Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberry is being indicted in the District of Columbia for allegedly lying to FBI agents about $30,000 in illegal campaign donations made to him by a Lebanese billionaire during a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.
Fortenberry’s conviction in California had been overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this past December, which found that the case should not have been tried in California. Chad Kolton is a spokesman for Fortenberry and says the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has decided to retry the case in DC and they expect they will announce a new indictment on the same previous charges today.
“The Biden/Garland Justice Department seems intent on dragging Jeff Fortenberry around the country to face one trial after another until it can secure a conviction that actually holds up,” Kolton said in a statement to KLIN News. “This case never should have been brought in the first place, and it shouldn’t have been pursued again after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled so decisively in Fortenberry’s favor.”
Kolton says FBI agents knew Fortenberry had no knowledge of illegal contributions to his campaign from a 2016 fundraiser. “So, they directed an informant to call him years later and make a few comments in a roughly 10-minute phone call suggesting that people might have made improper contributions at the event.”
Kolton says Fortenberry is an innocent man. “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.”
“Federal prosecutors should have better things to do than force a distinguished former public servant to incur massive additional legal costs despite already having resigned his office and performed his sentence from a conviction that was ultimately overturned.”
Fortenberry was sentenced to two years probation, 320 hours of community service and was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.