NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — An exclusive NewsChannel 5 investigation has uncovered new questions about a Middle Tennessee congressman who has left a trail of scandal since his election in 2022.
Those questions center on U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles and the stories that the Maury County Republican tells about how he spent money from his campaign.
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.
"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," said Roger Wieand, senior researcher with the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
Wieand and CLC staff reviewed NewsChannel 5’s findings regarding campaign expenditures that Ogles reported to the Federal Election Commission related to his first campaign for Congress in 2022 and his 2024 re-election campaign.
Over the last two years, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has revealed how Ogles fabricated large parts of his resume, including his professional credentials.
There were also questions about how he used the stillborn death of a child to raise thousands of dollars for a children's burial garden that was never built.
And our investigation exposed how he did not appear to have the $320,000 he claimed to have personally loaned his own campaign back in 2022. Ogles later admitted it was not true, and the FBI opened a criminal investigation.
Presented with the latest discrepancies uncovered by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Ogles’ chief of staff dismissed our findings as simply being the result of a software glitch.
“All expenditures in question are legitimate campaign expenses and have been verified as such,” Grant Henry said in an email statement.
He said that "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."
Among the questionable expenditures, Ogles reported more than $14,000 spent in 2022 and 2024 with a company called “JL Tech Sales.”
He initially reported that the company was located on South Access Road in Chattanooga, and it was for “office supplies, internet and TV services."
But when NewsChannel 5 Investigates searched that address in Chattanooga, we found a company there called Technology Sales.
Its exterior sign describes its services as “plexiglass, nylon, Teflon.” Its website said it is in the business of producing “industrial and mechanical plastics.”
There was nothing about office supplies, nothing about TV or Internet services.
Eventually, NewsChannel 5 reached the company at that address — and the person who answered the phone insisted they knew nothing about Andy Ogles or JL Tech Sales.
"And there’s never been another company by that name at this address – in the last couple of years?" we followed up.
"No, this business has been here 25 or 30 years – same business,” the man answered.
In fact, about the time the FBI began investigating his campaign in late 2024, Ogles amended his FEC reports to say that JL Tech Sales was at 134 Main Street in Pennington Gap, Virginia – and the amended reports said the money was for "office supplies."
But when NewsChannel 5 Investigates searched for “JL Tech Sales” at that Virginia address, we came up with nothing.
So early one morning, I set out in search of answers, driving across the state, through Knoxville, up into the mountains of western Virginia.
Almost five hours later, I made it to Pennington Gap, the tiny town where Ogles claimed to have bought thousands of dollars in office supplies.
There, at 134 Main Street, what I would find would only raise more questions.
Outside that address, I met a man who refused to identify himself.
Still, I pressed. "I’m trying to verify, is there a company called JL Tech Sales at this address?"
"Yeah, but that’s not office supplies," the man answered.
Still, he was standoffish, refusing to answer basic questions.
"And you won’t tell me your name?" I asked.
"No,” he said, “I don’t need to tell you any of that, any stuff, any further."
The man then returned to his office and closed the door.
But just before I got ready to head back to Tennessee, he decided to come back out for one more conversation — although, at first, he said he did not want to be quoted.
At one point, the man claimed to not have remembered my name or news organization when I introduced myself. Later in that same conversation, he expressed an awareness of my previous reporting about Ogles.
Pushing for answers, I told him, “I’m trying to get on the record, ‘Ok, what is the truth?"
"All right,” he responded, “we don’t sell office supplies."
The man claimed that his company, USA Custom Solutions, provided services for the Ogles campaign, but sent the bills out as “JL Tech.” His explanation: “Because it’s shorter.”
"We provided … texting services and ringless voice mail services for his campaign,” the man continued. “So, when he was campaigning, we would send out bulk texts to the databases that he provided, inviting people to his events or whatever he had going on in his campaign.
"That’s all we did for him."
The man said he did the work for Ogles back in 2022, but NewsChannel 5 Investigates had reports where Ogles reported to the FEC that he also paid JL Tech Sales in 2024.
That's when the man said he billed Ogles for services in 2024 that were never provided, and he had never gotten around to paying the money back nor had Ogles asked to be reimbursement for the money paid out by his campaign.
Wieand, with the Campaign Legal Center, questioned “why that money hasn’t been refunded or reported as being refunded."
"It certainly does raise a question as to why this reporting was not being done in a transparent way the first time around," Wieand added.
“And the fact that I had to drive to Virginia to try to get answers, that’s not how this is supposed to work," I followed up.
"Absolutely,” he agreed. “The public should not have to go through that process to have complete accurate transparent information about their representatives’ campaign finances."
In Ogles' campaign reports, we also discovered more than $1,100 spent with something called "In a Par" in Gallatin, Tennessee, for "fundraising event fees."
The street address listed on Ogles’ reports is not a real address, and we could not find anyone in Gallatin who had ever heard of the company.
He also reported paying Venmo for "office supplies" — one payment of $520, another for $1,000 — and a third payment of $2,000 for "campaign consulting."
"I would say that those transactions, in particular, are very concerning because the purposes for which the transactions were reported are not services that Venmo appears to provide,” Wieand said.
“Venmo, for instance, does not provide campaign consulting services."
We noted, “If you use Venmo to pay someone, you have to report where the money ultimately goes, not the conduit."
"Exactly – and that’s exactly the type of transparency that voters have a right to."
Then there’s $1,000 that was supposedly spent with a company called “Strategic Advanscale" for “campaign consulting.”
NewsChannel 5 Investigates checked and could find no company by that name, and the address that Ogles listed is a UPS store in Washington, D.C.
"It does seem unusual that there isn’t more information out there about the company, and it certainly raises questions that should be answered," Wieand said.
In addition, Ogles reported paying $11,150 to “Mass Market” in Iowa City for “food and beverage,” although that company appears to be a call center.
He reported paying $8,327.50 to Tachyon in Irving, Texas, for “campaign consulting.” Tachyon Tech appears to be an India-based technology company. NewsChannel 5 Investigates reached someone at Tachyon Tech, but – because of a language barrier – we could not verify whether the company was paid by Ogles.
Another thing that caught our attention was $55,000 paid out to eight different people in 2022 who all list the same mailing address in Washington, D.C.
That address is an office building.
Among the recipients: a “Erikson, Stein,” who we could not find anyone by that name in Tennessee or D.C. There was an “R, Kris,” who we do not know if that is a first or last name. And there was “Smith, John.”
"That’s another situation in which vendors, including staff members for a campaign who are being paid by the campaign, voters have a right to know precisely who they are – and donors do, as well," the Campaign Legal Center researcher added.
While NewsChannel 5 asked Ogles’ office for documentation that would support the questionable expenditures that we identified, none was provided.
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Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
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