Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) was charged with allegedly lying to the FBI about an illegal campaign contribution, months after an appeals court overturned his previous conviction.
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Fortenberry Wednesday on two charges related to statements he made during interviews about a foreign billionaire’s illegal donation of $30,200 to his 2016 congressional campaign.
A jury in Los Angeles previously convicted him in 2022 following a federal investigation, but a federal appeals court overturned the case in late 2023, ruling that Fortenberry was not tried in the proper place.
Chad Kolton, Fortenberry’s spokesman, argued that the case should not have been retried after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals “ruled so decisively” to reverse the conviction.
“This case defined overzealous prosecution from the earliest days of the investigation and a new attempt in DC only highlights prosecutors’ vindictive obsession with destroying a good man’s life,” Kolton wrote in a statement shared with The Hill.
“Federal prosecutors should have better things to do than force a distinguished former public servant to incur enormous additional legal costs despite having already resigned from office and served his sentence for a conviction that was ultimately overturned,” he added.
Following the 2022 conviction, Fortenberry resigned from his position and was sentenced to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine and 320 hours of community service.
The charges center on statements Fortenberry gave to authorities while investigating the $30,200 donation to the former congressman’s campaign at a 2016 fundraising event in California by Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian businessman.
Federal election law prohibits foreign nationals from making contributions in support of any candidate for federal elected office in the U.S.
When speaking with the FBI at his home in Nebraska and at his attorney’s office in D.C., Fortenberry claimed he had no knowledge of any illegal contributions to his campaign, according to the indictment.
Court documents, however, show that the agency listened to an earlier phone call in which a cooperating witness informed Fortenberry that the Nigerian businessman was the likely source of the $30,200 donation.
Fortenberry now faces two charges – falsifying and concealing material facts and making false statements, according to the indictment.
The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
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