Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican, on Tuesday was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California on charges that he lied to federal investigators and concealed information connected to « illegal contributions made by a foreign national, » the Department of Justice announced.
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican, on Tuesday was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California on charges that he lied to federal investigators and concealed information connected to “illegal contributions made by a foreign national,” the Department of Justice announced. Fortenberry, of Lincoln, Neb., is accused of one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators. The three charges are all felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. “The indictment alleges that Fortenberry repeatedly lied to and misled authorities during a federal investigation into illegal contributions to Fortenberry’s re-election campaign made by a foreign billionaire in early 2016,” the DOJ said in a press release. First elected in 2005, Fortenberry is charged in connection with a campaign donation by the Nigerian-born billionaire Gilbert Chagoury in 2016. Prosecutors allege that the $30,000 donation was funneled through “other individuals” and “conduits” because foreign nationals cannot make contributions to federal election campaigns.
