nearly inevitable that the U.S. will still be dealing with the pandemic come January 2021, meaning voters in America will choose between two very different options for dealing with it.

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