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The news was first reported by WTVF, the CBS affiliate in Nashville. While the reporting hasn’t been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, the congressman’s lawyer has confirmed that the FBI obtained a search warrant for Ogles’ phone, and the GOP lawmaker cooperated.
The lawyer also told the Times that “it was his understanding that the search was related to allegations of financial improprieties.”
For his part, the congressman himself issued a brief statement by way of social media, which read, “It has been widely reported for months that my campaign made mistakes in our initial financial filings. We have worked diligently with attorneys and reporting experts to correct the errors and ensure compliance going forward. Last Friday, the FBI took possession of my cell phone.”
As regular readers know, this controversy has been percolating for several months. In fact, it was last fall when WTVF in Tennessee reported that Ogles’ finance reports showed that he’d made a $320,000 personal loan to his campaign. That was difficult to believe, since the congressman’s financial disclosures suggested he didn’t have $320,000.
In May, Ogles effectively conceded that his earlier claims weren’t true. In fact, the House Freedom Caucus member filed amendments to his campaign finance reports, telling the Federal Election Commission that he actually loaned his campaign $20,000, instead of the $320,000.
This, of course, led to some fairly obvious questions the possible sources of the other $300,000.
Indeed, Ogles is starting to resemble another House Republican who was caught lying his background and facing FBI scrutiny over his controversial finances. His name was former Rep. George Santos.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American ."
