Federal prosecutors moved Wednesday to throw out their case against former GOP Rep. Jeff Fortenberry over charges that he lied to the FBI about illegal campaign contributions, a prosecution that prompted the Nebraskan to resign from Congress in 2022.
Acting DC US Attorney Edward Martin Jr. and acting Los Angeles US Attorney Joseph McNally moved to dismiss the case “with prejudice” in the nation’s capital, meaning it cannot be brought again there.
President Trump, 78, cheered the news on Truth Social, writing: “It is great to see that the Department of Justice has dropped the Witch Hunt against former Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a longtime proud and highly respected American public servant.”
“Jeff and his family were forced to suffer greatly due to the illegal Weaponization of our Justice System by the Radical Left Democrats,” he added. “The charges were totally baseless. That Scam is now over.”
Fortenberry, 64, was originally convicted in Los Angeles in March 2022 of one count of conspiracy and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
That conviction was tossed out by the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals a year later on the grounds that Fortenberry was improperly tried in Los Angeles rather than Washington, DC, or Nebraska.
A new trial had been set to begin in the nation’s capital in mid-July before Wednesday’s motion brought the case to an end.
Prosecutors alleged that Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury funneled some $30,000 to Fortenberry’s 2016 campaign coffers via straw donors who participated in a Los Angeles fundraiser. Chagoury, a co-host of the fundraiser, and an associate cooperated with authorities on the investigation.
In March 2019, Fortenberry allegedly claimed to FBI officials that he wasn’t privy to those donations despite having been informed by the fundraiser co-host that the $30,000 in question “probably did come from Gilbert Chagoury,” per prosecutors.
During a second FBI interview in July 2019, Fortenberry reiterated the assertion that he wasn’t aware of illegal donations to his campaign coffers.
Fortenberry represented Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District from 2005 until his resignation.
“This action is part of a larger review consistent with President Trump’s executive order to identify and take appropriate action to correct instances of government weaponization,” an anonymous official told Politico.
Since Trump won the 2024 election, DOJ efforts to prosecute the 2020 election subversion and Mar-a-Lago documents cases against him ceased.
Additionally, Trump has directed the DOJ to wind down most of the 450 cases still pending against the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters.
The Post has reached out to Fortenberry’s attorney and a DOJ spokesperson for comment.
