NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — 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.
Filings in U.S. District Court in Nashville reveal that not only did FBI agents seize Ogles’ personal cell phone in early August as part of their criminal investigation, they also served a separate warrant on Google for the Maury County Republican’s personal email account.
Ogles’ lawyers filed an emergency motion on Sept. 3 to demand the return of the data from his phone and email, claiming the congressman is protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution and arguing that FBI agents should not be allowed to see any material related to his legislative business.
“Allowing the Executive Branch to examine confidential communications between members of Congress about essential legislative matters, including the internal operations of Congress, endangers the constitutional scheme,” said the motion filed Sept. 11 by Nashville attorney Alex Little and others.
Federal prosecutors disputed that argument but agreed the FBI would not look at evidence it seized pending a ruling from Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern.
According to the publicly available docket, Newbern has not acted on the case since Oct. 7.
"Part of this certainly was a delay tactic,” said veteran Nashville lawyer Gary Blackburn, a former federal prosecutor who reviewed the filings at NewsChannel 5’s request.
“If I were cynical, I would say perhaps the November election had something to do with the desire to delay."
Related: New filings point to widening House ethics investigation
The FBI investigation began amid questions first raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates about Ogles’ 2022 campaign for Congress — specifically, his claim on federal reports to have personally loaned his campaign $320,000 of his own money.
NewsChannel 5’s investigation discovered that Ogles did not appear to have the financial resources to make such a loan, and a congressional ethics investigation has so far confirmed those questions.
Similar allegations led to the indictment of New York Congressman George Santos on federal fraud charges, leading to his eventual guilty plea and resignation.
Blackburn questioned part of Ogles' argument that he is not what the Department of Justice categorizes as a "target" of the FBI investigation — someone who may just be a step away from indictment. Instead, Ogles’ legal team says they were told he is only a “subject.”
“The actions by the Executive Branch here are troublesome because even its own prosecutors admit that they do not have substantial evidence linking Congressman Ogles to the commission of a crime,” the emergency motion argued.
Blackburn was unimpressed by the attempt to draw a distinction between Ogles being a “target” or a “subject” of the investigation.
"That's a distinction without a difference at this juncture,” he added.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates followed up, "To be clear, a 'subject' is someone who is the subject of a criminal investigation?"
"If you get information that the United States thinks that you are the subject of a criminal investigation, you need to call a lawyer," Blackburn replied with a chuckle.
In their response, federal prosecutors insisted that they never made any such statements admitting that they do not have evidence linking Ogles to a crime.
They also disputed his efforts to characterize the investigation as being a politically motivated mission by the “Biden/Harris FBI.” They noted that, by law, a federal judge had to be convinced there was probable cause of a crime before issuing the search warrants.
“Setting aside Ogles’ unsupported and baseless allegations of politically motivated bias, he discounts that a warrant cannot issue except on a showing of probable cause to a neutral and detached judicial officer that a particular device contains evidence of crime,” prosecutors argued.
Blackburn said the government response makes it clear that the FBI inquiry is not as innocent as Ogles would like to suggest.
"That means that they believe that he's involved in something that may turn out to be criminal and there may be others involved other than him,” he added.
NewsChannel 5 followed up, "Based on your experience, is it likely that other subpoenas have been issued for bank records, that type of thing?"
"Yes."
Ogles argued that his own attorneys should be able to review evidence seized under the search warrants and filter out any material involving legislative business – an argument rejected by the government. The U.S. House filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the need to protect congressional rights under the Speech and Debate Clause.
Still, Blackburn praised the magistrate judge who has the case and did not find any cause for suspicion about the lack of a ruling since October.
"This has constitutional implications involving public officials. The United States House of Representatives filed an amicus brief. This judge is going to want to get it right."
Now, with Ogles' ally, former President Donald Trump, about to return to office, Blackburn questioned whether the probe will proceed under a Trump Justice Department.
"I hope that the incoming president is responsible enough to let justice take its course," the veteran lawyer said.
NewsChannel 5 noted his caution. “You hope?"
"I hope. Yeah, I hope."
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