TN Repbulican House rep. loans $320K to his campaign — but apparently doesn't have a bank account: report
A bombshell report revealed that Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) has not declared having a checking or savings account and has not revealed any investments — yet loaned his campaign more than $300,000.
The report from Nashville's News Channel 5
has prompted new questions about whether the lawmaker is trying to cover up his finances.
"It definitely raises big questions as to where that money came from," the Campaign Legal Center's Danielle Caputo said.
"How was he able to loan it because currently, his financial disclosure reports are not showing that sort of wealth that he could easily lend that money."
An
investigation by veteran reporter Phil Williams at News Channel 5 in January uncovered the failure by
Ogles to disclose his personal finances. In fact, he continued to ignore it into September when the Federal Election Commission threatened the lawmaker with an audit.
When they were finally filed, they showed he'd given his campaign a loan of $320,000.
"Please note that an overdue loan from the candidate’s personal funds may be considered a contribution from the candidate if new terms are not disclosed,”
the FEC letter stated.
"The former Maury County mayor had never been seen as a person of great wealth," Williams wrote.
"I think the biggest question is, where did this money come from?" It's not clear from his financial disclosure reports where he got the money for this loan," said
Campaign Legal Center counsel Danielle Coulter.
The more questions are asked, the more evasive Ogles becomes, Williams said.
The only assets that Ogles lists on his financial disclosures claim an investment property and three retirement accounts between him and his wife, Williams reported.
Ogles is no stranger to allegations of scams. After his son was stillborn, he started a crowd-funded memorial, then reportedly
pocketed $25,000 of the cash himself. He then admitted embellishing
his degree in international relations. Then it was uncovered that he
never studied economics, as he also claimed.
He told the public he was running a consulting firm from 2003 to 2010, which couldn't be corroborated either.
It's all unfolding at a time when another Republican congressman, Rep. George Santos (R-NY), is facing expulsion for false claims, including that he loaned his campaign $500,000. His campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, confessed to the Justice Department that Santos lied about the loan to get national support and attention to his race.
Caputo explained that, for now, there is no way for watchdog groups like hers to figure out what's missing from the financial disclosure.
newrepublic.com
