The manager for Republican Rep. Andy Ogles’ legal defense fund, James Appel, continues to oversee the fund despite facing federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud related to an indictment alleging he embezzled money from a Maryland politician’s campaign account and a community organization to refinance a yacht.
Appel, a political consultant at GOP Compliance LLC, is listed as the trustee of Ogles’ legal fund, according to House documents reviewed by NOTUS.
“I am still the trustee,” Appel told NOTUS in a statement on Wednesday.
Ogles, who represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, told NOTUS on Wednesday that he did not know whether Appel was still overseeing the Andy Ogles Legal Expense Trust, which has raised money to defend against a Biden administration-era investigation into Ogles’ campaign finance accounting.
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Ogles said he isn’t involved with the legal fund, and that the fund was set up by his attorneys.
“I know it’s there, but I haven’t used it,” Ogles said of the fund.
Following an indictment unsealed in March, Appel stands charged with wire fraud and money laundering stemming from accusations he stole about $100,000 from a Maryland state delegate’s campaign accounts and embezzled another $100,000 from a community organization near Annapolis, according to a Department of Justice news release.
He is further accused of reporting that he owned the allegedly stolen funds on a loan refinance application for his Pacific Mariner 65 Motoryacht.
Appel has pleaded not guilty, according to court filings. The release says Appel could face 20 years in prison.
As for Ogles, the DOJ agreed to destroy and return evidence it seized in a 2024 investigation that prompted Ogles to create his legal defense trust and employ Appel in the first place. The DOJ did not respond to NOTUS’s requests for comment about whether or not it was dropping the investigation.
Ogles and other Republican lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday, accusing the Biden administration of surveilling them.
“When they took my phone and my emails, there were private conversations that I was having or had with President Trump, with the speaker of the House, with senators, with members of Congress, with the media,” Ogles said. “The Biden administration was on a war path. And if they deemed you a threat, then they did whatever they could to destroy you.”
The Andy Ogles Legal Expense Trust was formed in October 2024 to pay for legal fees incurred during the investigation, with Ogles personally requesting its creation in a letter to the House Ethics Committee.
Appel signed an affidavit affirming that he read and understood House legal expense fund regulations and would administer Ogles’ trust “in conformity with those regulations and House Rules.”
According to a House document reviewed by NOTUS, Ogles’ fund paid Appel’s firm about $1,000 a month for “compliance” consulting from April 2025 through December 2025.
Ogles’ fund has reported spending more than $169,000 overall between October 2024 and December 2025, with most of the money going toward legal fees with law firms that include Compass Legal Group, Earth & Water Law LLC, Holtzman Vogel and Secil Law, according to House records.
Appel’s Linkedin profile says he’s also been a comptroller for the Maryland Republican Party since 2017. The profile says Appel manages “all financial aspects for the Maryland Republican Party including filing state and federal campaign finance reports.”
Maryland Republican Party Chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris told NOTUS in a statement that Appel “was not an employee of the MDGOP, and he is no longer a contractor.”
This article has been updated to detail the charges James Appel is facing.
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