Nebraska congressman found guilty of lying to FBI about foreign campaign contribution

A Nebraska Congressman was discovered responsible Thursday in a California courtroom of mendacity to the FBI about an unlawful marketing campaign contribution from 2016. 

U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, 61, was charged final yr after being interviewed by two FBI brokers who have been investigating Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury who gave Fortenberry a $30,000 marketing campaign contribution at a Los Angeles fundraiser earlier than the 2016 election and has donated to different campaigns.  

He was convicted by a jury on Thursday on one rely of falsifying and concealing materials information and two counts of constructing false statements. 

The nine-term congressman’s protection has maintained his innocence, arguing that the investigators knew he was unaware of the donation on the time however directed an informant to feed him the knowledge in a 10-minute recorded name with the intention of attempting to prosecute him. They claimed the FBI used false pretenses a yr later to interview him and cost him after he couldn’t bear in mind the recorded dialog. 

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Dr. Elias Ayoub, who hosted Fortenberry in Los Angeles in 2016, confessed in a recorded 2018 name with the congressman that he distributed $30,000 to pals and relations who attended the fundraiser so they may write checks to Fortenberry’s marketing campaign. In the course of the name in 2018, Ayoub had been cooperating with the FBI. Ayoub mentioned the cash most likely got here from Chagoury who admitted in 2019 to funneling $180,000 in unlawful marketing campaign contributions to 4 campaigns and agreed to pay a $1.8 million tremendous.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., heart, and spouse, Celeste, left, arrive on the federal courthouse for his trial in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Fortenberry was convicted Thursday, March 24, 2022, of prices that he lied to federal authorities about an unlawful $30,000 contribution to his marketing campaign from a international billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser.(AP Picture/Jae C. Hong, File)

In 2019, Fortenberry, unaware that the decision was being recorded, advised the FBI that he didn’t obtain any international donations or so-called conduit contributions, the place the cash was distributed to straw donors.

Fortenberry “selected to hide the reality, he selected to mislead federal investigators after they got here to ask query [sic]… believing his standing and privilege as a congressman would defend him from his decisions,” prosecutor Susan Har mentioned throughout closing arguments, based on KETV in Omaha. 

Every rely carries a most sentence of 5 years in jail. 

FILE – U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., speaks on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in Washington.  
(AP Picture/Andrew Harnik File)

Fortenberry represents Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District and is operating for re-election this yr. The costs final October have divided conservatives in his district over the long-term consultant first elected in 2004. 

He received his 2020 race with 59% in opposition to the Democrat operating within the race and the district is seen as reliably conservative.