DC US Attorney Matthew Graves indicted former GOP Congressman Jeff Fortenberry after a previous conviction related to a campaign finance investigation was overturned due to jurisdiction issues.
Last December, an appeals court voided the conviction following claims that the FBI had entrapped the former Congressman.
In 2022, Fortenberry resigned from Congress after being found guilty of lying to the FBI.
“Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer serve you effectively,” Fortenberry said in a statement.
Kevin McCarthy joined then-Speaker Pelosi and called for Fortenberry to step down.
“I think when someone’s convicted, it’s time to resign,” McCarthy told reporters in 2022, according to Politico.
“Congressman Fortenberry’s conviction represents a breach of the public trust and confidence in his ability to serve. No one is above the law,” Pelosi, a lifelong crook who mysteriously made hundreds of millions of dollars as a member of Congress said in 2022.
Fortenberry was found guilty of three felony charges in Los Angeles by a federal grand jury: one for falsifying and concealing material facts, and two for making false statements.
Each count carries a five-year sentence.
During the trial, Fortenberry’s legal team contended that the FBI had enticed the Congressman into conducting two interviews, only to later charge him when he couldn’t recall all the specifics of a conversation with an FBI informant regarding an illegal campaign donation.
“Defense lawyers said the FBI “set up” Fortenberry after a national investigation fizzled into foreign money funneled to members of Congress. They said Fortenberry’s flaw was voluntarily meeting with agents and prosecutors to help their probe and having a faulty memory.” – AP reported.
In December, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Fortenberry’s conviction following arguments from his defense attorneys that he was framed by the FBI.
The court noted that the FBI conducted interviews with Fortenberry both at his Nebraska residence and in Washington, DC.
Despite this, a jury in Los Angeles had previously convicted Fortenberry for crimes that were said to have occurred in a different state.
“Fortenberry’s trial took place in a state where no charged crime was committed, and before a jury drawn from the vicinage of the federal agencies that investigated the defendant,” US District Judge James Donato wrote in the opinion.
“The Constitution does not permit this. Fortenberry’s convictions are reversed so that he may be retried, if at all, in a proper venue,” the opinion read.
“We are gratified by the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Celeste and I would like to thank everyone who has stood by us and supported us with their kindness and friendship,” Fortenberry said in a statement.
Biden administration’s prosecutor in Washington, DC, Matthew Graves, charged Jeff Fortenberry with the same offenses on Thursday.
Despite Fortenberry’s resignation from Congress and completion of his probation, the Biden administration continues to pursue him relentlessly.
“Federal prosecutors have charged former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in Washington for allegedly lying to investigators in connection with a campaign finance probe of a foreign billionaire’s political contributions.” Politico reported.
Fortenberry’s spokesperson Chad Kolton released a statement.
“The Biden/Garland Justice Department seems intent on dragging Jeff Fortenberry around the country to face one trial after another until it can secure a conviction that actually holds up. This case never should have been brought in the first place, and it shouldn’t have been pursued again after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled so decisively in Fortenberry’s favor.,” Chad Kolten said.
“This case has defined overzealous prosecution from the earliest days of the investigation, and retrying it in D.C. just highlights the prosecutors’ vindictive obsession with destroying a good man’s life,” he said.
“Federal prosecutors should have better things to do than force a distinguished former public servant to incur massive additional legal costs despite already having resigned his office and performed his sentence from a conviction that was ultimately overturned.,” he said.
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