Feds Re-Charge Ex-Rep. Fortenberry With Lying About Campaign Donations After Appeals Court Tossed Previous Conviction

Federal prosecutors have recharged former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, on claims he lied to investigators in a campaign finance probe. Prosecutors had previously charged Mr. Fortenberry with scheming to make and making false statements about a $30,000 campaign donation his campaign had received in 2016. A jury found Mr. Fortenberry guilty within hours of beginning their deliberations, after a weeklong trial in a federal court in Los Angeles. Mr. Fortenberry resigned from his House seat and was later sentenced in June 2022 to serve a term of probation, complete community service, and pay a $25,000 fine. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December 2023 that Mr. Fortenberry’s conviction should be overturned, concluding the case should not have been tried in Los Angeles. Though they threw out the conviction, the appeals court did not preclude federal prosecutors from seeking a new trial in Nebraska or the District of Columbia, where Mr. Fortenberry is alleged to have lied in 2018 and 2019 about his knowledge of illegal campaign contributions he took in 2016....