New reports have now confirmed that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant raid against Tennessee MAGA Republican House Rep. Andy Ogles last week, in connection to months of scrutiny over major discrepancies that were discovered in his official financial disclosures.
Local News Channel 5 Nashville reported that the search warrant raid “may have been limited to Ogles’ electronic devices.” However, the report goes on to note that the “details of exactly what areas were authorized to be searched remain murky.”
At the heart of the scandal is a false claim made by the MAGA House Rep. in his official financial disclosure form, in which Ogles asserted that he had loaned his congressional campaign $320,000, yet a look into his personal finances quickly determined that the congressman had insufficient personal assets to even pull off a loan of such a sizeable amount.
Earlier this year, Ogles was the subject of a complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), raising serious questions and concerns about the true origins of this 6-figure loan to Ogles’ campaign.
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“While it is possible that Rep. Ogles has a non-interest-bearing bank account, it would be highly unlikely that such an account would contain such a substantial amount of money like the $320,000 he loaned to his campaign,” the CLC complaint reads.
The News Channel 5 Nashville report on this development noted that Ogles suddenly filed amended paperwork in May of this year, acknowledging that he did not, in fact, loan $320,000 to his own campaign with his personal money.
“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,” the local report reads.
Ogles has previously admitted to “mistakes” in his campaign finance disclosures.
With regard to the $320,000 loan, the congressman also claims that this was a simple mistake.
“I am a grassroots representative, and I pledged everything I own to run for the honor of representing Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District,” Ogles said in a May statement. “That $320,000 pledge comprised several documented assets, including bank and retirement accounts, which I was ready to personally risk for the chance to fight for Middle Tennessee.”
“While we only needed to transfer $20,000, unfortunately, the full amount of my pledge was mistakenly included on my campaign’s FEC reports.”
Both Ogles’ attorney and the FBI have refused to confirm or deny the search warrant raid.
However, the Daily Mail captured photos of the incident.
Featured image via Official portrait of congressman-elect Andy Ogles, from Tennessee’s 5th District
