The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) claims two House lawmakers likely broke campaign finance laws in prior elections. In two reports released on Thursday, the OCE—a nonpartisan and independent watchdog group established by Congress in 2008—says it has “substantial reason to believe” Representatives Andy Ogles (R-TN) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) failed to appropriately report certain campaign contributions to circumvent election rules on contribution limits and the funding of political action committees (PACs).
According to the OCE reports, Rep. Ogles’s 2022 Congressional campaign allegedly “omitted or misrepresented required information in his financial disclosure statements or FEC candidate committee reports” and “may have accepted excessive contributions that were reported as personal loans and contributions from the candidate.”
The watchdog group claims that Ogles’s $320,000 loan reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for his election campaign was a ploy to cover up his acceptance of donor contributions over the legal limits. They note that they believe the Tennessee Republican lacked the financial resources at the time to make such a significant transaction. However, in a letter to the OCE, Ogles stated that the filing was incorrect and that the actual loan amount was only $20,000.
Meanwhile, Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of circumventing rules regarding campaign contributions to PACs. The report states the Florida Democrat made “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 OCE says it has found evidence that at least one individual working on Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign was not paid with official campaign funds. She is also accused of accepting donor contributions over legal limits.
Both reports were referred to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation.
