Congressman Mike Collins (R-GA), the Republican nominee for a hotly contested U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, spent over $400,000 of taxpayer money designated for office expenses on TV ads that are virtually indistinguishable from his campaign ads.

Collins paid for these ads using funds provided for the operation of his congressional office. Although it is permissible for such funds to be used for "mass communications" to constituents, the House Communications Standards Manual states that such communications "should not be used for political or personal business." Further, the manual states that mass communications paid for with office funds should contain "no campaign content" and "no content laudatory of a Member on a personal or political basis."

"Congressman Mike Collins. Mike you were fantastic," President Trump says at the beginning of one ad paid for with Collins' office funds. A narrator then states, "Mike Collins is protecting Georgia by working with President Trump to pass the Laken Riley Act." The 30-second ad concludes by playing Trump's praise of Collins again. "He loves this state and he took this very personally," Trump says. "Thank you, Mike." The only indication that the ad is not a campaign ad appears in small type for four seconds: "PAID FOR WITH OFFICIAL FUNDS BY THE OFFICE OF MIKE COLLINS."

Indeed, Collins' Senate campaign is currently running an ad that is substantively identical. Both ads include the exact same quote from Trump praising Collins, paired with the same video. In his taxpayer-funded ad, a narrator says Collins is "protecting Georgia by working with President Trump to pass the Laken Riley Act." In his campaign ad, Collins says he "wrote the Laken Riley Act... to protect Georgia families."

. . .