Speaker Sheldon Silver (who is Jewish) to Adolf Hitler, Napoleon, and the antichrist. Collins later apologized for his comments. On November 28, 2016, Collins made strongly negative remarks about Mitt Romney, who was being considered by President-elect Donald Trump for the position of Secretary of State. On the TV show New Day, Collins said, "What do I know about Mitt Romney? I know that he's a self-serving egomaniac who puts himself first, who has a chip on his shoulder, and thinks that he should be president of the United States." On February 10, 2017, Collins told Chris Cuomo on CNN's New Day that elected officials should not have to release their respective tax histories. This comment was made in response to the ongoing controversy concerning Trump's refusal to release his tax forms. In June 14, 2017, a leftwing domestic terrorist shot several GOP Congress members who were training for an annual Washington DC charity game that pits Democrats versus Republicans. In a reaction Collins blamed Democrats, saying, "I can only hope that the Democrats do tone down the rhetoric. The rhetoric has been outrageous in the anger directed at Donald Trump." Shortly after making that comment, Collins noted that it was important for everyone, including himself, to tone down partisan rhetoric and "recognize that we are all one country and all proud Americans." Collins also vowed to start carrying a gun with him "from this day forward." 2018 criminal charges Background In August 2016, Collins became the largest shareholder in a company called Innate Immunotherapeutics. In May 2017, House ethics investigators "began probing Collins for his role in recruiting investors to buy stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics after several complaints were filed." Members of Congress are explicitly barred from trading stocks using insider information. In October 2017, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) said they had "substantial reason" to believe that Collins had improperly used his public office to benefit Innate, and had forwarded nonpublic information to other investors. The OCE said Collins sent nonpublic information to investors about drug trials and that he visited the National Institutes of Health to discuss a drug's clinical trial, violating House ethics rules. The House Ethics Committee did appoint a subcommittee to continue investigating Collins' case, but deferred action at the request of DOJ. On August 8, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in federal court on Collins and two