In a notable development on Wednesday, federal prosecutors requested a judge to dismiss the case against former Nebraska congressman Jeffrey Fortenberry, who has been accused of providing false information to authorities regarding a foreign billionaire’s unlawful $30,000 campaign contribution.
While the one-page document filed in court did not disclose the reasons behind the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., pursuing the dismissal, it marks a significant turn of events for Fortenberry, a Republican who stepped down following a related conviction last year.
Ed Martin, the chief federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, has held his position since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration. Under his supervision, the office has also overseen the dismissal of nearly 1,600 cases linked to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
A representative from Martin’s office refrained from providing further details regarding their decision to discontinue Fortenberry’s case. Meanwhile, Fortenberry’s legal team has yet to respond to requests for comments.
Fortenberry was originally slated to stand trial in Washington this July. In 2022, he was convicted by a jury in Los Angeles for lying to the FBI about illicit campaign contributions received from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese origin. Testimonies from an individual cooperating with the FBI investigation indicated that this individual had repeatedly warned Fortenberry about the illegal donations, as his indictment states.
However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned Fortenberry’s conviction, determining that the case should not have been prosecuted in Los Angeles. Following this, he faced new charges in May for falsifying and concealing material facts as well as making false statements.
After his conviction in 2022, Fortenberry announced his resignation from Congress, a position he had held since 2005. According to Fortenberry’s indictment, Chagoury, who was residing in Paris at the time, arranged the $30,000 contribution through intermediaries at a fundraising event in Los Angeles back in 2016. It is important to note that U.S. law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing directly to federal election campaigns.
Fortenberry’s upcoming trial would have been notable as it represented the first time a sitting member of Congress faced trial since Rep. Jim Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio, was convicted of bribery and other felonies in 2002.
