FBI Announces U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry’s Grand-Jury Charges for Illegal Campaign Scheme
LOS ANGELES – When federal investigators probed into campaign contributions made by Gilbert
Chagoury, a foreign national prohibited by federal law from ever contributing to any U.S. elections – they found suspicious goings-on amidst U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry’s Los Angeles Fundraiser. The foreign billionaire had arranged in early 2016 for $30,000 of his money to be funnelled through other individuals – also known as “conduits.”
“It is illegal for foreign nationals to make contributions to a federal campaign,” reported the FBI. “It also is illegal for the true source of campaign contributions to be disguised by funneling the money through
third-party conduits, and illegal for a federal candidate to knowingly receive foreign or conduit
contributions.”
The federal probe revealed that the authorities were repeatedly misled and lied to regarding the illegal
contributions to the re-election campaign. On 10/19/2021, a federal grand jury charged U.S.
Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who represents Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, with concealing
information and making false statements to federal authorities.
As a result of the scheme, “Fortenberry (60), of Lincoln, Nebraska, was named in an indictment that
charges him with one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making
false statements to federal investigators,” announced the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Fortenberry has served in Congress since 2005.
Not only did he allege to federal prosecutors and investigators that he was unaware of any illicit 2016
fundraiser donation, claiming that he would’ve been “horrified,” the indictment alleges that he continued to ask the individual in 2018 to host another fundraiser for his campaign.
Through his attorney, Fortenberry agreed to appear for a 10/20/2021 arraignment in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Prosecutors are Assistant United States Attorneys Mack E. Jenkins, Chief of the Public
Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Susan S. Har, also of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights
Section.
The indictment’s three felony charges each carry a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal
prison. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.
