The chief of staff for Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins is facing ethical concerns after a report from a nonpartisan congressional watchdog alleged the aide used congressional resources to hire and pay his girlfriend as an office intern, where she “did no work.”
Brandon Phillips’ romantic partner, Caroline Craze, was paid in 2023 and 2024 as a district intern for Collins, but “has never worked a day in the district office,” the Office of Congressional Conduct wrote in a report released Monday.
“The OCC received multiple submissions of information alleging that an individual paid by Rep. Collins’s office as a district intern did no work for the member’s district office,” the report states.
An attorney representing Collins and Phillips did not immediately respond to a request for comment from HuffPost. However, in a letter dated Dec. 31, 2025, the attorney requested the House Committee on Ethics vote to dismiss the allegations.
The attorney said the OCC got its information from two “disgruntled, former members” of Collins’ staff and that Phillips’ decision to hire Craze was “proper.”
“This intern provided valuable assistance to the Office throughout both years regarding communications and other work of the Office,” the attorney wrote, adding that Craze “has continued this important work in 2025.”
The watchdog report, which cited testimonies from seven witnesses composed of current and former Collins staffers, alleged that Craze did “not fit the usual profile of an intern” and did “not appear to have been hired through the usual process.”
For instance, current and former staffers said Craze did not show up to the office, despite her supposed role being in-person, and that all of Collins’ other district interns were students. According to a screenshot of Craze’s LinkedIn profile cited in the report, she was not a student in 2023 or 2024, during the internship, but graduated from Auburn University in 2020.
“She is in a relationship with Brandon Phillips. To my knowledge, she is not a student in any program which would be aligned for rules for an intern,” one witness said, according to the report.
The report also stated that Craze was paid $5,044.00 for two months of work as a district intern in 2023, then $5,244.44 for two months of work the following year.
One witness told the OCC that Craze was never employed at the district office, nor was she ever present there. They said they were “unsure what role she had.”
“I’ve never met her. … I’ve never spoken to her. I’ve never communicated to her. I’ve never seen her in person,” one witness allegedly told the OCC.
Some witnesses, however, told the OCC Craze may have had “a limited role” in supporting some work carried out by Collins’ staff in 2023 and 2024.
One former staffer recalled Craze helping in 2023, but assisting “in her capacity as Brandon Phillips’[s] girlfriend.” One witness said Craze had been helping with social media and communications. Another witness, having heard that Craze had been assisting with social media, stated she “was not a regular presence that I’m aware of” and added that Phillips himself “very much controls social media.”
Neither Collins nor Phillips has been charged with any wrongdoing. Still, the OCC said in its report that if Phillips used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes, he may have violated federal law, House rules and standards of conduct.
The House Ethics Committee is reviewing the allegations against Collins and Phillips. The OCC report noted that neither man fully cooperated with its review. The board recommends that the ethics committee issue the two subpoenas.
The office of Collins — a supporter of President Donald Trump and currently running for Senate — and Phillips told Politico in a statement, “This bogus complaint is a sad attempt to derail one of Georgia’s most effective conservative legislators in Congress.”
The statement went on, “Rep. Collins looks forward to providing the House Ethics Committee all factual information and putting these meritless allegations to rest.”
Phillips has come under scrutiny in the past. In 2016, he resigned from his position as Trump’s Georgia state director after his 2008 charge of battery and felony criminal damage came into the spotlight. He pleaded guilty to lesser trespassing and battery charges after admitting to destroying a person’s laptop and slashing another person’s tires.
Phillips was arrested again in 2022 on a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after being accused of kicking a dog, Politico reported at the time.