Former aide to Mike Collins dropped from House Ethics probe
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mike Collins’ dismissal of his senior adviser after a social media firestorm has impacted the House Ethics Committee investigation of the congressman and that same aide.
After former chief of staff Brandon Phillips was fired in May, the committee lost jurisdiction over him because he was no longer a House employee. Collins is still under scrutiny as part of that same probe. But it might be months, if not years, before a final report is ready to be released.
Collins’ term in the House ends in January. If the Ethics Committee has not released its findings by then, the entire case could go away.
Throughout his campaign for the Senate, Collins has called the situation a “nothing burger” and said the review will show he did nothing wrong.
A spokesman for the Jackson Republican reiterated that stance Friday.
“This has been a bogus and politically motivated complaint since Day One, and we look forward to the committee fully clearing Rep. Collins in short order,” spokesman Corbin Keown said.
Both of Collins’ opponents in the Republican primary for the Senate race, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter and former football coach Derek Dooley, said concerns raised by the ethics investigation would dog Collins’ campaign and make it tougher to beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
But that didn’t stop Collins from getting the most votes in the May primary and later defeating Dooley in the June runoff with 55.5% of the vote.
Despite suggestions from some party insiders that he should cut ties with Phillips because of the inquiry, Collins stuck beside his right-hand man.
That changed on May 22 after Phillips wrote a post on Collins’ campaign account on the social media site X days after he advanced to the runoff. The post mocked a Dooley operative whose wife attempted suicide after accusing former NBC host Matt Lauer of rape.
Collins said the post was “despicable and unauthorized” and that he was immediately letting Phillips go.
Phillips may no longer be the focus of the ethics inquiry, but he could still be asked to answer questions or supply documents as the committee determines if Collins violated any laws or rules.
The Ethics Committee does not comment on cases while they are pending other than as required by law. The panel announced in November that a complaint had been received and was under review, but no other details were shared at the time.
Two months later, the Office of Congressional Conduct released a report that said there is “substantial reason to believe” that Collins used congressional funds to pay Phillips for unofficial or unauthorized purposes. The report also alleged Phillips may have collected his government salary while working on campaign activity.
And it alleged that Phillips’ girlfriend was paid more than $5,000 as an intern for Collins although she never did any work and held another full-time job at the same time.