Appeals court wipes conviction for ex-congressman

[Up Yours California]

A federal appeals court panel wiped ex-Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s (R-Neb.)
conviction of lying to the FBI about an illegal campaign contribution,
ruling Tuesday that he was not tried in the proper venue.

Last year, a jury sitting in Los Angeles convicted Fortenberry for false
statements he made during interviews in Nebraska and the nation’s capital.

He resigned from his seat in Congress and was sentenced to two years of
probation, a $25,000 fine and 320 hours of community service. Tuesday’s
decision reverses that sentence, although Fortenberry could still be
retried.

“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,” wrote U.S. District Judge James
Donato, who sat on the appeals court by designation.

“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 23-
page opinion continued.

Authorities charged Fortenberry after interviewing him, as they
investigated a $30,200 donation from a Nigerian businessman to the then-
congressman’s campaign at a 2016 fundraising event in California.

Federal law prohibits campaign contributions from foreign nationals to any
local, state or federally elected official.

But prosecutors did not charge Fortenberry over the contribution itself,
instead prosecuting him on two counts of making false statements and one
count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts.

During interviews with the FBI, Fortenberry told investigators that he was
unaware of any illegal contributions to his campaign. But court filings
indicate the agency had listened into an earlier phone call, in which a
cooperating witness told Fortenberry that the Nigerian businessman was
likely the source of the $30,200 donation.

The FBI interviews took place at Fortenberry’s home in Lincoln, Neb., and
in his lawyer’s office in Washington, D.C.

The trial judge enabled a jury trial to move forward in California by
ruling that false statement violations occur not only where they are
uttered, but also where they have an effect on a federal investigation.
The donation investigation was run out of the FBI’s Los Angeles field
office.

“We conclude that an effects-based test for venue of a Section 1001
offense has no support in the Constitution, the text of the statute, or
historical practice,” wrote Donato, who was appointed by former President
Obama.

Also on the panel were Circuit Judges Gabriel Sanchez and Salvador Mendoza
Jr., who were both appointed by President Biden.

“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.

The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4377688-appeals-court-wipes-
conviction-ex-congressman/