'Not ready to just go fishing and golfing,' Chris Collins returns – as social media influencer?

“I’m not ready to just go fishing and golfing,” Collins, the disgraced, imprisoned and then pardoned former congressman from New York's 27th Congressional District, said in a telephone interview with The Buffalo News on Thursday. “I’m not going away yet.”

That's for sure. 

One month and five days after leaving Florida's Federal Prison Camp Pensacola, Collins this week set up new social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And on all three, he made clear he plans to remain in the public eye after emerging from his abbreviated imprisonment.

"I have a lot to share with my many years of experience in the business world the political world, and also just current affairs," he said in a video he posted online. "So I hope you'll tune in to my various social media platforms, and we can have a communication going forward."

In the phone interview from his current home in Marco Island, Fla., Collins said he hopes to produce – with the help of his daughter, Caitlin – a weekly half-hour podcast to touch on business and political issues.

“The goal is for me to be able to express my opinion, and people can agree or disagree with me,” said Collins, 70. “But I think I can share my business experience, my experience after 12 years of elected office, and my issues with the ‘Department of Injustice.' ”

The former congressman said he has much to share about his experience as a federal inmate and will now work for prison reform. He has written to the director of the federal Bureau of Prisons outlining his complaints about conditions he experienced during his weeks incarcerated at the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola.

“I get letters from my friends there, and the prisoners tell me how dire the situation is,” he said. “Covid has now invaded that prison camp, which I saw coming.”

The Dec. 22 pardon, he said, may have saved his life by removing him from exposure to the coronavirus.

His letter to the bureau director, Collins said, highlights what he views as severe conditions at the prison and how various prisoner rights are routinely violated. That issue, he said, now ranks as a “passion” that he shared in his early January letter to the Bureau of Prisons director.

“It’s about how the Bureau of Prisons hides the truth and denies compassionate release to elderly and sick folks who pose no risk to society,” he said.

Collins' surprise return to the public sphere comes after a stunning downfall. The first member of the House to endorse Donald Trump for president nearly five years ago, Collins was arrested on felony insider trading charges in August 2018. He narrowly won reelection while under indictment and insisted on his innocence for 14 months, but then resigned from Congress and pleaded guilty on Oct. 1, 2019.

Collins admitted in court that, while attending a White House picnic in 2017, he passed inside stock information on to his son Cameron. Cameron Collins then shared that information with his girlfriend's family – a move that allowed him and that family to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock losses. Cameron Collins and his now father-in-law, Stephen Zarsky, also pleaded guilty and were sentenced to probation.

While Collins was sentenced to 26 months in prison, he ended up serving only 10 weeks, thanks to Trump's pardon.

That journey apparently left Collins with plenty to say.

"Please join me as I discuss my experience in politics, business, and prison. What do you all want to hear about? #businesscoach #BusinessNews #PrisonReform #prison," he posted on Twitter.

Judging from the initial public reaction, though, it appears that some people view Collins the social media influencer as either a curious distraction – or worse.

Kate Eskew, a local progressive activist and former candidate for Erie County Legislature, responded to Collins' initial tweet with a video of comedian Larry David saying: "Nobody wants you here!"

Meanwhile, Torin Rozzelle, a former aide to Nate McMurray, the Democrat who nearly beat Collins in 2018 – reacted with fury.

"I wonder what @Nate_McMurray and his followers have to say about you having the gall to show your face again," Rozelle tweeted. "You defrauded investors. You lied to your constituents. You wave being pardoned by Trump around like a badge of honor. How do you sleep at night?"

And Citizens for Real Leadership in NY27 – a group that began as "Citizens Against Collins" – tweeted: "I want to hear you BEG FOR FORGIVENESS for betraying the tens of thousands of hard-working moms, dads, students & seniors living & working & dying in #NY27. You lied to us, stole our right to representation & silenced our voices. And all in the name of #GREED."

Collins, who also served four years as Erie County executive, said he has no plans to run again for public office. He said he plans to use his social media platforms to weigh in on issues such as help for small business or the minimum wage, including current bills before Congress.

“I think I have some insight,” he said, “and on more than one occasion I have surprised people with my stance on issues that do not just toe the conservative line.”

Collins spent much of the 2016 election year as a frequent guest on cable TV on behalf of the Trump campaign. He said he is interested, to some extent, in reprising that role.

“If I can have people scratch their heads and say ‘I never thought of it that way,’ then OK,” he said. “Right now, the country is on fire, and maybe I can be part of a dialogue.”

And with that thought in mind, Collins started sharing his thoughts on Twitter, lauding the fact that the Bureau of Prisons was offering vaccines at Pensacola and describing what he calls "The Department of Injustice" as "1. Incompetent 2. Inefficient 3. Insensitive 4. Indifferent 5. Inhumane."

And, perhaps predictably, Collins still has some thoughts on stock trading.

After Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Bronx Democrat, tweeted that it's "unacceptable" that the Robinhood app blocked small investors amid the run-up in GameStop stock, Collins tweeted: "@aoc is right: - Big Money and Big Tech have to be held accountable for attacking the little guy #LetThemTrade."