FBI Raids MAGA Rep. Andy Ogles Over Campaign Donations Days After He Defeated RINO in GOP Primary
FBI agents executed a search warrant late last week on Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles as the first-term Republican faces continuing scrutiny over fraudulent campaign financial reports that he filed, NewsChannel 5 has confirmed.
Reached by telephone Tuesday, Ogles’ attorney declined to comment, although he did not deny that his client had been targeted for a search by federal authorities.
“I’m not going to confirm or deny that there was a search warrant issued,” the attorney, G. Kline Preston IV, told NewsChannel 5 Investigates in a brief conversation.
Details of exactly what areas were authorized to be searched remain murky, although individuals familiar with such investigations suggested the warrant may have been limited to Ogles’ electronic devices.
A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment, referring questions about Ogles to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.
“Pursuant to department policy, we have no comment,” U.S. Attorney spokesperson Mark Wildasin said in an email to NewsChannel 5.
Law enforcement sources in Maury County, where Ogles’ home is located, were not notified about any searches, although one source was told that the FBI had executed a search warrant somewhere in the county in recent days.
Neighbors in the sparsely populated rural area told NewsChannel 5 Investigates that they had not seen any unusual activity around the congressman’s home.
Execution of the search warrant came immediately after Ogles defeated Courtney Johnston in the Republican primary as he seeks a second term in the U.S. Congress. Department of Justice guidelines generally prohibit law enforcement from taking any overt actions in investigations of a political candidate in the 60 days before an election.
Back in May, Ogles filed a series of amended campaign financial reports, admitting he had not personally loaned his campaign $320,000 as he had reported back in 2022.
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.
That development came several months after NewsChannel 5 Investigates raised questions about whether Ogles had the financial resources to make that personal loan. Despite having reported making the $320,000 personal loan, Ogles' personal financial disclosures did not show any substantial investments — not even a savings account.
A watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center, later filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, comparing Ogles’ conduct to disgraced New York Congressman George Santos.
Santos is now facing a criminal indictment that accuses him of reporting non-existent personal loans to his campaign in order to be eligible for other campaign contributions.
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/fbi-agents-execute-search-warrant-on-tennessee-congressman-andy-ogles-newschannel-5-confirms