Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, lied to the FBI about taking illegal donations from Gilbert Chagoury, a high-flying Nigerian businessman, a federal jury found.
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Fortenberry, 61, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who has served in Congress since 2005, was found guilty of one count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts and two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.
United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. scheduled a June 28 sentencing hearing. Each of the three felony charges carry a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.
“After learning of illegal contributions to his campaign, the congressman repeatedly chose to conceal the violations of federal law to protect his job, his reputation and his close associates,” said United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “The lies in this case threatened the integrity of the American electoral system and were designed to prevent investigators from learning the true source of campaign funds.”
“Today’s conviction highlights the FBI’s commitment to holding elected officials accountable,” said Kristi Johnson, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The verdict emphasizes the importance of being truthful to law enforcement and demonstrates the government’s dedication to keeping the nation’s interests free from foreign influence through illegal campaign contributions.”
“Jeff Fortenberry lied to federal agents in order to cover up illegal contributions to his re-election campaign,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Korner. “The guilty verdict today shows that no one is above the law, and IRS-CI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold our public servants accountable.”
According to evidence presented during a seven-day trial, Fortenberry lied to and misled authorities during two interviews conducted by federal authorities who were looking into illegal contributions to Fortenberry’s re-election campaign made by a foreign billionaire in early 2016. Gilbert Chagoury, a foreign national prohibited by federal law from contributing to any U.S. elections, donated $30,000 of his money through “straw donors” who attended a Fortenberry campaign fundraiser held in Los Angeles.
It is illegal for foreign nationals to make contributions to a federal campaign. It also is illegal for the true source of campaign contributions to be disguised by funneling the money through third-party conduits.
Chagoury entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office in 2019 in which he admitted providing approximately $180,000 that was used to make illegal contributions to four different political candidates in U.S. elections. Chagoury paid a $1.8 million fine.
The co-host of the Fortenberry 2016 fundraiser, who is referred to in court papers as “Individual H,” began cooperating with federal authorities in September 2016 and informed special agents with the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation about the illegal contributions. In response, investigators began looking into whether the Fortenberry campaign received illegal conduit contributions, whether Fortenberry knew about illegal contributions – both foreign contributions and conduit contributions – at the 2016 fundraiser, whether Fortenberry knew about illegal foreign contributions from Chagoury, and whether Fortenberry had any communications with Chagoury in relation to the illegal contributions made at the 2016 fundraiser.
In the spring of 2018, Fortenberry contacted Individual H about hosting another fundraiser. In a June 2018 call, Individual H told the congressman on multiple occasions that a close associate of Chagoury and political ally of Fortenberry – Toufic Joseph Baaklini, who also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with prosecutors – had provided him with $30,000 cash to route to Fortenberry’s campaign at the 2016 fundraiser. Individual H told Fortenberry that the money – which was distributed to other individuals at the fundraiser so the donations could be made under their names and avoid individual donor limits – “probably did come from Gilbert Chagoury.”
Despite learning of the illegal campaign contributions, Fortenberry did not file an amended report with the Federal Elections Commission.
Instead, after learning this information, Fortenberry made false and misleading statements during a March 23, 2019, interview with investigators who specifically told him it was a crime to lie to the federal government. Fortenberry falsely told investigators that he was not aware of Baaklini ever being involved in illegal campaign contributions, that the individuals who made contributions at the 2016 fundraiser were all publicly disclosed, and that he was not aware of any contributions to his campaign from a foreign national.
At a second interview on July 18, 2019, with federal investigators and prosecutors, Fortenberry made additional false statements, including denying he was aware of any illicit donations made during the 2016 fundraiser, denying that Individual H had told him Baaklini had provided the $30,000 cash at the 2016 fundraiser, and stating that he would have been “horrified” to learn about the illegal conduit contributions.
During this second interview, Fortenberry also misleadingly stated he ended the June 2018 call with Individual H after that person made a “concerning comment,” when in fact Fortenberry continued to ask Individual H to host another fundraiser for his campaign, according to court documents.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Mack E. Jenkins, Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Assistant United States Attorneys Susan S. Har and J. Jamari Buxton, also of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, are prosecuting this case.
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