BUFFALO, N.Y. — Former Congressman Chris Collins was a little more than two months into his 26-month sentence for crimes related to insider trading on December 22, when now-former President Donald Trump issued him a pardon.

"I've spent the last month just trying to decide what I'm going to do going forward, enjoying the time with my family," Collins said in a Zoom interview from his Florida home.

He has mostly stayed out of the public eye but Wednesday evening he reemerged on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. He posted a video indicating he wanted to communicate with the general public.

Collins said he had a lot to share as a former politician, business owner, and prisoner. Thursday, he said he also plans to launch a podcast in the next few weeks.

"We decided, as I'm retired, not just to go fishing or golfing but to continue to be a voice during a tumultuous time in our country," Collins said.

He is vocal that, even in his short time in prison, he believed he was mistreated by the warden and the guards and conditions were routinely unsafe or inhumane. Collins said he remains in contact with other inmates, has sent a letter to the Bureau of Prisons, and is serious about becoming an advocate for prison reform.

"I lived it," Collins said. "I felt it and I've seen others who have been there a lot longer than I have or was and I want to kind of carry that message."

He is particularly critical of the COVID-19 procedures in Pensacola he says put the incarcerated population at risk.

"I'll be forever grateful to the president for pardoning me," Collins said. "I think the fact that COVID hit that prison eight days after I left, at my age with some health conditions, he may well have saved my life."

He said he's aware many people will have little sympathy for him but hopes they can consider other prisoners in his message.

"I would just ask them to step back for a moment and have some empathy and ask themselves what if it was someone in their family, someone next door," Collins said.

His foray into social media, something he allowed staff to handle as a public official, has also not been particularly well-received so far, with many people posting negative comments, but he plans to trudge forward.

"I just hope at some point, they may if they're reasonable people, step back and say, 'You know what? I still don't like the guy but he's doing things that are interesting.' And you know I think I'll be taking positions on some things that may surprise them," Collins said.

A few weeks after his release, Trump supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol where Collins used to work. He said like all Americans he was appalled.

He would not disclose his opinions about the former president's culpability or what the U.S. Senate should do with impeachment proceedings. Collins said as a private citizen, he wants to let things play out, but these are the kinds of conversations he expects to have on his podcast.