Who is Brandon Phillips? After Kash Patel, another Trump loyalist accused of giving girlfriend federal financial favours

While the world might not be in love with FBI chief Kash Patel, he seems to have set an example for some young Republican members. A top aide to a Georgia Republican congressman is facing massive backlash after investigators alleged that he quietly handed out a fake internship to his girlfriend and got her on the federal payroll, despite her never having shown up for the job.

Who is he?

Brandon Phillips, is a 39-year-old Chief of Staff to a Georgia representative. Mike Collins. Phillips has been accused of funding a paid congressional internship for a woman he was dating while she was simultaneously working elsewhere, as per a newly released report from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC).




The findings, revealed in a 33-page referral were made public on Monday and have been forwarded to the House Ethics Committee for further review.

As per the report, the OCC found "substantial reason to believe" that Phillips violated House rules by participating in the hiring and retention of Caroline Craze, 26, who was paid the dues of a district office intern despite never having worked at Collins' office.

Craze, for love

Craze received more than $10,000 in roughly four months for the alleged internship while she continued a full-time job elsewhere. As per the report, Craze's LinkedIn profile states her as working as an "Internal Consultant" at Cox Communications from January 2022 through January 2024. This overlaps with the period when the congressional office was paying her. Additionally, the OCC added that multiple witnesses had 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.

Craze's Instagram profile obtained by the OCC includes pictures of her alongside not only Phillips but also Trump himself. Many on the internet have been questioning if the Phillips' decision was approved by Collins, too.

Phillips on the contrary has been accused of failing to disclose the romantic relationship and improperly using his position to grant "special favours or privileges" to a person with whom he had a personal connection. House rules prohibit members and staff from engaging in biased employment decisions that benefit romantic partners.

A history of legal troubles

The report also mentioned Phillips' previous legal troubles. In 2022, he was arrested on a misdemeanour animal cruelty charge after he was accused of kicking a woman's dog. He was later released on a $1,200 bond.

He also resigned as executive director of the Trump-Pence Georgia campaign in 2016 after reports of earlier criminal trespassing and battery charges resurfaced.

As of now, Collin's office released a statement calling the complaint a politically motivated attack and describing it as “a sad attempt to derail one of Georgia’s most effective conservative legislators in Congress.”