Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 9, 2024 / 17:45 pm
Federal prosecutors have refiled charges against pro-life former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in relation to allegations that he made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) amid an investigation into allegedly illegal campaign donations received by his 2016 campaign.
Fortenberry was indicted on one count of falsifying and concealing material facts and one count of making false statements. He is accused of lying to the federal agents about his campaign receiving $30,000 in illegal campaign donations from a foreign national.
The federal indictment accuses the former congressman of taking the money despite knowing that the donor was a foreign national and that receiving the money would violate the law.
Fortenberry had previously been tried and convicted of these same crimes in March 2022, but the conviction was overturned in December 2023 after an appellate court ruled that he had been charged in an improper venue. Although he was tried in Los Angeles, the court ruled that he should have been tried in Washington, D.C., or Nebraska.