The Justice Department has agreed to return U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles' personal cellphone, which was seized as part of an investigation into his campaign finances, signaling that it is abandoning the probe into the staunch Trump supporter that began under the Biden administration.
Background of the Investigation
The FBI confiscated the Tennessee Republican's cellphone in August 2024 to examine issues with his campaign finance reporting. However, the department had agreed not to review material from the phone and his personal email account as he challenged the matter in court. A judge had not yet ruled on Ogles' challenge when defense lawyers revealed in a court filing on Tuesday that the Justice Department had voluntarily agreed to “promptly” return his phone and destroy the information it had obtained from it and his Google email account.
Political Context
The investigation, initiated under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had remained open under President Donald Trump, a Republican, but had stalled while the government awaited the judge’s ruling on whether investigators could examine Ogles’ phone and emails. The Justice Department's criminal division last year, led at the time by acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti, had concluded the investigation should move forward even after local prosecutors in Tennessee withdrew from the case. A criminal division prosecutor wrote in an email last July urging the Tennessee attorneys to reconsider.
Current Scrutiny
The move comes as the Justice Department is facing intense scrutiny over its pursuit of Trump’s perceived political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to questions on Wednesday about its decision and whether it was formally closing the Ogles investigation.
Ogles' Response
Ogles' lawyers told the court they were notified of the decision during discussions with the department's criminal division, now led by Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva. Ogles called it a “complete win for the responsible exercise of prosecutorial discretion and respect for the Constitution’s Separation of Powers.” Ogles is still facing a House Ethics Committee investigation.
“From the day the FBI showed up, I said this investigation should never have happened and that the Biden DOJ had no right to rummage through a sitting congressman’s legislative communications,” Ogles said in a statement. “Today the Justice Department has effectively acknowledged I was right.”
Campaign Finance Issues
At the time his phone was seized, Ogles said his understanding was that the FBI was investigating “mistakes” in his initial financial filings that had been “widely reported for months.” Ogles reported making a $320,000 loan to his campaign committee in 2022. He later amended his filings to show that he only loaned his campaign $20,000, telling news outlets that he originally meant to “pledge” $320,000 but that pledge was mistakenly included in his campaign reports.
