NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A federal judge has unsealed a pair of FBI affidavits that were used in 2024 to justify searches of Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles' email and cell phone as part of a now-abandoned criminal investigation.
The documents, released as a result of motions filed by NewsChannel 5's parent company, Scripps Media, contain numerous redactions requested by federal prosecutors and provide little new insight into the case against the Maury County Republican.
That criminal investigation was opened after a NewsChannel 5 investigation first raised questions about Ogles' claim to have personally loaned his campaign $320,000 during his first run for Congress in 2022.
Ogles later admitted he had inflated the amount of his personal loans by $300,000.
According to the affidavit prepared by FBI Special Agent Brent Hayden, investigators had probable cause to believe that Ogles falsely reported making $300,000 in loans on his campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission.
In doing so, the affidavit says the congressman may have violated federal laws against making false statements, falsification of records, as well as conspiracy.
The names of Ogles' potential co-conspirators are redacted from the search warrant affidavits.
The newly released documents contain numerous other redactions of information that might reveal the extent of the FBI's case against Ogles and those alleged co-conspirators.
Some of those redactions, it appears, may involve questions about how Nashville businessman Lee Beaman came to be listed as treasurer on Ogles' campaign accounts. Last year, as part of a Senate confirmation process, Beaman insisted he "never signed or compiled any reports" and that he "had nothing to do with any campaign bank accounts.”
Last week, the search warrant affidavits and other related documents were apparently inadvertently posted on the system utilized by the federal courts, and copies were downloaded onto a public website that monitors cases of interest.
Ogles' attorneys filed an emergency motion to put the documents back under seal, and U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw granted the motion.
NewsChannel 5 voluntarily chose not to publish the documents, while attorney Paul McAdoo argued on behalf of Scripps Media that the issue was now moot. McAdoo represented Scripps Media on behalf of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Judge Crenshaw has now lifted the sealing of the documents.
Ogles, an ally of President Donald Trump, has repeatedly attempted to portray himself as the victim of a "weaponized" Justice Department under former President Joe Biden's administration, even claiming his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated.
But the unsealed documents show two search warrants were approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern on two separate occasions based on the FBI special agent's presentation of his probable cause.
Shortly after seizing Ogles' cell phone in August 2024, federal prosecutors agreed not to review any evidence until the courts ruled on Ogles' claims that certain information might be protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Those motions were still pending when Trump was sworn into office for his second term in January 2025, and local career prosecutors in Nashville withdrew from the case for reasons that remain unclear.
This past May, the Trump administration dropped the investigation into the sitting congressman.
In August, Ogles was defeated by Republican Charlie Hatcher in the GOP primary, ending his quest for a third term.
Ogles' handling of his campaign finances had also been the subject of an ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee, although the committee typically closes such matters once a member leaves Congress.
View search warrant affidavit below:
––––––––––––––––––––––
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.
January 31, 2025: Federal prosecutors based in Nashville have withdrawn from the criminal investigation of Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, an unprecedented move that could signal plans by the Trump administration to drop the case against a Republican ally.
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.
June 11, 2025: 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. Why hasn't a federal magistrate ruled?
December 16, 2025: One of Andy Ogles’ top contributors, Nashville businessman Lee Beaman, is disputing campaign financial disclosures that the Middle Tennessee Republican filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) — using Beaman's name.
January 7, 2026: If Andy Ogles was hoping the Trump administration would drop its criminal investigation into his troubled campaign finances, the Tennessee Republican was likely disappointed by a filing in federal court.
March 16, 2026: Andy Ogles proudly boasted on social media of his A+ “remigration score” awarded by a previously unknown group. Now, an exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has linked that group to an X account that celebrates the “successes” of Adolf Hitler, urges the development of “something resembling” the Nazi’s 25-point party platform for Western countries and suggests deporting Black American citizens to Africa.
May 5, 2026: The U.S. Department of Justice appears to be preparing to drop a nearly two-year criminal investigation of Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, agreeing to return or destroy evidence seized from the diehard MAGA Republican before the FBI ever got a chance to review it.
May 13, 2026: After facing scandal after scandal – and frequent comparisons to disgraced politician George Santos – Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles tried to open a new chapter. But he ended up raising even more questions about a scandal that has long haunted him.
August 7, 2026: Former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher defeated U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles in a Republican primary for a significantly reshaped congressional district — marking a rare rejection of a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump.