Economist? Trained law enforcement officer? International sex crimes expert?

Is it another politician lying about his resume or a case of people simply overreacting? Today in his first extended interview, middle Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles downplayed concerns raised by a News Channel 5 investigation. That investigation has now gone national, and our Chief Investigative Reporter Phil Williams closely monitored the congressman's reaction. Phil? While our investigation first revealed Andy Ogles' claims to be an economist, a former law enforcement officer, even an expert on international sex crimes. Today he told the local talk radio host, people are making too much out of this controversy. My body of work speaks for itself. That was Congressman Andy Ogles' morning talk radio, responding to questions first raised by our News Channel 5 investigation of his resume. So I'm an economist, I'm an economist, you know, as an economist.

The freshman Republican justified his claims to be an economist, saying his time as a Capitol Hill lobbyist fighting against higher taxes gave him experience. He also served for a year as an aide to supply side economist Arthur Laffer, although his work was not as an economist. I had a privilege in my career, spent the last decade working on economic policy and tax policy. So you decide. Yeah, at the end of the day, I don't care. Let me ask you Andy, have you ever said or told anyone or written that you actually had a degree in economics? WTN host Dan Mandus quizzed Ogles about his education. His own congressional website says he graduated from MTSU where he studied policy and economics, but listened to Ogles answer.

I don't recall ever saying I had an economics degree because I've been quite clear that I studied political science and international relations. Then there are Ogles claims. As a former member of law enforcement works in international sex crimes, specifically child trafficking claims that during the radio interview, he appeared to blame on someone else. I think again, somehow in that they kind of got overlapped or merged together and maybe that created some of the confusion or maybe it's just someone looking to write a story that Ogles admitted that much of his time as a volunteer reserve deputy involved providing security for government meetings and working at the firing range. I probably spent less time as a patrol deputy and more time like at the school board meetings and the county commission meetings. I did spend some time on the road, but then also I served as a safety officer on the firing range. But rather than admitting that he had done anything wrong, Ogles appeared to blame others for wasting time.

We got real problems in this world, in this country, and people are wanting to dissect my resume. Congressman Ogles also claims he put a block on his records that prohibited MTSU from confirming his degree because he had been a victim of identity theft and he did not want his transcript getting out there with his social security number. The problem with that story is federal law already prohibits the release of transcripts. What Ogles did only keeps the public in the dark about his real educational credentials. Thank you. Bye. Bye.

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