NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It’s been said that the wheels of justice grind slowly, and there may be no better example than the FBI’s investigation of Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles.
For more than eight months, FBI agents have been blocked from looking at evidence seized from the Maury County Republican while a federal magistrate decides what agents can see.
Attorneys for both sides gave Magistrate Judge Alistair E. Newbern everything she needed to make a decision in the case on Oct. 7, 2024, court records show.
Since then, Newbern has been silent on the matter.
“The Court speaks only through its orders and does not comment on pending litigation,” said Lynda Motes Hill, court clerk for the Middle District of Tennessee, in response to NewsChannel 5’s inquiry about why Newbern has yet to issue a decision.
The criminal investigation of the sitting congressman stems from a NewsChannel 5’s investigation of Ogles, and NewsChannel 5 Investigates received questions from local citizens about the status of the case after Ogles recently took aim at Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
Ogles called for a federal investigation of O’Connell based on the congressman’s claims — with little real evidence — that the mayor’s administration has obstructed efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to round up undocumented immigrants on the streets of Nashville.
In Ogles’ case, the FBI investigation appears to be focused on questions about how he handled money from his own congressional campaigns.
Last July, the FBI used a search warrant to seize Ogles' personal email account, according to court documents. A month later, they seized his personal cell phone.
Ogles' legal team filed an emergency motion to keep the FBI from looking at that evidence, arguing that agents — as part of the Executive Branch — should not be able to look at any evidence that might include matters relating to his congressional business.
"The delay in having the ruling by the court is a little longer than I might expect, but again, it's a novel, complicated issue,” said Brent A. Hannafan, a former federal prosecutor who headed the criminal division in the Nashville U.S. Attorney's Office for five years.
“It's not unusual for courts to take perhaps longer than usual to rule on a motion if it's particularly complicated, it's novel — and I think that's what this is."
Part of the investigation appears to center on reports filed by Ogles during his 2022 run for Congress in which he falsely claimed to have personally loaned $320,000 to his campaign.
In November 2023, NewsChannel 5 Investigates reported that Ogles did not appear to have the resources to make such a significant personal contribution, based on the personal financial disclosures that he had filed with the U.S. House of Representatives.
Months later, facing an ethics complaint, Ogles amended his campaign reports to say that the loan was really just $20,000.
Last fall, federal prosecutors agreed not to look at the evidence from Ogles’ email and phone until Newbern resolved the legal challenge. That did not preclude them from subpoenaing bank records or conducting other forms of investigation, Hannafan said.
“Every investigation is different. Some happen within months, some take years,” he added.
Still, Ogles' motion is not unlike the emergency motion filed by Donald Trump after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, seizing the former president's stash of classified documents.
Judge Aileen Cannon ruled on that motion within a month, and a federal appeals court overruled her two weeks later.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Hannafan, “Why should we not expect that sort of pace in this case?"
"Every judge is different, every judge has their own caseload, their own amount of resources,” he answered. “It just depends on the judge in the case."
Since then, local federal prosecutors have withdrawn from the case, leaving it to the Public Integrity Section of President Trump's Justice Department to decide Ogles' fate.
There was no explanation for that move.
Again, we asked Hannafan, "Based on what's in the public record, what can we conclude about the state of the investigation?"
"It's ongoing,” he said. “Until the Department of Justice, until the attorneys from the Public Integrity Section state that they are not pursuing charges, it should be considered ongoing."
A representative for Ogles’ legal team also declined to comment.
––––––––––––––––––––––
Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
RELATED STORIES:
January 26, 2023: Tennessee's newest congressman, Rep. Andy Ogles, quickly became a key player in the battle for control of the House. But a NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered the freshman Republican has never complied with a federal law required of all congressional candidates.
February 16, 2023: If you believe Middle Tennessee's newest congressman, he's not only a businessman, he's also an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes. But an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered that Andy Ogles' personal life story is filled with exaggerations, a story that's often too good to be true.
February 17, 2023: New Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles has claimed to have done graduate work at highly respected business schools at Vanderbilt and Dartmouth universities, but is it true? Not really.
February 21, 2023: "My body of work speaks for itself." That was the reaction Tuesday morning from freshman Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles to days of controversy following a NewsChannel 5 investigation into his claims to be an economist, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.
February 27, 2023: What was in Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles' college transcript that he didn't want you to see? NewsChannel 5 Investigates now has the answer.
March 13, 2023: Questions continue to mount about Middle Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles and the stories he tells. The latest questions center on the Maury County Republican's claims to have been a successful business leader before he turned to public service.
March 15, 2023: What did Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles do with tens of thousands of dollars meant for a children's burial garden? Now, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has uncovered more questions that the freshman Republican won't answer.
March 16, 2023: A new day brings new stories from Congressman Andy Ogles as he attempts to explain away a controversial GoFundMe drive.
Novembe 29, 2023: Where did Congressman Andy Ogles get $320,000 that he claims to have loaned his campaign? Now in Congress, NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered that Ogles has not disclosed any substantial investments. He doesn't even report having a savings account.
January 9, 2024: A nonpartisan watchdog group has asked a federal ethics agency to investigate Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles over $1 million of discrepancies in financial disclosures he was required to file with the U.S. House. The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) repeatedly cites NewsChannel 5's reporting in the complaint that was filed Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), comparing Ogles' conduct to disgraced New York Congressman George Santos.
May 22, 2024: Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles filed 11 amendments to his campaign finance reports Wednesday, acknowledging that his claims for the last two years to have loaned $320,000 to his campaign were not true.
August 6, 2024: 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.
January 6, 2025: A recent release from the U.S. House Ethics Committee points to a worsening legal situation for Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, who now faces a congressional investigation into a $320,000 campaign contribution that he appears to have completely fabricated.
January 8, 2025: Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles — with the help of a team of high-powered lawyers — has quietly managed to tie up an FBI investigation into his campaign finances for the past five months, NewsChannel 5 has discovered.
March 24, 2025: NewsChannel 5 uncovers numerous discrepancies in Ogles' campaign expenditures. Among our findings: tens of thousands of dollars that supposedly went to companies that do not appear to be in the business of providing the services for which Ogles claimed the money was spent. In some cases, there is no evidence that the companies actually exist.