Omaha, Neb. — A federal grand jury has indicted U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, accusing him of lying to the FBI and concealing information from federal agents who were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire. The U.S. attorney’s office announced that the federal grand jury in Los Angeles had indicted the nine-term Republican on one charge of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators. The congresssman is proclaiming his innocence and promising to fight the charges. Fortenberry says in a YouTube video posted Monday night that he was “shocked” and “stunned” by the allegations.
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Omaha, Neb. — U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska expects to be charged with lying to the FBI while federal agents were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire. The nine-term Republican is proclaiming his innocence and promising to fight the charges. Fortenberry says in a YouTube video posted Monday night that he was “shocked” and “stunned” by the allegations. Knowingly making false statements to a federal agent is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The expected indictment stems from an FBI investigation into $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Gilbert Chagoury, including $30,200 to Fortenberry in 2016. The contributions were funneled through a group of Californians from 2012 through 2016.
