NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a scandal involving a Tennessee congressman that just won't seem to go away because his stories keep changing.
That scandal – involving almost $25,000 that Ogles collected for a children’s burial garden that was never built – was revived this week when the Maury County Republican emphatically denied that he had ever solicited money from the public.
Now, multiple donors tell NewsChannel 5 they have one question for the second-term congressman: “What did you do with the money?”
We asked one woman to describe her gut reaction to the latest controversy.
Her response: "Outrage, honestly – because it's just a patent lie."
Ogles collected the money through a GoFundMe campaign back in 2014 using the photo of a stillborn child, promising that he would be purchasing 20 burial sites and donating them to families who lose their children. The burial site – which the GoFundMe page said would include a statue of Jesus – was to be called “Lincoln’s Place.”
That never happened.
This week, Ogles’ story changed again when he was asked about it at a news conference in Washington, and he insisted all the money had come from his family and himself.
“When it comes to the burial ground, you know, 52% of the money in that fund came from myself and my wife, the rest of it came from my family,” he told reporters.
The donor, who asked not to be identified because of fear of political reprisal, said the congressman was “trying to erase and gloss over that people in the general public really did contribute to this.
"It feels like a slap in the face,” she said. “It's insulting."
Related: Andy Ogles now denies raising $25,000 from public for children's burial garden that was never built
NewsChannel 5 Investigates heard from several donors who went back into the Internet Archive and found the original GoFundMe page for Lincoln’s Place. Some provided us with receipts from their personal GoFundMe accounts.
"It was a fantastic idea,” the woman said about Lincoln’s Place. “I will give him that, that is just a wonderful idea."
At the time, the fundraising page had been shared 560 times.
Under "recent donations," a snapshot showed $22,000 raised from 139 people in 17 days, including people we know are not part of Ogles' family.
Donors also sent us screenshots from Ogles' Facebook page showing that he was posting links to the GoFundMe with the obituary, as well as providing updates as the donations went from $9,000, to $17,000, to $23,000,
“It felt really good to see all of these people coming together and contributing to the overall amount increase and to imagine what was going to be done with that in little Lincoln's name,” the woman said.
When NewsChannel 5 Investigates first began investigating three years ago, Ogles refused to say what he did with the money.
Then, he put out a statement saying he spent it for "direct financial support for families covering the cost of funeral expenses and other needs for their children."
And this week, he had a new twist on the story: "We ultimately used that money, instead of burial grounds, to help primarily children with cancer."
He has refused to provide any documentation.
"And now this just feels like the lowest of the low. I don't really think that's an exaggeration," the donor added.
We wanted to know, "What would be your message to Andy Ogles?"
"If you did anything positive with those funds, let us know. We would like to know,” she said. “But in the absence of any evidence, I think one can only conclude it wasn't used for a charitable purpose."
Another donor had this reaction:
“Most people understand mistakes happen, but when these financial controversies keep resurfacing over and over again, voters start wondering whether there’s a larger issue with judgment, integrity and accountability.”
She added, “As the saying goes, when you tell the truth, you don’t have to keep remembering which version of the story you told before.”
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Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
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