A top aide to a Georgia Republican congressman is facing fresh scrutiny after investigators alleged he quietly put his girlfriend on the federal payroll—despite evidence she never showed up for the job.
Brandon Phillips, 39, the chief of staff to Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, is accused of funding a paid congressional internship to a woman he was romantically involved with while she was simultaneously working full-time elsewhere, according to a newly released report from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC).
The findings were laid out in a 33-page referral, which was made public on Monday, and have now been sent to the House Ethics Committee for further review.
The OCC said it found “substantial reason to believe” that Phillips violated House rules by participating in the hiring and retention of Caroline Craze, 26, who was paid as a district office intern despite allegedly performing no work for Collins’ office.
Investigators concluded Craze received more than $10,000 as a district intern in roughly four months while holding a full-time job elsewhere.
According to the report, Craze’s own LinkedIn profile lists her as working as an “Internal Consultant” at Cox Communications from January 2022 through January 2024, which overlaps with the period when the congressional office was paying her. The OCC said multiple witnesses independently reported that Craze never worked in the office.
“Ms. Craze never performed any duties in or for Rep. Collins’s District Office,” investigators wrote, despite being paid as an intern.
The report further alleges that Phillips failed to disclose the romantic relationship and improperly used his position to grant “special favors or privileges” to someone with whom he had a personal connection. House rules prohibit members and staff from engaging in biased employment decisions that benefit romantic partners.
Additionally, the report alleges Phillips misused Collins’ office funds for “non-official travel-related expenses, including personal and campaign-related expenses.” However, the report notes that the OCC would need Phillips and Collins’ full cooperation to corroborate the travel questions.
Collins’ office is standing behind its controversial staffer and forcefully rejected the allegations. In a statement, the congressman’s office called the complaint a politically motivated attack, describing it as “a sad attempt to derail one of Georgia’s most effective conservative legislators in Congress.”
In a letter published with the report, Russell Duncan, an attorney for both Phillips and Collins, urged the Ethics Committee to dismiss the referral, arguing it relied on testimony from “two disgruntled, former members of Congressman Collins’ staff.”
The referral also revisits Phillips’ past legal troubles. The report states that several witnesses expressed “fears of retaliation from Mr. Phillips,” which stemmed in part from their “awareness of public reporting of past violent criminal behavior.”
In 2022, Phillips was arrested on a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge after he was accused of kicking a woman’s dog. He was later released on a $1,200 bond.
That arrest was not Phillips’ first brush with scandal. He resigned as executive director from the Trump–Pence Georgia campaign in 2016 after reports of earlier criminal trespassing and battery charges resurfaced.
The House Ethics Committee is now reviewing the referral. Neither Phillips nor Collins has been formally charged, but the OCC recommended that subpoenas be issued for both after concluding they did not fully cooperate with the initial investigation.
While the Ethics Committee’s review could take months, the referral draws renewed attention to Phillips, whose current employment status with Collins’ office has not been disclosed.
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