(The Center Square) – The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics said in a report there is “substantial reason” to believe that U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., “omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports.”
The panel is recommending a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee after months of scrutiny.
The questions center on a $320,000 personal loan Ogles said he gave his campaign in July 2022 during the Republican primary for his congressional seat. Ogles amended his campaign statement in 2024 and said the loan was actually only $20,000.
“Rep. Ogles did not cooperate with the OCE’s review, limiting the OCE’s ability to identify the source of the alleged $20,000 loan,” the report said. “Neither Rep. Ogles’s campaign treasurer nor his campaign manager could definitively confirm the source of the congressman’s $20,000 loan.”
Ogles, his wife and several banks did not cooperate with the investigation.
The congressman’s campaign staff told the panel that they were primarily kept in the dark about the finances and did not know why Ogles said he loaned the campaign $320,000.
“It just looks better when you have more money, right, and scare away the competition and buy the primary. That’s my best guess, but I – I don’t know,” one of the campaign staffers told the committee.
The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from Ogles before publication.
Ogles said in an August 2024 social media post the FBI seized his cellphone.
“It is my understanding that they are investigating the same well-known facts surrounding these filings,” Ogles said. “I will of course fully cooperate with them, just as I have with the Federal Election Commission. I am confident all involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancies were based on honest mistakes, and nothing more.”
Ogles staved off nine Republican challengers in the 2022 Republican primary, including former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell. He was reelected in November after defeating fellow Republican and Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston in the primary election and Democrat Maryam Abolfazli in the general election.
