NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — 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.
After NewsChannel 5 Investigates first published a 2009 resume from Ogles, other news organizations began poring over it looking for new clues.
The latest, from the Washington Post, also concludes the Maury County Republican's résumé is "too good to be true."
The many stories of Andy Ogles — claims that he's "an economist, a former member of law enforcement, worked in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking" — may remind some of a certain Disney character.
Pinocchio was the fictional character whose nose grew every time he told a lie.
Now, the Washington Post review of Ogles' 2009 résumé has earned the Tennessee congressman the Post's trademark "four Pinocchios" for all the whoppers he told there.
For example, the résumé claims Ogles was executive vice president of something called E.Net Media & Consulting.
Among his alleged accomplishments: evaluating the management structure of Merrill Lynch, saving the company "up to $30 million annually."
That consulting job that he listed on that 2009 resume is nowhere to be found these days on his LinkedIn profile.
While Ogles has tried to downplay the controversy, NewsChannel 5 Investigates also noticed on that resume that he claimed to have served four years on the "board of directors" for the city of Franklin — despite the fact that Franklin doesn't have a board of directors.
Ogles’ résumé "suggests that he was a savvy business consultant and investor with a number of board memberships," the Post's Glenn Kessler wrote.
"But even as he was supposedly saving Merrill Lynch millions of dollars through his consulting work, he was also briefly a stockbroker there and co-owned a doughnut shop. He also exaggerates or invents his service on various boards."
And after NewsChannel 5 dug up his college transcript,the political newsletter The Tennessee Journal noticed that, in a 2001 Tennessean article about Ogles' restaurant business, the future congressman claimed he was "a student of German, Russian and Japanese languages" who had once "planned for a career in international business."
Ogles' college transcript shows he took just one semester of foreign language, elementary Japanese, during his entire time in college.
The Post says it reached out to Ogles' office for comment on its findings and, just like we've encountered, the Post says it never got a response.
––––––––––––––––––––––
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.