Republican Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee said on Tuesday that the FBI had seized his phone in an investigation into issues with his campaign finance reporting. The first-term member of the conservative Freedom Caucus said on social platform X that the FBI had seized his phone last Friday, and pledged to fully cooperate with the FBI, saying he has already cooperated with the Federal Election Commission. Ogles had just defeated his opponent in the Republican primary with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump the day before. Ogles said he understood the FBI was investigating errors in his initial financial reporting that “have been widely reported for months.” Among the discrepancies was that Ogles reported he had loaned $320,000 to his 2022 campaign, but in recent months he revised his reporting and removed the loan. “I am confident that all parties involved will conclude that the discrepancies in the reporting were based on honest mistakes and nothing more,” Ogles said in the post. Ogles also faced an ethics complaint in January over personal and campaign finances from the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center, which compared him to expelled Republican Rep. George Santos of New York. An FBI spokesman said Justice Department policy meant the agency could not confirm or deny an investigation and referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. An official with the office declined to comment. Ogles faces Democrat Mariam Abol-Fazli in the November election. Her campaign did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Last Thursday, Ogles beat her well-funded Republican opponent, Nashville City Councilman Courtney Johnston, by 12 percentage points, but Johnston described Ogles as a “scandal-ridden, do-nothing window-dresser.” Ogles won his seat in 2022 after Republicans redrawn the state’s districts in their favor after the last census, splitting the heavily Democratic Nashville area into three seats and forcing then-Nashville Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper into retirement. Ogles is the former mayor of Maury County, two counties south of Nashville.
Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said Tuesday that the FBI had seized his cellphone in an investigation into issues with his campaign finance reports.
The first-time member of the conservative Freedom Caucus said on social platform X that the FBI seized his phone last Friday and that he was already cooperating with the Federal Election Commission, promising to cooperate fully with the FBI.
Ogles had just defeated his opponent in the Republican primary the previous day, receiving the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
Ogles said it was his understanding that the FBI was investigating “inaccuracies in his initial financial reports that have been widely reported for several months.” Among the inconsistencies is that Ogles reported loaning $320,000 to his 2022 campaign, but then amended his report in recent months to remove the loan.
“We are confident that all parties involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancy was the result of an honest mistake and nothing more,” Ogles said in the post.
Ogles also faced an ethics complaint in January from the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center over personal and campaign finances, in which the group compared him to ousted Republican Rep. George Santos of New York.
An FBI spokesman said Justice Department policy meant the agency could not confirm or deny an investigation and referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, where officials declined to comment.
Ogules is facing Democrat Mariam Abol-Fazli in the November election. Her campaign did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Last Thursday, Mr. Ogles defeated his well-funded Republican opponent, Nashville City Council Member Courtney Johnston, by 12 percentage points, despite Ms. Johnston calling Mr. Ogles a “scandalous, do-nothing pretense.”
Ogles won his seat in 2022 after Republicans redrawn the state’s districts in their favor after the last census, splitting the Democratic-majority Nashville area into three seats and forcing then-Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville into retirement.
Ogles is a former mayor of Maury County, located two counties south of Nashville.
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