'Original MAGA' Georgia GOP official arrested for 'kicking and injuring' a dog
A former Georgia GOP official was arrested on November 17 for allegedly kicking and injuring a dog, Insider reports. The former executive director of the Fulton County Republican Party, Brandon Phillips faced “misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty.”
However, charges were dropped upon his completion of pre-trial counseling. He was released after paying the 1,200 bond on which he was held, but he was also given probation for 36 months, according to Politico.
Details of the August 23 incident – included in an affidavit – say that Phillips, 36, “was wearing a boot” when he kicked the dog that belongs to a woman named Tifani Eledge. The affidavit also mentions that the dog’s stomach was “cut with a blow.”
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This, however, is not the veteran Republican’s first public run-in with the law due to violent behavior. News of 2008 battery and felony charges against him surfaced in 2016, forcing Phillips to resign from his post as head of Donald Trump’s Georgia campaign.
Phillips is a close colleague of Georgia’s incoming Rep. Mike Collins, and – although, not yet formally announced – he is currently set to become Collin’s next chief of staff. Politico reports that three of Collins’ congressional staffers have confirmed his new role.
Phillips has not yet responded to Insider’s request for comment.
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