Ex-Congressman Fortenberry accused of lying about illegal donation

Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry is once again in the spotlight as he faces charges of lying to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire. This case, which had been previously derailed by an appellate court, has resurfaced with a grand jury in the nation’s capital indicting Fortenberry on two counts.

The Nebraska Republican was convicted by a federal jury in 2022, but his conviction was overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, citing that the case should not have been tried in Los Angeles.

Chad Kolton, a spokesperson for Fortenberry, strongly believes that the case should not have been pursued in the first place and questions the decision to retry it in Washington, D.C., after the appellate court ruled in his favor. Kolton expressed his concerns, stating, “This case has defined overzealous prosecution from the earliest days of the investigation, and retrying it in D.C. just highlights the prosecutors’ vindictive obsession with destroying a good man’s life.”

Following his conviction, Fortenberry made the decision to resign from the office he had held since 2005, under pressure from both congressional leaders and Nebraska’s Republican governor.

The case revolves around an FBI investigation into illegal campaign contributions made by Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire residing in Paris at the time. Chagoury had allegedly made a $30,000 contribution to Fortenberry through intermediaries at a fundraiser in Los Angeles in 2016, as outlined in the indictment.

Subsequently, Chagoury agreed to pay a hefty $1.8 million fine as foreign nationals are prohibited from directly contributing money to candidates running for federal offices in the United States.

Fortenberry’s charges stem from his denial to the FBI regarding his awareness of receiving illicit funds from Chagoury. According to his indictment, a person cooperating with the FBI investigation had informed Fortenberry multiple times about the illegal contributions.

The 9th Circuit’s ruling emphasized that Fortenberry should not have been tried in Los Angeles since the statements in question were made to federal agents at his residence in Lincoln, Nebraska, and at his attorney’s office in Washington.

Notably, Fortenberry’s trial marked the first instance of a sitting member of Congress facing such charges since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was convicted of bribery and other felonies back in 2002.