Henry Leventis, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee who oversaw the FBI search warrant served on Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) last Friday, previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney under special prosecutor Jack Smith.
Leventis (pictured above) supervised the FBI search warrant executed at Ogles’ Maury County home. In a statement, Ogles said the warrant was issued to obtain his personal cell phone due to well-reported issues with his initial campaign filings. Ogles filed amendments earlier this year that he claims corrected what were honest mistakes.
“Last Friday, the FBI took possession of my cell phone,” said Ogles. He confirmed, “It is my understanding that they are investigating the same well-known facts surrounding these filings. I will of course fully cooperate with them, just as I have with the Federal Election Commission. I am confident all involved will conclude that the reporting discrepancies were based on honest mistakes, and nothing more.”
Prior to being nominated by President Joe Biden to become the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee on July 28, 2022, biographical information provided by the Department of Justices (DOJ) reveals Leventis worked as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the same district from 2015 to 2020.
Leventis was already a junior staff member to Smith during this time, as a DOJ press release reveals Smith began serving as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2015.
Smith (pictured above, left) received a brief promotion in 2017, when he was appointed to become the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee just two months after former President Donald Trump entered the White House on January 20.
This means Smith was Leventis’ boss from March 2017 until September 2017, when Smith left the DOJ.
Smith did not work for the government again until he was appointed to oversee the Biden administration DOJ’s prosecution of Trump in November 2022.
The FBI declined to confirm to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that it executed the search warrant and instead referred The Star to Leventis’ office for further information.
When reached by The Star, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Wildasin claimed he could not confirm the search warrant or provide comment due to DOJ policy.
At press time, the most recent news release from Leventis’ office celebrated the August 2 arrest of a Tennessee man the DOJ claims assaulted a police officer during the January 6, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C.
The FBI search warrant was executed less than 24 hours after Ogles sailed through his primary election with Trump’s support and came after the Republican filed new articles of impeachment against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ogles previously filed articles of impeachment against both Biden and Harris in 2023, accusing them of failing to uphold the rule of law at the southern border, and his recent articles of impeachment claim Harris failed her Constitutional duty to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office due to the 81-year-old’s alleged mental incapacity.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Lawfare to the highest degree!
Of course.