美国国家公共电台 NPR New York Congressman Pleads Not Guilty To Insider Trading Charges

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The FBI arrested a New York congressman¹ today on charges related to insider trading. Federal prosecutors² say Chris Collins illegally shared inside information about a pharmaceutical³ company. They say he was trying to help his son and others avoid big losses when the company's signature drug failed a clinical trial. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁴: Chris Collins, a Republican who represents the suburbs around Buffalo⁵, is one of the wealthiest members in Congress. And for years, he's been a major investor⁶ in an Australian biotech firm called Innate⁷ Immunotherapeutics. Collins actively⁸ promoted the company to friends, family members and fellow members of Congress, including former Health Secretary Tom Price.

So it was a shock last summer when Collins got an email from the company's CEO saying a promising⁹ drug for multiple sclerosis which was thought to be a blockbuster had failed a clinical trial. Collins, who was attending a White House picnic at the time, quickly wrote back, wow - makes no sense; how are these results even possible? And then, according to U.S. Attorney Geoff Berman, Collins made a fateful phone call to his son Cameron.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GEOFF BERMAN: The crime that he committed was to tip his son Cameron so that Cameron and a few select others could trade on the news while the investing public remained in the dark.

HORSLEY: Four days later when news of the failed trial became public, the company's stock plunged¹⁰ by 92 percent. But by that time, Cameron Collins and several others he'd alerted had sold their shares, avoiding losses of more than three quarters of a million dollars. The congressman himself was unable to sell since his shares were held in Australia where trading had been temporarily halted. But by tipping off his son, Berman says, Collins cheated both the markets and the justice system.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BERMAN: He placed his family and friends above the public good.

HORSLEY: Berman says Collins, his son and a third man compounded their crime by lying to investigators¹¹. In a news conference this evening, Collins called the charges meritless and promised to wage a vigorous defense¹² in court.

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

CHRIS COLLINS: I believe I acted properly and within the law at all times with regard to my affiliation¹³ with Innate.

HORSLEY: House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an ethics¹⁴ investigation¹⁵ and temporarily stripped Collins of his seat on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. Craig Holman, who's with the watchdog group Public Citizen, says Collins is the first member of Congress to face charges related to insider trading even though lawmakers are privy¹⁶ to all kinds of inside information and have the power to make market-moving decisions. Holman points to an academic study of stock trading by U.S. senators.

CRAIG HOLMAN: This study found that senators enjoy a 12 percent higher rate of return on the stock market than the rest of us, which means they're either geniuses at the stock market, or they know something that we don't know.

HORSLEY: In 2012 after a "60 Minutes" expose, Congress passed a law requiring members to disclose their stock trades within 45 days. Since that law took effect, Holman says the volume of trading on the Senate side has declined by more than two-thirds. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

1 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

7 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

14 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 privy   

adj.私用的；隐密的

参考例句：

• Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人，其中包括一名警察，了解这些内情。
• Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。