The first two members of Congress to publicly support Donald Trump for president have been indicted, and the three men who were next in line to back him have weathered significant scandals.
Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and his son face charges of securities fraud in connection with a pharmaceutical company. The Republican congressman is accused of sharing private information with son Cameron Collins in order to sell shares before the public announcement of a drug trial failure that led the company’s stock to fall 92 percent.
Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and his wife were indicted by a grand jury in San Diego on charges of filing false campaign finance records. The couple is accused of using more than $250,000 in campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, such as their children’s school tuition, restaurant outings, and shopping mall purchases.
Jeff Sessions gave a significant boost of establishment credibility to Trump’s campaign when, as a U.S. senator from Alabama, he endorsed him in the GOP primary. Sessions, who is now attorney general, had to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election after questions emerged about his interactions with Russian officials during the Trump presidential campaign.
Reps. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), a physician, presented himself as anti-abortion and pro-family, but he pressured his mistress ― who was also his patient ― to get an abortion.
Tom Marino (R-Pa.) withdrew from consideration as Trump’s drug czar after an investigation found that he sponsored legislation that made it harder for the Drug Enforcement Agency to battle the opioid epidemic.