The House’s nonpartisan ethics watchdog found “substantial reason to believe” that two members may have violated campaign finance regulations, according to a pair of reports released Thursday.
The Office of Congressional Ethics wrote that Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) may have “omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports” and that his campaign committee “may have accepted excessive contributions that were reported as personal loans and contributions from the candidate.”
Ogles had originally reported a $320,000 loan to his campaign during his 2022 campaign, although it did not appear he could afford such a transaction based on his public financial disclosures at the time. Ogles later claimed that the loan only amounted to $20,000. The House Ethics Committee is reviewing the matter, according to the Thursday press release.
The House Ethics Committee also released findings from a watchdog report into allegations against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) on Thursday. Some of the allegations were already known after the ethics panel released the summary of the watchdog report last fall, but Thursday’s release expanded on the allegations.
The Office of Congressional Ethics found “substantial reason to believe” that she violated campaign finance laws, including making “payments to a state political action committee in connection with her campaign and failed to report these payments as contributions to her campaign.”
Additionally, the watchdog also found “substantial reason to believe” someone conducting official business for Cherfilus-McCormick’s office was not paid with official funding; her campaign committee had failed to report campaign donations beyond the permissible contribution limits; and her committee did not report transactions between the campaign account and her business accounts.
“The fact that the allegations were referred for further review does not indicate any violation has occurred,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement. “I plan on continuing to collaborate with the Committee and its Investigative Subcommittee.”
