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U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles amended nearly a dozen past campaign finance reports this week, acknowledging that a reported $320,000 personal loan he made to his campaign never happened.
The Republican representative for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District has been under scrutiny for his financial reporting for months, and last year, he paid a fine to the Federal Election Commission for seemingly unrelated violations.
According to the amended reports, Ogles loaned his campaign for Congress just $20,000.
“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 statement Thursday. “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.”
However, the amended reports raise further questions about his campaign finances.
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In addition to removing the $300,000 loan that never made its way to the campaign, Ogles’ report for the first quarter of 2024 shows notable changes in his contributions and disbursements. In the original report, filed in April, Ogles reported raising nearly $86,000 in the first three months of the year and spending more than $78,000, leaving him with almost $450,000 on hand. In the amended report for the same period, filed Wednesday, Ogles reported raising no money and spending just $1,321.90 in the first three months of the year, leaving him with less than $100,000 on hand. The Ogles campaign could not be reached for further comment.
The Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog group that filed a formal complaint about Ogles, based some of its accusations on Ogles’ separate personal financial disclosure filings, which showed that he had few assets, income or savings, making a personal loan of any significance implausible.
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Danielle Caputo, CLC’s legal counsel for ethics, tells the Banner that the group is still reviewing the amended filings.
“What were all of those disbursements that were listed?" says Caputo. "And what’s going on now? All of this is just very odd, to say the least. As of right now, we have ended up with more questions than we had at the time we filed the complaint.”
Ogles was first elected in 2022 when he emerged from a crowded Republican primary to represent the redrawn 5th District, which formerly encompassed all of Nashville and favored Democrats. Previously, he worked for the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity and was mayor of Maury County.
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In addition to his campaign finance troubles, Ogles has faced scrutiny for his response to the Covenant School shooting in his district and his flip-flopping on Republican leadership of the House. Now, Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston is challenging him in the GOP primary, and Nashville gun control advocate Maryam Abolfazli is running for the seat as a Democrat.
“Andy Ogles lied to the federal government and got caught,” Johnston said in a statement Thursday. “Normal folks get in big trouble for lying to the feds about money, but Andy is a politician who thinks he deserves a free pass and two more years of a taxpayer salary. If Andy Ogles is willing to lie about his own money, what won’t he lie about? Voters in Middle Tennessee deserve a member of Congress they can trust.”
