The man behind Mike Collins’ rise now faces mounting scrutiny
Wherever U.S. Rep. Mike Collins goes, Brandon Phillips is rarely far behind. The Republican congressman has kept Phillips close despite a trail of controversies that long predates their personal and professional ties.
Once President Donald Trump’s Georgia point man, Phillips helped Collins capture his deep-red district in 2022 then worked to position him as the early GOP front-runner in this year’s Senate race against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.
But Phillips also brings a contentious history, marked by run-ins with law enforcement and allegations of violent behavior. Now he’s facing an official ethics inquiry centering on allegations that Phillips misused taxpayer funds and paid his girlfriend for a no-show internship.
The claims, under review by the House Ethics Committee, threaten to complicate Collins’ campaign as he competes in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.
The allegations haven’t deterred Collins, who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he has no plans to cut ties with his right-hand man. Phillips recently was given a new title of senior policy adviser.
“He’s a great guy, and I have full confidence in him,” Collins said.
But they do put a spotlight on a canny operative who has built a reputation — and a growing client list — as someone both revered and feared in Georgia GOP politics.
“He is a fierce competitor who can win against insurmountable odds,” said state Rep. James Burchett, a Valdosta Republican who has hired Phillips in the past. “Serious candidates want him fighting in their corner, and as important, (they) don’t want him in the other camp.”
To Phillips’ admirers, he is a shrewd strategist with a knack for translating Trump’s appeal to homegrown candidates. To his critics, he is a political liability waiting to explode.
“Everyone that’s worked in Georgia politics longer than a day knows this guy’s a time bomb,” said Jefferson Thomas, a strategist for a PAC backing GOP rival Derek Dooley’s campaign.
“So the question for Mike Collins is: Are you just naive, or do you like enabling staffers who defraud taxpayers out hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
Phillips declined to be interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Ethics probe
A Jan. 5 report from the House Office of Congressional Conduct outlines Phillips’ alleged misuse of taxpayer funds as Collins’ chief of staff. But it also portrays a workplace that witnesses told investigators was rife with ethical lapses and potential rule violations.
Moreover, witnesses said they were worried about retaliation from Phillips, citing past reports of his violent behavior.
The House Ethics Committee said it was reviewing the matter to determine if either Phillips or Collins broke federal laws or congressional rules. A spokesperson for Collins said the lawmaker will cooperate with the Ethics Committee’s investigation and believes his office will be cleared of any wrongdoing.
The probe has rippled through the Senate race. Collins’ chief GOP rivals, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and Dooley, warned the controversy could undermine Republican efforts to flip a seat that party leaders worry is slipping away.
And Ossoff, who won his seat in 2021 by hammering an anti-corruption message, has signaled he could return to that playbook.
“Any misuse of taxpayer dollars is unacceptable and disturbing,” Ossoff told the AJC when news of the ethics probe broke earlier this month.
According to the congressional report, investigators found “substantial reason to believe” House rules were violated in Collins’ office when Phillips hired his girlfriend, Caroline Craze, as an intern at the district office in Monroe. Staffers said they never saw the girlfriend in the office and found no evidence she completed any work, but she was paid $10,200.
Craze appeared to work full time at Atlanta-based Cox Communications at the time, the Office of Congressional Conduct review said. Cox is the parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The same report outlined accusations that Phillips worked full time on campaigns during the summer of 2024 while continuing to collect his full congressional salary.
There also are questions about his use of congressional travel funds, possibly for campaign-related purposes or to pay for his personal commute to and from his home in ways that may violate the rules.
A Collins spokesperson dismissed the allegations as a “sad attempt to derail one of Georgia’s most effective conservative legislators in Congress.” He blamed “disgruntled” former staffers for the allegations and said he was confident they would be dismissed.
The scrutiny could grow. A separate Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of congressional spending records revealed that Phillips received roughly $180,000 in reimbursements for office-related expenses like printing and producing tele-town halls Phillips put on his credit card.
Collins’ office said the payments were “legitimate and permissible” thanks to a privilege that allows lawmakers to use congressional funds to communicate their official activities and agendas through advertisements and events targeting voters in their districts.
“None of the payments are income, nor do any staff have an ownership stake in any of the vendors used,” a spokesperson said.
The office provided receipts for five transactions showing Phillips was reimbursed, though it did not supply documentation for all of them. Three ethics experts contacted by the AJC say it’s worth a closer look.
“Given the extensive allegations of misusing public funds by Phillips, the receipt of another $180,000 by Phillips from the Republican’s official House budget for various mailings, advertisements and communications must also be closely scrutinized for abuse,” said Craig Holman, an ethics expert with Public Citizen, a Washington-based government watchdog group.
A contentious record
For veteran Georgia political observers, Phillips’ reemergence at the center of controversy fits a familiar pattern.
As comfortable hunting wild hogs as he was crafting campaign strategy, Phillips cultivated the image of a political brawler at ease in any terrain.
His social media accounts reinforced that persona, brimming with photos of political exploits — none more prominently displayed than a black-and-white image of Phillips striding alongside Donald Trump, both men flashing thumbs-up signs.
That bravado came with consequences. He resigned as Trump’s Georgia state director just weeks before the 2016 election after his guilty plea to criminal trespassing charges years prior resurfaced.
Court records from 2008 show he admitted he destroyed a laptop and slashed another person’s tires in Bibb County and was sentenced under first offender status to three years on probation and ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution.
Just months later, Phillips was charged with simple assault and battery in an altercation with a neighbor at a townhome complex, though the charges were dropped after he completed a pretrial diversion program.
His temper would follow him. In November 2022, he was charged with a misdemeanor in Dougherty County for allegedly kicking GOP activist Tifani Eledge’s dog. At the time, Eledge and Phillips were in a dispute after she publicly accused him of mishandling Republican Party funds. Prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue charges.
“He tries to intimidate, threaten and get people to back down who want to investigate him. I did what I had to do,” Eledge said. “I told authorities.”
Attorney William Shingler, who represented Phillips at the time, said the dog-kicking case hinged on a single eyewitness loyal to Eledge even though it took place in a crowded room during a Herschel Walker Senate campaign event.
In July 2024, Phillips was in a scuffle at a Trump campaign office opening in Valdosta, where he was accused of spitting in the face of a paper-ballot advocate with a history of confronting political leaders. Phillips denied spitting on the activist.
And this month, a video circulated that appears to show Phillips in a brawl at a Washington bar last summer. Neither Phillips nor other staffers on Collins’ campaign or in his congressional office would comment on the footage, though they did not deny the video shows Phillips throwing a punch. The Republican pollster identified as the other person in the fight video also did not respond to the AJC’s inquiries.
The allegations haven’t slowed his career. In fact, some Republicans hire him because of his image as an enforcer who is valued for his willingness to do anything to win.
During the heated 2017 special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, the Phillips-run Bob Gray campaign delighted in getting under rivals’ skin with a no-holds-barred brand of political gamesmanship.
Phillips won a bidding war for the staff of another rival, tea party organizer Amy Kremer, after they quit her campaign en masse. He also hijacked a hashtag used by a long-shot competitor, further needling opponents in a crowded field.
An April Fool’s prank upped the ante with a press release claiming that Karen Handel, the leading Republican and eventual winner of that contest, dropped out and endorsed Gray. Though clearly a hoax, it drew rebukes from local GOP leaders who publicly scolded Phillips’ stunt.
Despite years of Phillips’ questionable behavior, when Collins entered a crowded 2022 race for an open U.S. House seat, he turned to the operative.
Phillips helped steer Collins to a runoff victory over Trump-backed Vernon Jones, a former Democrat with a long history of allegations of threatening, intimidating and harassing women in his personal and professional lives.
In the heat of the runoff campaign, Collins posted a photo of a red “rape whistle” on social media and a pink handgun along with a website highlighting allegations against Jones. Jones denied the accusations.
After Collins defeated Jones in the runoff, he moved quickly to reward the operative who had helped engineer the win, tapping Phillips as his chief of staff.
Phillips has remained at the top of many GOP hiring lists, lending his hard-edged style to other rising Republicans, including state Sen. Greg Dolezal’s bid for lieutenant governor and District Attorney Clay Fuller, who seeks to replace U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The stakes are much higher now for both Collins and Phillips.
The congressman is no longer just representing a safely conservative northeast Georgia district. He’s the Republican front-runner in a race that could help determine control of the Senate.
And Phillips is out of the shadows, facing more scrutiny than ever before.
“Politics is a rough sport, and they say nice guys finish last,” Phillips said. “I like winning.”
About the Authors
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
