♪ that does it for the beat. i will be back tomorrow. "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. let's play "hardball." good evening, i am steve kornacki in for chris matthews. breaking news from buffalo, new york. awaiting chris collins. he served as the congressional liaison to the trump transition

team. facing charges of insider trading and lying to the fbi. the government alleging that collins tipped his son off about a failed drug test at a bio tech company. family and friends then sold their stock in the company before the news broke saving them more than $768,000 in losses. noting that no one is above the law as charges were laid out against the congressman. >> congressman collins cheated our market and our justice system. these charges are a reminder that this is a nation of laws and that everybody stands equal before the bar of justice. >> now collins has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his statement that lawyers say we are confident he will be

completely vindicated and exonerated. in the meantime paul ryan called for a thorough investigation. collins was actually on white house grounds at a congressional picnic when he received word about that failed drug test. i am joined by political reporter for politico. paul butler former federal prosecutor. and jason butler. laura, the back term here, this is an insider trading deal. was there hint that this was coming? >> the congressman had been under investigation by the office of congressional ethics for a while now. we didn't know that federal prosecutors were looking at this and they didn't say exactly how the case was referred to them or how they picked it up.

the news about stock trade and news about his making recommendations of other members of congress to buy stock of this company of which he was a member of the board has become public for more than a year. >> what does this case look like to you, what does it look like the government is putting together? >> a slam dunk. a 30 page indictment. this man is on the board and the largest shareholder of the pharmaceutical company. bad news that the main product, the trials haven't gone well. the company is going to go out of business. he calls his son seven times saying sell the tostock, sell t stock. the his son sells the stock his other friends also sell the stock. they saved $700,000. this is what you don't do when

you have insider information. >> we are expecting to hear from the congressman chris collins. you are looking at the podium here. this thing has been delayed. we are going to see what he has to say. his lawyer out there saying he is going to be vindicated as he enters the plea of not guilty. he has an office. he is a member of congress. is that a potential bargaining chip. is this a situation where basically, there is an agreement to give up the seat. >> it is bargaining chip if you have something that they want. prosecutors bringing the case now probably because the justice department has this 60-day rule, 100-day rule, you don't bring

charges within that length of the indictment. it might affect the election. trump is keeping an eye on this. u.s. says says today, if you are a high official, and you abuse the public trust, we take that seriously. not good news for president trump. >> if you are a close political watcher, you certainly have seen him over the last couple of years, first republican member of congress to endorse trump. had that role with the transition. there is prominent there. a lot lot more people learning about him for the first time. in terms of the midterms, they are a couple of months away. it is time to clean house there. in the house. does this factor in terms of what the democrats have to say in terms of this message. >> i always thought the only

thing that could stop the democrat success thus far is a party wide scandal. individual members of congress get in trouble all the time. but collins is caught as sort of a swamp creature, and he is connected to trump and told other members. in the process of this investigation, this may connect to other members of congress that he may have delivered them to and it could take all of them out. this is a party wide scandal to have an impact. this is mana from heaven for the democrats right now. >> the last time democrats picked up the house from republicans, one of the issues that powered them that year was a series of corruption scandal. democrats certainly harnessed

that. jake sherman from politico wrote overheard in the capital, new york representative chris collins talking loudly into a phone just off the house floor bragging about how many millionaires i made in buffalo in the last month. bragging about a stock tip. the word that was used was brazen. we are hearing about a white house picnic and just off the floor. all of this going on within the earshot of powerful influential people. >> apparently believe he is above the law. he is hiding in plain sight. flagrantly violating the law and believes he is not going to get caught. >> tell us laura, about his reputation, his reputation as a politician. we say first trump reporter, the district he is from is one of

those districts that swung toward trump in 2016. chris collins, the politician, what is his reputation. >> well the district was re-drawn and made more conservative, and reasonably well-liked. chris collins was rumored to be considering a run for governor in the past couple of cycles. the governor and chris collins have gotten into fights over medicare funding and that is one person who i think is happy to see the news today. >> and collins' arrest, we talk about the political implications. as politico writes democrats have tried to find ways to paint house republicans as creatures. washington swamp, corrupt political figures. jason you were talking about. the other thing to look at here,

we were talking last night about this special election out in ohio, it is still officially too close to call. not sure the democrats are going to pick that one up right now. but trying to pick away at the number of 23 seats. here is a district that was on nobody's radar in terms of being competitive. one of the reasons we are interested in this press conference is collins about to come out and say i am fighting the charges and running for re-election. given how republican that district is, we have seen politicians get jammed up like this and lose in districts they otherwise would never lose in. >> absolutely. this is that kind of last minute scandal that wakes up the competition. you have got manafort, you have his assistants, all of these

people. three or four guys running the v.a. politicians gone wild in washington d.c. this has the potential to be as big as the house banking scandal which cost the democrats the house in the '90s. when have people coming in and saying i kind of got information from him but didn't make that much money. this has the opportunity to bring down several republicans. >> you look at this indictment today and you look at what you heard from the prosecutors, what is the metastatic potential of this in terms of other members being brought in. >> collins himself has no defense. he didn't actually make any money from this insider information, yes his son did,

his future son-in-law did, actually, his fiance's father but not him. that is not a legal defense. but prosecutors would be interested in knowing about other congress people if he tipped them off. and if he knows banything about president trump, we can expect trump to pull what we call papadopoulos. that is bargaining power for collins. and again, prosecutors do want to make deals where they say okay, you have abused the public trust and you need to quit right now that will count favorably in what we recommend to the judge.

>> we want to see what donald trump says. he will talk about this. and again we are waiting on the press conference. we are waiting on chris collins' arrival. we will bring you that as soon as he steps onto the podium. coming up, about last night, president trump taking credit for a race that we say is still too close to call. republicans may be embarrassing in ohio but should they be celebrating. we will go to the board and dig deep in ohio. what does it mean for the bigger picture across the country in november and also president trump's legal team rejecting mueller's terms for an interview. is it a stall tactic to avoid a decision. a new report that claims trump

gave mar-a-lago buddies sweeping control of the veterans affairs. this is "hardball" where the action is. i didn't believe it. again. ♪ ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth? ♪ i want to believe it. [ claps hands ] ♪ ooh i'm not hearing the confidence. okay, hold the name your price tool. power of options based on your budget! and! ♪ we'll make heaven a place on earth ♪ yeah! oh, my angels! ♪ ooh, heaven is a place on earth ♪ [ sobs quietly ] ♪ ooh, heaven is a place on earth ♪ booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline. the first survivor of alzis out there.ase and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you.

join the fight with the alzheimer's association. multiple sources have toll the daily beast that former white house aide omarosa secretly reported conversations of donald trump on her smartphone and played the audio for people. before her book comes out next week, omarosa will join chris right here on "hardball." that is monday the 13thth. you are probably not going to want that one. we will be right back. i'd find your lost recipe. by tracing our history on ancestry, i found the one person who still had it. now, i'm brewing our legacy back to life.

i'm david thieme, and this is my ancestry story. now with 100 million family trees, find your story. get started for free at ancestry.com. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn, lucy could only imagine enjoying a slice of pizza. now it's as easy as pie. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn?

for all-day, all-night protection. are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi.? a more powerful way to stay connected. it gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most wifi coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. it's the ultimate wifi experience. xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. welcome back to "hardball." the last special election before the november midterms and

strongly suggests that blue wave republicans feel it may well be building. officially remains too close to call. balderson clinging to a lead of 1,564 votes over danny o'connor. the district that president trump won. just a couple of hours ago, franklin county, the largest part of this district, officials say accounting error will drop balderson's lead by 190 votes. that is potentially significant there. that increases the possibility of a recount. president trump today tried to take a victory lap. they will win. if i find the time which i must, we will have a giant red wave.

trump also claimed his eleventh hour appearance over the district claimed a golden ticket. that was not good. after my speech on saturday night, there was a big turn for the better. not everybody agrees with that assessment. republican pollster frank luntz reporti reporting. joined tonight. thanks to all of you for being with us. noelle, let me ask you, the trump factor. a revolt afoot. there is a lot of affection for him in the rural areas and talk

that maybe he helped republicans there. >> something you brought up to my point is that the fact that when president trump came in, who is to say that it didn't push the opponents number's up because of people that don't like donald trump. >> so what do you do, if you are a republican candidate, the president saying, i want to come to your district this fall, what do you tell him? >> it is the same catch 22 when obama was trying to do campaigning with people running on the democratic ticket, i don't want him to campaign for me. the same thing when bush got out of office. what is interesting about ohio is the fact that it is usually

red, red, and the fact that we have not moved the needle with big numbers and that is scarey. everybody is taking a victory lap. i agree with frank luntz on this we need to look at these numbers. we need to look at what is behind this and see are we in trouble. i think that when she came out and said this is a victory, this is a celebration, i love her. but this was a great opportunity for her to use her platform and say listen republicans we can't have things this close. we need to make sure we get out this vote. >> and speaking of getting out the vote, the thing that jumped out of me, it was the suburbs, it was in columbus and immediately outside of it. o'connor 165% of t--

>> i seen it all over the country. every single place i have been in this country over the last year and a half, you meet these women who have been voted before but never canvassed. i have met women who cut back from work and devote themselves to trump activism. you can see it in the numbers. you can see the complete collapse of college educated white women in the republican party. they are under water now with colle college educated white men. >> is that the message for the democratic party, anti trump. >> most of the candidates don't have to talk about trump that

much. the candidates are out there talking about health care or higher minimum wages, and talking about economic issues. they barely need to mention trump because of all of these activists out there. >> that name did happen to come up last night. they said it was a victory celebration. balderson had plenty of gratitude to go around. let's listen to what he said. >> i would like to thank president trump. and take the time to thank vice president pence. i am going to do everything i can to keep america great again. >> notably, he did not vothank governor kasich.

the president trying to take credit for this. the role he is going to be playing when we get into september, october, early november. how active is he going to be going into these districts? >> he wants to be very active. white house advisers that i have talked to say he is hungry. clear effort by advisoors as well as congressional leaders. go to red states with senate races like montana, west virginia. the president on the other hand thinks that he is added value anywhere he goes. he wants to be out there. he wants the midterms to be about him and i think he is going to be active both on the trail and also you know, expressing his thoughts on twitter on these campaigns as

they heat up. >> there are republicans there in d.c. trying to save the house. have they come up with strategy on how they are going to integrate trump with this effort. what is he going to tweet this morning. >> they can't control what he is going to tweet. some places where he can go. and they are using vice president pence a lot. for months now he has been doing a lot of campaigning in some of these house districts as well as raising money. but the president is going to go where he wants to go. he wants to be campaigning and i think the white house is trying to keep him focused on the senate. >> michelle, the school of thought and i tend to subscribe to it. you don't need a message, the message is if you have issue with the president, use this as a check, use this as a vehicle. i am looking at the pattern, with such concentrated

democratic strength around columbus, is there a longer issue. >> well, i think that you know, because it is not just metro areas, it is met crro suburbs. if you start winning suburbs of houston and some of these cities, that is a majority. i think that eventually there might be tension in that you have because the opposition to trump is so broad and kind of a big tent, you have candidates in orange county who are conservative. that might cause tension later on. but those things, those are luxury problems to have, a party that is too big. and that can be resolved in

time. >> thank you. again, the waiting game continues in buffalo. cramp chris collins arrested indicted. he was supposed to speak to the press. keeping an eye on it. and we will let you know what happens if and when he does step forward. i am going it head over the big board. i am going to go deep into the divide, we call it a divide. it is deeper than a divide. this is "hardball" where the action is. ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death.

oh! no increased risk? ♪ ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (vo) ask your healthcare provider

if ozempic® is right for you. sfx: [cell phone dialing] no. no, no, no, no, no. cancel. cancel. please. aaagh! being in the know is a good thing. that's why discover will alert you if your social security number is found on any one of thousands of risky sites. i'm all about my bed. this mattress is dangerously comfortable. when i get in, i literally say ahh. introducing the leesa mattress. a better place to sleep. this bed hugs my body. i'm now a morning person. the leesa mattress is designed to provide strong support, relieve pressure and optimize air flow to keep you cool. hello bed of my dreams. order online we'll build it, box it and ship it to your door for you to enjoy. sleep on it for up to one hundred nights and love it! or you'll get a full refund. returns are free and easy. i love my leesa. today is gonna be great. read our reviews then try

the leesa mattress in your own home. experience the leesa difference before you buy at any west elm. order now and get $150 off, and free shipping, too. go to buyleesa.com today. you need this bed. your hair is so soft! did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo? look at my soft hair. i should be in the shot now too. try head and shoulders two in one.

all right. welcome back to "hardball" in 24 hours, 24 hours ago i stood in this exact position and i said the polls are closing in ohio. 24 hours later, we still don't know who won the special election. nbc news is calling this too close to call. there has been movement today and i want to show you what it means. when you are in a situation like this, small numbers can be big. the gap, this morning in this district, the lead for balderson sat at 1754. it turned out there was a precinct that they had not tabulated. so 1754 tonight comes down to

1564. that is -- first of all, you can see what it does. the gap shrinks. why am i obsessed with these small numbers because if that gets down to 0.5 goes into a recount. these were ballots that have been mailed out and have not come out yet. there is opportunities here. you expect the provisional votes to break democratic, a bit of a wild card here. you take a couple hundred off that and you fall under that 0.5 and it happens. one of the big stories to come

out of this in this district, nationally we talk about the trump era, the divide between the suburbs and rural area. suburbs traditionally were a republican area. two counties here, a tale of two counties in this district. franklin county, part of columbus, immediate suburbs. in 2012, barack obama won by three points in this part of the district. in 2016, trump comes along. the margin explodes. last night, it continues to explode and it goes to 31 points. democrats winning in the suburbs by 31 points. let's take a trip to different part of the country, the state of ohio and culturally the country, muskingum county surrounded by rural areas.

in 2012 barack obama won this part of the district. he won it be a hair. but this was blue in 2012. in 2016, donald trump comes along and suddenly republicans win it by 29%. balderson wins it by 33%. these areas voting almost the same in 2012. and six years later, 64 points apart. that is much bigger than a divide. little bit exaggerated because it is balderson's home county, o'connor's home county. where is the energy for the midterms this year, the answer here. more energy right now in that democratic suburban area. up next, rudy giuliani calling on mueller to wrap up the russia probe after rejecting the

special counsel's latest term for a trump sit down. much of that straight ahead. you are watching "hardball." ♪i believe, i really do believe that♪ ♪something's got a hold on me, yeah♪ ♪oh, it must be love ♪oh, something's got a hold on me right now, child♪ ♪oh, it must be love ♪let me tell you now, oh it must be love♪

welcome back to "hardball." confrontation between president trump and the office of the special counsel just might be coming to a head. the "new york times" reporting president trump's lawyer rejected the special counsel's latest request for an interview. they would accept a limited scope of questions that don't include anything related to obstruction justice. rudy giuliani joining jay sekulow on his show. >> i think and i hope the

special counsel are sensitive as we are, we do not want it to run into the september special elections. we have given him an answer. we should take a few days to consider it. but we should get this resolved. if there is going to be an interview, let's have it. if not, let him write a report. >> i am joined by shelby holiday. and reporters from "the new york times." two from the same paper. because only o1 "wall street journal" reporter, shelby, i will start with you. >> that was not really on the

table at first. originally we heard, we don't want president trump to talk about business dealings, obstruction is coming into the picture. i think it is interesting that rudy thinks this probe can be wrapped up by september. th there is no way that is possible. we know the special counsel wants to interview trump. we have a list of questions that he wants to ask. if this doesn't happen by september, that is rudy giuliani and his team's fault. >> we have heard all sorts of predictions about when this will be over. they have come and gone by now. nick, what is rudy doing. is there an actual, does he see a scenario where trump sits down and trying to work towards it. what is he trying to achieve? >> through several lawyers, the president lawyers have put out

time lines saying it should be over by then and by then and by then. always trying to shorten the time line. and what they are doing is set up the idea that it should be done by a certain time and if it is not it is desperate or illegitimate. this is all going to be decided in congress and before the american people and what they are trying to do is establish a predicate that mueller is being unreasonable. everything that we are hearing is coming from the president's team and people around him. we do not know how much more mueller has left or what he has found. or how important this interview is to his investigation. >> we keep hearing that the president wants to sit down and talk with mueller's team. is that something that would he

overrule his lawyers and say that's it. i will sit town. would giuliani strike some kind of deal. and what too you think the possibility of him sitting down is? >> hard to know. and sometimes we have seen the president say i would be happy so sit down and nothing to hide and another point tried to create that limited scope. this is clearly just another effort on behalf of the president's team to murk up this investigation and so what we have now is a situation where they are creating arbitrary deadlines and know they are the only ones speaking to the media. they understand the special counsel team is operating in the shad toes. they are speaking to their own audience. to signal to them this is a

"witch hunt" setting the parameters. >> what nick is saying too, this is about the court of public opinion. is it working? >> it is working, yes, among a certain percentage of trump's base. i am constantly talking to trump's supporters, this whole russia thing, they use the same language, they call it a hoax, they think it is disgusting. they echo the president and the president's comments. it works for some people. you know, i think that is also going on simultaneously with the trial of the president's campaign manager that is not looking good for the president. it is a distraction. it is a look over here, don't mind what's going on in virginia. check out this radio show, check out "fox news" tonight.

is it going to work? i don't think so. >> the idea that the 60-day window on announcing a new prosecution on charging somebody before an election. is that going to start interfering with developments here on this russia matter? >> no. because the guidelines do not apply to you if you are not a candidate for election and the president is only two years into his term. the fact that they brought the case against chris collins, the fact that they brought that so close to the election shows how slam dunk they think it is in their minds. i doubt the election is going to be weighing on mueller. we continue to wait. we thought we would hear from him the top of the hour. we keep hearing he is on his way out. the congressman arrested today

under indictment. supposed to step forward and make his public statement. they weren't elected, they weren't appointed. why are trump's buddies at mar-a-lago telling the veteran's administration what to do. you're watching "hardball."

- i love my grandma. - anncr: as you grow older, your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. after months of tdelay, the

trump administration slapping new sanctions on russia. secretary of state mike pompeo violated international law by using a nerve agent to poison him and his daughter back in march. criticized for lack of response for that nerve agent response. be right back. why did i want a crest 3d white smile? dinner date...meeting his parents dinner date. so i used crest. crest 3d white removes... ...95% of surface stains in just 3 days... ...for a whiter smile... that will win them over.

crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. this condition has not been reported with entyvio. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's treatment isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach.

one of the commitments i made is that we are going to straighten out the whole situation for our veterans. our veterans have been treated horribly. waiting in line for 16, 17 days. we are going to straighten out the va for our veterans. promising that for a long time. >> that was president trump announced that his friend, ike

perlmutter. part of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on va from mar-a-lago. mar-a-lago crowd spoke with va officials daily reviewing all manner of policy and personnel decisions. officials traveled to mar-a-lago at taxpayer expense to hear their view. back here with the roundtable. this is people who are not going through any kind of confirmation exerting some policy role. taking place at the private business the president owns.

taxpayer. >> a lot of this speaks to chief concerns that you have in the administration. close long standing ties with many of these billionaires. the question is does that get to overlap. you know, or can be spoken to by the american people. that seems fairly undemocratic, but this is part of what democrats are trying to do in painting this administration as people who are grifters and only about their fellow elite. >> it is interesting too, nick, the question is how many people are going to notice a story like this. i'm thinking about ten years ago a previous administration, there was a va scandal and it got constant week's long attention in this country. we live in an age where the president can tweet five provocative tweets by the time i

finish my sentence. and we are now on something else. everybody moves on to something else. >> possibly, but one group that will pay attention to this and that is the veterans. who care about their management and some of them are going to be angry to learn that the reform of their institution have been delegated to rich friends of the president who happen to be members of his private club and it is unprecedented in the american history. i can't think of any example like this in modern history at least. with this president, and this administration, and when they came in and couldn't attract top level challenge and experience, they started to outsource these job and tasks to friends of the president and what you end up is something like this. >> that word you used, unprecedented. how many times have you used

that word with president trump. >> if you look at the big picture what baffles people, how does this accomplish the president goal of draining the swamp and i am not calling these people swamps. it almost seems like he is relocating the swamp. he wants his rich friends to weigh in. i would love to get a table full of veterans, or active duty service members it weigh in on this. it is their health care, their lives, their decision to serve this country that is ultimately on the line. >> the role that mar-a-lago that has played in this country. >> it is an avatar of the excess

of president trump. and you have a situation that people can pay. what this report shows is that access is off. we have had at the chief sounding the alarm against president trump since he didn't release his tax returns or divest from businesses. this is something that motivated democrats even further. they look amongst themselves and maybe people who set out 2016 or thought that hillary clinton might have been "corrupt" are now seeing something like this and saying maybe i should get in the game. >> we are waiting on that, i keep saying it, the chris collins' statement. we have heard these terms, culture of corruption.

president trump said it, drain the swamp. democrats ran on drain the swamp in 2006. this is a standard thing that you hear in politics. >> it helps democrats with the profusion of scandal comes full circle. >> i am going to interrupt you. we are going to listen to chris collins. >> most of you know my wife mary. i have talked about the american dream. i am extremely fortunate in that i have lived it. it started for me when i borrowed and started scraping together every dollar i could to buy the westing house gear division here in buffalo and move it to niagara falls under a

new name. i am proud we put hundreds of people to work who are still working there today. after selling it in 1997, i ran for congress in 1998 up in the niagara falls area. knowing that my business experience would benefit the citizens of new york and offer a new perspective in congress. after being humbled in that race, i spent the next ten years as an entrepreneur investing in and helping to stabilize dozens of bankrupt and financially distressed companies saving and creating hundreds of jobs hear in western new york. in 2007, i was recruited to run for erie county. i was elected. turned around the county

finances in 18 short months. all the while honoring my campaign pledge to work for $1 a month. one of the many companies i invested in is a drug company. ultimately that focus shifted to a treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, one of the deadliest autoimmune disease known to mankind. i have been an avid and unwavering supporter of innate immuno-. over this time, my affiliation with innate immuno-therapy has

prompted attacks. i believed in the company and still do and in the potential of a drug that had the real possibility of improving the treatment options for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patients which is about the most debilitating disease known to mankind and something that i saw first hand affect a close family member. i became the companies largest shareholder and uncompensated members of board of directors. the company would have gone under bringing with it a pre mature end to a drug i truly thought would revolutionize treatment options for secondary progressive ms. finding a cure for secondary progressive ms was at the top of the list. after years of blood, sweat and

tears, we firmly believed we were on the verge of a medical break through. sadly despite showing great initial promise, the drug was shown to be unsuccessful which is a setback from all those suffering from this deadly disease. many speculated about my relationship with innate. my connections with the company are well-known. i believe i acted properly and within the law at all times with regard to may affiliation with innate. throughout my tenure in congress, i followed all rules and ethical guidelines when it comes to personal investments including those with innate. when it became clear the drug i and others believed in fell short of expectations i held on to my shares rather than sell them. the significant investment i made in the country worth millions of dollars were wiped

out. that's okay. that's the risk i took. may real concern lies with millions of people suffering from secondary progressive ms who to this day struggle without life saving treatments for their dead disease. i am proud of my affiliation with innate. i may have lost most of the money i invested in the company but took a chance to bring relief from those who deal with the disease. the charges that have been levied against me are meritless. and i look forward to being fully vindicated and exonerated ending any and all questions in my affiliation with innate. i have spent the last ten years in public service.

i have spent many years volunteering to give back to my community whether it was a member of the federal reserve bank small business advisory council, the public knows my dedication to western new york. because my focus is to defeat the charges in court after today, i will not address any issues related to innate immuno-therapeutics outside of the courtroom. as i fight to clear my name, rest assured, i will continue to work hard for the people and constituents of the 27th district of new york. and will remain on the ballot running for re-election this