Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Rep. Ogles Confirms FBI Took His Phone After Primary Win Amid Campaign Finance ‘Discrepancies’

Screenshot/X/AndyOgles

Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee confirmed on Tuesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took possession of his cell phone last week as part of the investigation into his campaign’s financial filings.

Ogles confirmed via a post on X that the FBI took his cell phone into their possession just a day after the freshman congressman won his primary bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. The House Freedom Caucus member said that the FBI search is in relation to “well-known facts” surrounding “mistakes in [his] initial financial filings,” and he vowed to “fully cooperate” with the bureau and the Federal Election Commission.

“It has been widely reported for months that my campaign made mistakes in our initial financial filings,” Ogles said in the post. “We have worked diligently with attorneys and reporting experts to correct the errors and ensure compliance going forward.”

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

“It is my understanding that they are investigating the same well-known facts surrounding these filings,” Ogles said in the post. “I will of course fully cooperate with them, just as I have with the Federal Election Commission. I am confident all involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancies were based on honest mistakes, and nothing more.”

The FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee both told the Daily Caller News Foundation that they would neither “confirm nor deny” the initial reports surrounding the FBI search.

Ogles’ campaign discrepancy surrounded a $320,000 loan that Ogles reported he made to his own campaign in 2022, according to The Hill. The Campaign Legal Center subsequently filed a complaint with the Congressional Ethics Office in January for failing to disclose “the assets that he purportedly used” to take out the loan and for failing to report a $700,000 line of credit he opened in 2022.

Ogles’ office and his attorney both did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.