Pastor Steve Berger, Speaker Johnson, Rep. Ogles: D.C. Roomies? — ProPublica

For the project, obviously designed to influence Congress, Steve Berger’s operation left a meager paper trail. The archaic gospel pastor, who started a non -profit organization DC for the formation of national policy several years ago, does not report lobbying. His group is not found in the company’s financing records.

There is an easy way to look at expanding his efforts in Washington: Pay attention to who goes out of the front door of his Towunhaus Capitol. New data suggest that Berger can launch, which means a group house for conservative legislators, and several members of the congress live in the headquarters of his organization.

A $ 3.7 million six -room house belongs to a multimillion -dollar donor.

According to the people living in the area, the representative of Andy OGLS, Republican Tennessee, who is among the most aggressive allies of President Donald Trump, is in the house for several days. A video conducted by PROPBLICA showed that Ols left Towunhaus with bags on February 27. When he left, he closed the front door and threw his pockets to the house.

According to PROPUBLICA last week, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson lives in the townhouses. And Dan Bishop, a former congressman from North Carolina, now nominated for a powerful Trump’s White House, and recently lived there.

Berger said his goal is to “teach” Congress members, and what “they find out is translated into politics.” He claimed that he personally pushed the legislation, saying that the senator was privately attributed to the bill.

Berger, Bishop and OGLS did not respond to comment requests. Johnson’s spokeswoman earlier said the speaker pays the rental market for part of the townhouses he occupied but did not answer questions about the specific rate. He said that Johnson did not talk to the pastor about “any issue of state policy”.

OGLS is only in his third year in Congress, but he draws attention to his arrogant manifestations of Trump’s allegiance. Recently he introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution so that Trump could serve third term As the president. He submitted articles about impeachment against several judges who ruled against the new administration. (Last week, Elon Musk published video Oles, who advertises his impeachment efforts, installed the beat of the rap “Shook One, PT. II.”)

Short stay Ols is also characteristic of scandal scandal This is behind him. He faced the allegations that he had overstated his resume, saying he was an economist, a member of law enforcement agencies and an expert on international sex, Newschannel 5 in Nashville reports. (OGLS acknowledged at least one mistake in his resume but said that “my work says for itself.”)

Last year FBI grabbed his phone During the investigation and received a search warrant to review the records related to his personal email address. According to the court, federal investigators sought evidence related to potential campaign financing. The volume of the FBI’s investigation remains unclear.

Perhaps no one else is more responsible for the rise of the OGLS policy than the Biman, the businessman Tennessee, who owns the Towunhaus Hill Capitol. When in 2017, Ols announced a short application to the Senate, Beman said he plans to raise $ 4 million to support the run. Bemn, whose wealth comes from a large network of car shows, then served as a treasurer of the company in a successful 2022 Ols.

Bean and Berger have publicly advocated numerous specific changes in politics, in areas, including foreign affairs, fuel efficiency and the removal of barriers to firing federal staff. After the 2020 elections, they both signed a letter announced that Trump became a legal winner and urged Congress to cancel the results. (Biman did not respond to comment requests. PROPBLICA could not determine whether he and the pastor discussed policy problems with OGL during his stay in Congress.)

In the sermons, Berger devoted long sections of the attack on the department of the church and the state, as well as the COVID-19 vaccines. The pastor used the violent language to describe his disdainful tips “LGBTQ+ Pride” and “Hour Hour Hour Cewry Hourse” during an interview for Podculosa in 2022, according to unpublished frames obtained by Propublica.

“If I stayed myself, I would take a baseball bat and beat hell from each of them. And you don’t feel bad about it,” Berger said. “I have to go,” do you know what? This is probably not the will of God, isn’t it? And obviously this is not the case. “

In addition to the ownership of the townhous, the role of Bemana is unclear in the project of influence of the pastor. After Banan purchased the house in 2021, the lawyer sought to change it from a family that lives to “boarding house/house, reports the Washington, DC, Property Records. About this time, the non-profit group Berger, ampalsador Services International, registered the house as its address.

Experts say the congress members are allowed to live anywhere while they pay a fair market. The rental discounts are usually regarded as incorrect gifts and prohibited at home ethics.

Biman said he met OGLS when OGLS was the director of the Americans Tennessee for Welfare, who is part of the Koch’s political network. Bemn and OGLS have joined forces to combat a mass transit project in Nashville and reportedly worked on successful efforts to cancel real estate tax in their native state. Leaving Koch’s network, OGLS served four years mayor of Middle Tennessee County with a population of approximately 100,000. He held this role until 2022 when he was elected to Congress.

Ogars’ 2022 has become the subject of a brilliant home report published this year. The non -partisan Ethics Administration concluded that there were “significant reasons” that the OGLS company has accepted illegally large donations, and then falsely reported that the funds came from OGLS itself. OGLS said “I am sure that any reporting problem was in the worst case of an honest mistake.” (Biman was not named in the report and was not charged with violation.)

The report states that OGL refused to cooperate with the investigation. It is recommended that the House of Representative Ethics Committee submit a summons to the congressman.