GOP Rep. Andy Ogles claimed to fight international sex crimes and be an economic expert. Like George Santos, his real resume tells another story.

Freshman Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), center, has joined the ranks of other newly-elected Republicans who appear to have embellished key aspects of their resumes.

Nathan Howard/Getty Images

• Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) claims he's a real estate magnate, policy expert, and sex crime investigator.
• Much of the experience on Ogles' resume is overblown or embellished, Insider found.
• Other newly-elected Republicans, notably George Santos, have also misrepresented their past.

During far-right Republican Andy Ogles' successful campaign for Congress last fall, he advertised himself as a successful entrepreneur and real estate investor, a tax policy expert, and the former leader of an international nonprofit rescuing sex trafficking victims.

But the freshman member from Tennessee embellished many aspects of his resume, according to interviews, business and property records, tax filings, and local newspaper archives. Ogles' inflations invite comparisons to his Republican congressional colleague, Rep. George Santos of New York, who has seen nearly every aspect of his past called into question. 

Ogles' business experience seems to be limited to owning two restaurants, a short-lived travel agency, and becoming licensed as an insurance agent. His real estate investments appear limited to a few adjacent parcels of land, including one he lives on, in rural Tennessee, and he reported no rental income from his properties Insider found.

Ogles claimed he studied economics and international relations, and worked at two right-wing  think tanks that focus on economic policy. But his educational credentials and supposed policy expertise were thrown into question this week by Nashville's NewsChannel5, which reported Ogles had studied languages in college – not economics or international policy, as he had claimed. 

Ogles' supposed experience rescuing sex trafficking victims helped propel him into national headlines in his first week in Congress. But his representations about that work are vastly overstated, according to public records and a former manager at an anti-trafficking nonprofit where Ogles worked. 

In a statement emailed after this article was published, the spokesperson called Insider's reporting "another attempt by the liberal media to make something out of nothing. It's a simple case of condensing a resume for the sake of brevity on the campaign trail, and partisan hacks are trying to turn it into a headline for clicks."

In interviews and debates, Ogles elided the distinction between two jobs he supposedly held, giving the impression that he was a swashbuckling law enforcement officer rescuing human trafficking victims.

During one debate during his campaign, Ogles described himself as "a former member of law enforcement" who worked "in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking." One podcast he appeared on last month introduced him as a businessman and philanthropist known for "leading an international effort to end the scourge of human trafficking."

In reality, he was a lackluster fundraiser for a small Nashville nonprofit and a volunteer sheriff's deputy who was let go for skipping training.

Fighting international sex crimes and trafficking

When discussing his support for a more militarized border with Mexico, Ogles has repeatedly referenced his involvement in combating human trafficking and working to fight international sex crimes.

"We are sitting on our hands while our kids are being poisoned by fentanyl and children are being raped on the border, and we act like we don't know what the solution is," Ogles said on a podcast from the lobbying firm Ballard Partners in January. "That offends me, and as someone who has worked in that space, who has seen the horrors of human trafficking, I am fed up and sick and tired of the excuses."

Ogles appears to have been referencing his work with Abolition International, a small Nashville nonprofit founded by gospel music singer Natalie Grant. His congressional website says that Ogles felt "the call to serve his community" and became "the COO of Abolition International, overseeing operations and investments in 12 countries to fight human trafficking." 

Ogles talks with Kevin McCarthy during the 3rd day of votes for speaker of the House.

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

"I went into the law enforcement lane for a period of time, and from there I went into the international sex crimes and ran global operations," Ogles said on the Ballard Partners podcast.

Ogles worked there for a year in 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile. But his role in the organization was minimal, and the group's work had nothing to do with the US-Mexico border, said a former Abolition International manager, who asked not to be named for privacy reasons. This person's identity is known to Insider.

Abolition International hired Ogles to help with marketing and to fundraise while two of the organization's leaders were on maternity leave, the former manager said, recalling that he was not particularly successful at bringing in new sources of revenue.

"He was always talking about how much money he was going to be able to raise for us, and it never happened," the former Abolition International manager said. Tax filings show Abolition International raised less than $200,000 in the year Ogles was on staff. 

At the time Ogles was involved with Abolition International, the organization was much smaller than he later claimed. Although it did eventually grow into an organization with partnerships in 12 countries, when Ogles worked there it primarily made grants to a handful of safe houses in India, Moldova and the U.S., in addition to supporting an internship program in Greece, the former manager said. 

"The organization itself evolved so much, but he's kind of taking credit about what it evolved into," the former manager said. 

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Ogles seemed to want to see himself as a quasi-law-enforcement officer, fighting bad guys to rescue sex workers in duress like the Liam Neeson hero from the movie "Taken," this person said. But Ogles didn't have any expertise in that regard, and he never traveled to visit the organization's grant recipients. 

And while he joined the Williamson County volunteer sheriff deputy reserves in 2009, he was kicked out after two years, Nashville's NewsChannel5 reported. Ogles' commission was revoked for "not meeting minimum quarterly hours" and making "no progress in field training," documents show.

"It is such a stretch for him to represent himself as an expert, or someone who was in the field, and for it to have informed his views on policy," the former manager said. 

That hasn't stopped Ogles from making political hay from his time at Abolition International.

During the State of the Union, Ogles yelled "It's your fault!" when President Joe Biden mentioned fentanyl overdoses and the border.

"That was a very visceral moment for me," Ogles later told The Hill, mentioning his former involvement in work combating human trafficking. "He could close that border with the stroke of a pen, and he hasn't had the courage to do it."

An entrepreneur and economic expert

In addition to describing himself as a crusader against human trafficking, Ogles has also cast himself as a successful entrepreneur and small business owner in the years before he entered politics. His past as a savvy businessperson gave him unparalleled insight into "the frustrations of having to contend with local government," he told the Columbia Daily Herald in 2018. 

Ogles references his experience as an entrepreneur in nearly every interview, and has also styled himself as an expert on tax policy and healthcare with an academic background in economics. He has specifically touted his work with Arthur Laffer, an economist who served in the Regan administration and founded the right-wing Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics.

"I am an economist," Ogles told C-SPAN last month, responding to a question about his budget priorities. "I had the privilege of working for Dr. Laffer," he continued, referencing his time at the Laffer Center, where Ogles has said he was the executive director.

In an interview with Insider, Laffer said that Ogles primarily was involved in fundraising, and that he wasn't sure how Ogles had gotten the title of executive director. "I didn't know he had that title," Laffer said. "The titles aren't really important for the office. We all clean the dishes." Laffer didn't dispute Ogles's characterization of himself as an economist: "An economist is a person who works in economics. I don't think a PhD is required to be called an economist."

Ogles also worked as a Tennessee lobbyist for Americans for Prosperity, a Koch brothers-funded think tank advocating for lower taxes.

But decades-old news articles and state licensing and real estate records indicate that Ogles has embellished his business experience. And reporting from Nashville's NewsChannel 5 found that Ogles has no real expertise or education in tax policy, economics, or healthcare. 

Ogles briefly operated a travel agency franchise in 1996, but state business records show the LLC had dissolved by the next year. The agency was later dinged for $7,000 in arbitration. In 2003, Ogles became an insurance salesman, according to state licensing records, but canceled his certification the next year.

Ogles and Santos have been seen sitting together on multiple occasions.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Ogles does have a record of success in the restaurant business. In the mid-1990s, he purchased an existing donut shop in Franklin, Tennessee. With the help of his family, he turned it into a "meat and three" serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, The Tennessean reported in 2001, and later opened a second branch. 

But Ogles' experience in real estate investing appears confined to the homes he and his wife, Monica, a physical therapist, have purchased for their family to live in, according to property records. Ogles currently owns four adjacent parcels in rural Maury County, which he purchased for roughly $1.1 million. He bought the bulk of that property for $660,000 during his congressional campaign last September, county records show. 

Ogles refused to release required asset disclosures during his campaign. He finally published the disclosures last month, five days after NewsChannel5 investigated. Those documents show that his assets include between $250,000 and $500,000 of "real estate investment property."

Ogles' academic background in economics also appears questionable. Nashville's NewsChannel5 found that Ogles had actually studied English and Allied Language Arts. In 2001, Ogles told a local reporter that he had studied Russian, Japanese, and German with an intent of pursuing international business.

A spokesman for Middle Tennessee State University, where Ogles got his bachelor's degree from, said he couldn't supply information about Ogles' attendance. Schools often allow students and alumni to request that such records be kept private. Ogles has shared photos of a diploma with other media outlets that doesn't indicate what subjects he studied. 

Gaining a reputation on Capitol Hill

The freshman lawmaker has developed a reputation as one of the more hard-right members of the Republican conference in his first month-and-a-half on Capitol Hill.

A member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, Ogles was one of the 20 Republicans who initially refused to support Kevin McCarthy's House speaker bid — until he offered concessions on the rules governing the chamber. 

As a lawmaker, Ogles has introduced just one piece of legislation — a bill that would repeal the entirety of the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden even referenced during his State of the Union address this month. 

Ogles has quickly fallen in with a cohort of Republican lawmakers who are largely used to batting away controversy, whether it comes from extreme positions and pronouncements or accusations of embellishments and flagrant lying.

In addition to George Santos, freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who recently appeared on a panel with Ogles, was reported to have embellished aspects of her background. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida is unlikely to face criminal charges from the Department of Justice following a years-long sex-trafficking investigation, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is no stranger to controversies based on her frequent conspiratorial pronouncements.

In contrast to some of his other colleagues, Ogles has also taken a largely non-judgemental view of serial fabulist Santos. During the speaker vote, he was frequently seen chatting with the scandal-plagued congressman on the House floor.

"As far as the questions surrounding him, you know, I don't have the particulars, and it's not my place or business to judge," Ogles told Insider in January. "He is, however, a human being, and he sat next to me, and we have great conversations."

He also said he didn't ask Santos about any of the allegations his colleague faces over seemingly fabricating large swaths of his biography.

"It's none of my business," Ogles said.

Editor's note, February 17, 2023, 7:28 p.m. Eastern Time: This article has been updated to include a statement from Ogles's spokesperson.

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Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/8kaJC5U

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