New trial set for February, again alleging Fortenberry lied to FBI after 2016 fundraiser

LINCOLN — Former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry has pleaded not guilty once again to federal charges alleging he lied to FBI agents about illegal foreign contributions to his 2016 campaign.

Fortenberry appeared before a Washington, D.C., court Thursday. His new trial scheduled for February. On May 8, a grand jury in the district refiled charges against the former Nebraska congressman after a federal appeals court last year overturned his three felony convictions. 

The court ruled prosecutors wrongly pursued the case in California, where the questionable fundraiser took place and where Fortenberry received $30,000 via a brown paper bag from a foreign billionaire. 

But it wasn’t where the congressman allegedly lied during 2019 conversations with federal investigators, at his Lincoln home and in his lawyer’s office in D.C.

A deadline passed earlier this year to request a reconsideration of the appeals court decision, which opened the door for Fortenberry to be charged in Washington, D.C., or Nebraska. The statute of limitations has run out to charge the former congressman in the Cornhusker State.

A spokesperson for Fortenberry described the charges as political and “overzealous,” alleging prosecutors were “dragging Jeff Fortenberry around the country to face one trial after another until it can secure a conviction that … holds up.”