Can Chris Collins be re-elected while indicted?

Michael Grimm has some tough truth for Representative Chris Collins, the New York Republican indicted on Wednesday for insider trading: It might seem bad now, and it won’t get better anytime soon.

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“He’s going to have a really, really difficult emotional time,” said Mr. Grimm, who is also a New York Republican. “And whether he knows it or not, a lot of Washington is going to look at him as a pariah.”

Mr. Grimm would know. He, too, was indicted while serving in Congress. He, like Mr. Collins, professed his innocence. And he, like Mr. Collins, ran for re-election anyway. And won.

The brotherhood of members of Congress who have won re-election while under indictment is exceedingly small and its most recent, and vocal, inductee is Mr. Grimm, who carried his Staten Island seat back in 2014 despite the weight of a 20-count indictment on his shoulders.

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