House Ethics Committee mulls probing scandal-plagued Republican: report

The House Ethics Committee is mulling over whether to investigate Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), according to a report.

Ogles's 2022 loan to his campaign committee could have violated House ethics rules. The Office of Congressional Ethics, a separate investigator body, recommended the probe.

Ogles, who just won his re-election despite the financial scandals, was said to have personally loaned $320,000 to his campaign despite showing no assets in his financial disclosure report. Ogles even claimed he didn't have a checking or savings account, leading to confusion about how he loaned the money to himself.

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In January 2024, the Campaign Legal Center compared the Tennessee Republican to disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) in a complaint with the ethics office, alleging Ogles misrepresented his background and failed to properly report personal loans to his campaign, according to WTVF-TV.

In May, Ogles amended paperwork acknowledging that he did not loan his campaign $320,000.

"Other amendments to his campaign financial reports resulted in Ogles retracting claims regarding thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and expenditures that he had previously reported to the Federal Election Commission," News Channel 5 Nashville reported.

By August, the FBI executed a search warrant for the MAGA lawmaker. The search "may have been limited to Ogles’ electronic devices," but "details of exactly what areas were authorized to be searched remain murky," News Channel 5 Nashville said.

The Local Tennesee Lookout then reported a discrepancy in Ogles' campaign finance numbers. The Republican claimed to have raised $2 million for his campaign while spending $1.4 million.

"Ogles should have around $600,000 in cash available. His disclosure shows he has just over $300,000 in cash in his campaign account, leaving another $300,000 unaccounted for," said the report.

"I think the biggest question is, where did this money come from? It's not clear from his financial disclosure reports where he got the money for this loan," said Campaign Legal Center counsel Danielle Coulter in November 2023.