A scandal-prone Tennessee lawmaker is facing fresh scrutiny over his campaign finances years after he fundraised $25,000 for a playground in memory of his stillborn baby that was never built.
Congressman Andy Ogles raised the cash to create a tribute to his late son Lincoln which could be used by other bereaved parents shortly after the baby’s death in 2014.
But more than a decade on and the garden has yet to materialize at the proposed spot at at Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin.
Ogles insisted he has not spent the cash and blamed ‘government bureaucracy’ for the lack of progress when approached by the the Tennessean the year after his fundraiser launched.
Now the Maury County Republican is facing renewed questions over his campaign spending after News Channel 5 uncovered evidence he has been misrepresenting payments to various companies.
Among the findings, were tens of thousands of dollars of spending which was attributed to companies providing different services to those claimed by Ogles, the outlet reports.
Ogles reported a $14,000 expenditure with JL Tech Sales for 2022 and 2024 ostensibly for ‘office supplies, internet and TV services’.
However, when News Channel 5 investigated they found that the Virginia address Ogles listed for the business belonged to USA Custom Solutions, according to a man who told their reporter he works there.
Scandal-prone Tennessee Rep Andy Ogles is facing fresh scrutiny over his campaign finances years after he fundraised $25,000 for a playground in memory of his stillborn baby that was never built
The man told the outlet that he had done some ‘texting and ringless voicemail work’ contacting potential voters for the congressman and clarified that the business does not provide office supplies as claimed.
He added that he had provided the services in 2022, but had also billed Ogles for 2024 for some which were never provided.
The man claimed he had not got around to refunding Ogles, who had also not asked for it back.
‘It certainly does raise a question as to why this reporting was not being done in a transparent way the first time around,’ Roger Wieand, with the Campaign Legal Center said.
‘It raises questions about whether Rep. Ogles is being transparent with voters, especially in light of his widely reported exaggerations about his resume, his background,’ he added.
The discrepancy was one of several uncovered by News Channel 5.
A spokesman for Ogles told the outlet that any disparity in financial reporting was due to a ‘software glitch’.
‘All expenditures in question are legitimate campaign expenses and have been verified as such,’ Grant Henry said.
Ogles was heavily criticized for sending out a family Christmas card, which featured him and his wife Monica posing up with their three children all bearing guns during the 2022 holiday season
He posted this photo of his child clutching a gun on his Instagram in 2016
He added, ‘individuals responsible for FEC compliance and filing used a third-party software program that caused minor errors — such as attaching incorrect addresses and description categories — to a small number of expense entries.’
‘We are working on providing the FEC with updated information regarding these legitimate campaign expenses,’ Henry said.
Ogles was the subject of a January ethics complaint by Wieand’s non-profit over his personal and campaign finances, in which the group compared him to expelled GOP US Rep. George Santos of New York.
The lawmaker also confirmed last summer that he was being investigated by the FBI over a ‘mistake’ in his campaign finance filings from his 2022 race.
Ogles reported making a $320,000 loan to his campaign committee in 2022.
He later amended his filings in May to show that he only loaned his campaign $20,000, telling news outlets that he originally meant to ‘pledge’ $320,000 but that pledge was mistakenly included in his campaign reports.
The lawmaker previously said he is cooperating and is confident that investigators will find his errors were ‘based on honest mistakes.’
Ogles has had his fair share of controversies since his 2022 election, including apparently inflating his resume.
Ogles is facing questions about the transparency in his campaign finances after a local news agency uncovered some discrepancies
The lawmaker dismissed the findings as the result of a software glitch and insists all expenditure was legitimate. Pictured: Ogles’ $1 million home
He was accused of embellishing his achievements, including misrepresenting himself as an economist, police officer, and international sex crimes expert during his 2022 campaign.
Ogles ultimately said that he was ‘mistaken’ when he said he graduated with an international relations degree after a local news outlet raised questions over whether he had embellished his resume.
‘When I pulled my transcript to verify, I realized I was mistaken. My degree is in Liberal Studies,’ he said.
Ogles additionally claimed to have done graduate work at Vanderbilt and Dartmouth University, however it later emerged that he had only participated in non-degree classes.
The Washington Post additionally found that Ogles’ resume was, ‘too good to be true’ after he claimed to have been a successful businessman before entering politics.
Ogles claimed he was executive vice president of a company called E.Net Media & Consulting which managed to save Merrill Lynch, ‘up to $30 million annually’.
However there is no trace of this on his Linkedin. NewsChannel 5 Investigates spotted Ogles claimed to have served four years on the ‘board of directors’ for the city of Franklin — even though the city does not have a board of directors.
The year he was first elected, Ogles was heavily criticized for sending out a family Christmas card, which featured him and his wife Monica posing up with their three children all bearing guns.
In 2016, Ogles also posted a picture of his toddler clutching a gun captioned, ‘weapons training’.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .