NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles, facing an ongoing FBI investigation that the Trump administration will control, has introduced a resolution to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow President Donald Trump to seek a third term.
The resolution to amend the 22nd Amendment is written to apply to the unique circumstances facing Trump and would not allow a former president who has served two consecutive terms, such as Barack Obama, to seek a third term.
In truth, Ogles' resolution stands no real chance of gaining the required two-thirds vote of the House and Senate, but may be designed more to curry favor with Trump at a time when the Maury County Republican is trying to stall the FBI’s investigation into whether he committed fraud with his campaign finances.
Like his recent announcement of another resolution in support of the U.S. acquisition of Greenland — another favorite cause for Trump — Ogles’ news release about the resolution was effusive in its praise of the party's leader and the man whose Justice Department will decide the second-term congressman’s fate.
"President Trump’s decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years," Ogles said in the news release posted to his congressional website.
"He has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal."
Ogles continued, "President Trump has shown time and time again that his loyalty lies with the American people and our great nation above all else."
The questions surrounding Ogles, first raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, are similar to allegations that led to the federal indictment of New York Congressman George Santos, followed by his eventual guilty plea and resignation from Congress.
In November 2023, NewsChannel 5’s exclusive investigation raised questions about Ogles’ claims to have loaned $320,000 to his campaign during the 2022 race where he was first elected to represent Tennessee's 5th congressional district.
As we reported, Ogles' personal financial disclosures, also required by law, did not reflect that he had the resources to make such a loan.
Following NewsChannel 5's investigation, the non-partisan Campaign Legal Center filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics.
Ogles later amended his campaign financial reports to admit that he had only loaned his campaign $20,000 — not the $320,000 he claimed.
A recently released report revealed that the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) had privately concluded last summer that there was "substantial reason" to believe there was never a $320,000 loan and that Ogles had indeed misrepresented campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
OCE recommended that the House Ethics Committee review the allegations, which the committee has confirmed it is doing.
In July, the FBI executed a search warrant for Ogle's personal email account, court filings would later reveal. And, as NewsChannel 5 first reported, the FBI showed up at Ogles' home near Columbia, Tennessee, the day after the August primary and seized his personal cell phone.
So far, Ogles’ high-powered legal team has been able to keep the FBI from looking at any of the evidence it seized, arguing in court that the Executive Branch has no right to look at devices or electronic communications that may contain references to legislative business.
A federal magistrate has yet to rule on that dispute.
It's not clear whether the Trump Justice Department will continue to fight to review that evidence or even to continue with the investigation.
That controversy follows other revelations by NewsChannel 5, including our discovery that Ogles had falsely claimed to be a trained economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.
Our investigation also discovered that the Tennessee Republican had misrepresented his academic credentials and had used the stillborn death of a child to raise nearly $25,000 for a children’s burial garden that was never built. Ogles refused to provide any evidence of what he did with that money.
The Tennessee Republican has consistently refused to answer any of NewsChannel 5’s questions.