Sen. Ossoff: “I am demanding that Congressman Mike Collins cooperate with this federal investigation into the illegal misuse of tax dollars—that he commit to testify in this matter, and that he explain to Georgia voters and the press why he has refused to answer questions, refused to testify, stonewalled and obstructed the Office of Congressional Conduct.”
Atlanta, Ga. — Today, Senator Jon Ossoff held a virtual press conference to demand that GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins testify in the ongoing ethics investigation into his misuse of taxpayer dollars.
During the press conference, the Senator called on Collins to explain to Georgia voters and press why he has refused to answer questions, refused to testify, and obstructed the Office of Congressional Conduct after a federal investigation was launched by the House Ethics Committee into how Collins allowed his former chief of staff, who had been convicted of criminal battery, to illegally funnel thousands of federal tax dollars to a girlfriend who did no work for the office.
The Senator also directly quoted the bipartisan Office of Congressional Conduct report that detailed how “Collins refused to cooperate,” before formally recommending that the Committee on Ethics subpoena the congressman. Senator Ossoff said:
“Here are some quotes from the report issued by the Office of Congressional Conduct, a bipartisan official body of the United States House of Representatives. They wrote, ‘Rep. Collins has not responded to any communications or requests from the OCC.’ [p.35]
“They wrote that, ‘In so doing, Congressman Collins refused to cooperate with the OCC.’ [p.36] Accordingly, they wrote, ‘The board recommends that the Committee on Ethics issue subpoenas to Representative Michael Collins.’ [p.37].
“Now, remember, this is in the document in which the Office of Congressional Conduct stated, ‘There is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Collins used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes,’ [p.1] and furthermore, the Office of Congressional Conduct, in the course of their investigation, interviewed several witnesses, and this is a quote again from the Office of Congressional Conduct, ‘Several witnesses—including current and former House staffers—expressed to the OCC concerns about possible retaliation for their cooperation with this review.’ [p.7]”
Last week, ethics experts Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United, and Ambassador Norm Eisen, co-founder and Board Member of the Democracy Defenders Action, sounded the alarm and demanded that Collins be transparent with Georgia voters after months of refusing to cooperate with the ethics investigation into his misuse of taxpayer dollars.
Collins’ U.S. Senate campaign has so far been plagued by a number of controversies, including his disturbing “close ties” to white nationalism and his office’s work with notorious white nationalists – such as Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer – to try to get a Holocaust denier out of jail. Collins has also faced public outrage over his antisemitic harassment of a Jewish reporter and his praise for the viciously racist harassment with monkey sounds of a Black woman on a college campus.
WATCH FULL PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
“As you’re all aware, Congressman Mike Collins is under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars. What you may not be aware of, is that, according to the Office of Congressional Conduct, Congressman Collins has been stonewalling, and obstructing, and refusing to cooperate with the investigation of this wrongdoing,” said Sen. Ossoff.
