GOP Rep. Andy Ogles Accused Of Embellishing Resume

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) was accused on Thursday of lying about his credentials as an economist, police officer, and international sex crimes expert during his 2022 campaign and as a representative. According to WTVF, a Nashville news site, most of Ogles’ work experience in combating human trafficking is overblown, and he appears to have never properly studied economics or worked as an economist. This circumstance is similar to Rep. George Santos’ (R-NY) lying scandals.

Ogles has emphasized his “expertise as an economist” in multiple interviews, during his first meeting as a member of the House Financial Services Committee, and in his congressional biography, which also states that he “studied policy and economics” at Middle Tennessee State University. However, WTVF revealed that Ogles has never worked as an economist and that his 2009 resume and a background check show that while at MTSU, he majored in international relations and minored in psychology and English. His work at the Laffer Center, a Tennessee-based think tank, was also believed to be administrative, with no reports on public policy or economics.

According to WTVF, Ogles’ frequent claims of being a “former member of law enforcement” with “firsthand experience” working on human trafficking appear to be embellishments. In July 2009, he was sworn in as a volunteer reserve deputy with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, but he was demoted after two years for failing to achieve minimal standards, failing to attend meetings, and failing to develop in-field training. According to a sheriff’s office official, there is no evidence that Ogles was involved in “international sex trafficking” while serving as a reserve officer.

Ogles also claimed to have been “heavily involved in the fight against human trafficking” while working for the nonprofit organization Abolition International, although this appears to be an exaggeration as well. The Tennessee Republican appears to have worked for the group on a part-time basis for a year in 2011, and a former Abolition International manager familiar with his work told Business Insider that his role at the group was to assist with marketing and fundraising and that he never traveled to visit safe houses established by the group overseas.

In January, Ogles joined 19 other Republicans in preventing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from being elected, demanding rule changes and concessions from the California Republican. WTVF’s report was denied by Ogles’ office as “an attempt by the liberal media to make something out of nothing,” according to a statement provided to The Post. His campaign described it as “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 clickbait headline.” “Congressman Ogles is proud of the time he spent developing his experience in economic and tax policies with well-known economist Dr. Arthur Laffer and Americans for Prosperity,” according to Ogles’ office, and that he was honored to serve as a reserve deputy for the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department and as the Chief Operating Officer for Abolition International, which provided resources and operational support to anti-human trafficking efforts worldwide.