Tennessee 5th District Congressman confirms FBI fraud investigation

U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles confirmed Tuesday the FBI is conducting a fraud investigation into his campaign finances.

The Maury County Republican, who won the Republican primary over Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston for the 5th Congressional District seat last week, said in an online post federal agents confiscated his cell phone August 2 as part of the probe. He said he will “fully cooperate” with the investigation, which was first reported by NewsChannel5.

Ogles acknowledged media reports about “mistakes” his campaign made on its first financial filings with the Federal Election Commission and said in the post he has “worked diligently” with lawyers and experts to correct errors and comply with federal requirements.

“I am confident all involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancies were based on honest mistakes, and nothing more,” he said.

Ogles admitted this summer he didn’t lend his campaign $320,000 as he first reported in 2022. He also announced in early 2022 he had raised $453,000 in the first 30 days of his campaign, but a late report showed he brought in only $264,400 and claimed $584,000 in total receipts, a figure bolstered by the personal loan now said to be false.

It has been widely reported for months that my campaign made mistakes in our initial financial filings. We have worked diligently with attorneys and reporting experts to correct the errors and ensure compliance going forward. Last Friday, the FBI took possession of my cell phone.…

— Congressman Andy Ogles (@AndyOgles) August 6, 2024

The Federal Election Commission sent a second batch of warnings to Ogles in September 2023 notifying him it could audit his campaign finance account or take “enforcement action” for several violations, including excessive contributions from the House Freedom Caucus’ political action committee and possibly illegal corporate donations.

The agency notified Ogles’ treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, last summer that a detailed summary page of the congressman’s amended April and July quarterly reports appeared to be incorrect and violate federal campaign finance regulations. 

Datwyler also is at the heart of a campaign finance complaint filed by Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager, a Kingston Republican who claims collusion between a political action committee and U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger in connection with her son’s recent race against Sen. Jon Lundberg in Senate District 4. Harshbarger defeated Lundberg last Thursday in the primary. Datwyler is treasurer for both Rep. Harshbarger and the PAC.

In addition to questions about his campaign finances, Ogles came under fire early in his first two-year term for an inflated resume. He claimed to hold a degree from Vanderbilt’s Owen School of Business Management but held only a certificate for attending a seminar. Ogles, the former state director of Americans for Prosperity, also touted himself as an economist but had no formal training or a degree in economics.

In addition, NewsChannel5 reported he had raised nearly $25,000 in a GoFundMe request for a child’s burial garden but didn’t follow through as promised, leaving questions about where the money went.