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this house ethics committee have Announce it will continue to investigate Georgia The office of Republican Rep. Mike Collins received a report that the congressman’s chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, paid an intern with whom he was romantically involved before the intern may have completed her work.
A report from the Office of Congressional Conduct last September said of the panel, accusation Phillips paid a woman named Caroline Craze more than $10,000 to provide services as a “district office paid intern” in late 2023 and early 2024.
However, former and current members of Collins’ office told the OCC that Kratz did not work for the Washington, D.C., congressman, and some claimed Phillips was in a relationship with her at the time.
“While several witnesses suggested that Ms. Craze may have had a limited role in supporting some of the work being done by Rep. Collins’ staff in 2023 and 2024, current and former staff members who worked in Rep. Collins’ Washington, D.C. office during the time Ms. Craze was on Rep. Collins’ payroll told the OCC that she never served as a D.C. intern, which, like the district intern position, was an in-person position,” the OCC report said.
The report concluded that there was “substantial reason to believe” that Collins and Phillips “did use congressional resources for unofficial or other unauthorized purposes” and “unfairly discriminated against by retaining employees with whom Mr. Phillips had a personal relationship to grant special preferences or privileges.”
The House committee stressed that its decision to extend the investigation did not indicate wrongdoing.
“This false complaint is a deplorable attempt to derail one of the most effective conservative legislators in Georgia’s Congress,” Collins’ office said. said in a statement to cope with the development of the situation.
“Rep. Collins looks forward to providing all factual information to the House Ethics Committee and putting these baseless accusations to rest.”
independent Collins’ office has been contacted for further comment.
Attorney Russell Duncan write to the committee On New Year’s Eve, Representatives Collins and Phillips urged it to dismiss the investigation, saying the allegations were made by “two disgruntled former staffers of Congressman Collins.”
He continued: “The evidence demonstrates that this temporary hire was appropriate and was made to assist the office in serving the interests of the district. Mr. Phillips’ decision to hire this intern was entirely within his discretion in managing the Congressman’s office.”
“This intern has provided valuable assistance to the office with communications and other tasks over the past two years.”
Collins owns a trucking company and is the son of former Congressman Mike Collins, who represents the Peach State’s 10th Congressional District.
He is known for his support of the president Donald TrumpFalse claims about 2020 election, calls for impeachment Joe Biden and former transportation minister Pete Buttigiegand drafting the Laken Riley Act, named for the University of Georgia nursing student who was murdered in 2024 by Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant who federal officials said was in the United States illegally.
The bill requires the detention without bail of non-citizens who have committed, are charged with, or plead guilty to certain crimes.
Collins is currently one of four Republicans vying for Georgia’s Democratic Senate seat. Jon Ossoff and emphasized his ties to Trump as part of his appeal to local voters.
Rep. Buddy Carter, former football coach Derek Dooley and businessman Reagan Box are also in the running for the Republican primary.
mountain describes phillips As “a long-time Republican operative in Georgia who worked on President Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns in the state.”