On February 24, 2016, U.S. Rep. Chris Collins of New York became the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump for president. He was joined that day by California congressman Duncan Hunter who also endorsed Trump’s candidacy.
Both men resigned from office after being charged with crimes.
When Trump won, Collins became one of the president’s loudest defenders and closest allies in Congress. He served on Trump’s transition team and went on cable news shows touting Trump.
Collins was often invited to the White House.
In 2017, Collins, while attending a function on the White House lawn, he made a phone call to his son where he committed insider trading. Collins and his son were arrested.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/08/nyregion/rep-chris-collins-trump.html
In 2019, Collins resigned from office and pleaded guilty to two felony insider-trading charges, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud and lying to the FBI. This made Collins the first congressman who endorsed Trump to resign from office for committing a felony. In October 2020, Collins began serving his 26-month sentence.
https://rollcall.com/2020/10/13/former-rep-chris-collins-begins-prison-sentence/
Trump pardoned Collins in December 2020 – two months after the former congressman began his prison term.
