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Rep. Chris Collins promises to speak to The Batavian if he runs for reelection

By Howard B. Owens

One thing Rep. Chris Collins told The Batavian before the 2018 campaign season is that the one thing he appreciated about The Batavian is that we may ask him tough questions but we always reported his views accurately.

Then after he was indicted on insider trading charges he refused to talk to us. That was baffling given his previous praise of our reporting. On Friday, we asked him about his decision to avoid almost all media coverage in 2018. He said that was a campaign strategy but that things would be different if he runs in 2020.

We should trust him on that promise, he said.

"I am not hiding from anyone," Collins said. "I'm talking to you today. Am I not answering every question you're asking? For two months I was running a very difficult election with a strategy to win and my strategy was correct."

Once it was clear in 2018  that Collins was cutting off access to The BatavianThe Batavian publicly announced that it wouldn't run his campaign press releases unless and until he agreed to an interview.

The response?

Crickets.

"For those two months you weren't part of my strategy," Collins said. "And I won or I wouldn't be here talking with you today."

Now, we're supposed to trust Collins.

Collins was indicted by the Federal prosecutors on a bevy of charges related to an alleged insider trading conspiracy on Aug. 9 and refused that day to take any questions from The Batavian and refused subsequent requests for interviews. The charges stemmed from his alleged tip to his son Cameron that a critical drug trial by a company he had pumped, Innate Therapeutics, had failed.

The target of Collins' ire, he said, however, wasn't The Batavian. It was the Buffalo News.

"I am out and about talking to you today and I've said I always will," Collins said. "Last year was a unique year with the Buffalo News being my primary opponent with a lot of fake news, a lot of biased news; a lot of distorted news. So I did make a decision, I wanted to win the election and I won the election and now I'm talking to you today. I'll talk to you wherever I am."

Pressed for examples of "fake news" from the Buffalo News, Collins said almost everything the paper reported about his relationship with Innate Therapeutics was inaccurate; that his work on the 21st Centuries Cure Act was falsely reported; that his attempts to get drugs to market quicker were misrepresented, as well as his attempts to get more dollars diverted to cancer research.

"They reported that was all to benefit a company I was invested in," Collins said. "It was absurd. They reported that Tom Price and I got special pricing on a stock, which was also totally not true, and was so reported by the Office of Congressional Ethics. They reported these things time and again. I don't want to get into a litany but primarily if you read a Buffalo News story, the bias just pours out."

He said the Buffalo News has been reporting about him inaccurately for 12 years, going back to his stint as Erie County Chief Executive.

The one representative The Batavian knew to reach out to directly to seek comment from about Buffalo News reporting on Chris Collins was political reporter Jerry Zremski who said in an email, "We stand by our stories."

Collins supports Donald Trump. Donald Trump has admitted that he has redefined the phrase "fake news" to mean any news report he doesn't like, no matter if it is true. Collins said that is not how Trump uses the term. However, none of this was reassuring to The Batavian that in 2020 he will be any more accessible than he was in 2018.

So, this exchange:

The Batavian: "Can I get a promise that as long as I always report you accurately, I can get an interview with you in the future?"

Chris Collins: "Yes."

So, we'll see if that is "fake news."

See also: Chris Collins says that if he runs he will beat any primary or general election challenger

Ray Richardson

Sounds like a good deal to me Howard. As long as you're willing to print everything he says as fact he'll talk until he's blue in the face. However, if you dare question anything he says the deal is off. AND THAT'S A PROMISE!

May 18, 2019, 12:08pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

The thing I reminded him of yesterday is that he's always said he enjoys the challenge of the questions I ask him. I told him he's good on his feet. I've never known him to fumble a question. He should fear no reporter. He's also said my coverage of him has always been fair (he's said that in the past, not yesterday but he didn't contradict me yesterday when I said it.) Which is why it was frustrating that he clammed up during the campaign. Let me ask the questions. You decide how and if to answer them. That's the rules of the game, to me.

I've heard he was upset that I didn't play by the rules -- while every other reporter in the room did -- at his press conference last August in Buffalo. From my POV, I played by the rules. He broke the rules.

May 18, 2019, 12:16pm Permalink
Ray Richardson

That was kind of my point, you have to play by HIS rules. He makes them up as he goes along. From what you just wrote it sounds like he's talking out of both sides of his mouth. I wouldn't give him the time of day. Then again I don't run a news service. Carry on brother.

May 18, 2019, 7:24pm Permalink
Sammy DiSalvo

What I read from this article (correct me if I'm wrong) is essentially: I didn't like another media outlet that I consider 'fake news' so I didn't talk to the Batavian.
I don't understand that logic if the two are unrelated.

Also, the secondary meaning of his statements sound like: I didn't need to talk to you for my strategy to win so I didn't talk to you. Now I'm reaching out in case I need something in 2020.

Are those interpretations of what Collins said incorrect?

May 21, 2019, 1:50pm Permalink

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