Middle Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles has accrued more than $120,000 in unpaid legal bills since October, continuing the financial struggles he has faced since taking office in 2022. The legal fees are owed to four separate D.C.-area law firms, and are listed in a special-purpose account opened by Ogles on Oct. 1, 2024, under congressional rules and governed by Tennessee law.
Ogles has also been plagued by anemic fundraising for his campaigns throughout his congressional career. Unless addressed soon, his weak fundraising will almost certainly put a target on his back at some point, most likely in a Republican primary. The district is heavily Republican making a serious challenge from a Democrat unlikely. In 2024 Ogles won his Republican primary over Courtney Johnson by 13 points, despite being significantly outspent. He went on to handily win the general election by 17 points.
The House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee allows for legal defense funds where members can fundraise and spend for matters related to legal costs incurred by their office. Ogles has faced FEC violations and investigations into campaign finances since being elected and has amassed legal fees throughout his time in office.
Last summer, the FBI executed a search warrant against Ogles and seized his cell phone and access to his emails. In February of this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee filed motions in federal court to withdraw from the criminal investigation of Ogles.
Nevertheless, Ogles has run up significant legal bills over the last several years. His new fundraising vehicle, the “Andy Ogles Legal Expense Trust,” accumulated $120,498.75 in legal bills between Oct. 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, all of which remains unpaid. The account owes $88,290 to firm Earth & Water Law LLC; $6,932.50 to Compass Legal Group; $5,376.25 to Holtzman Vogel; and $17,000 to Secil Law, https://secillaw.com/, and SEC compliance firm. Transaction details indicate Ogles sought legal counsel from Holtzman Vogel and Secil Law on back-to-back days in May. An additional $3,000 is owed to political strategist and former Maryland Republican Party comptroller James Appel’s GOP Compliance firm.
The Nashville Scene reports that records they have obtained show that Ogles initially sought to create a legal defense trust as early as May 2024. Ogles reportedly requested approval for the trust on Aug. 19, 2024, amid an FBI investigation that included the confiscation of communication records and his cellphone. Ogles named Appel as the account’s trustee last year.
“I understand that I will be bound by the Committee’s Legal Expense Fund Regulations, effective May 1, 2024, and that while the Trustee will oversee the Trust, I bear ultimate responsibility for the proper administration of the Trust,” reads Ogles’ request to Ethics Committee Chairman Rep. Michael Guest (R) of Mississippi and ranking member Rep. Susan Wild (R) of Pennsylvania.
Ogles joins Florida’s Rep. Kat Cammack, a fellow Republican, as the only members of Congress who opened such accounts this legislative session.
Steve Gill is the publisher of TriStar Daily.
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