DOJ moves to drop charges against former GOP lawmaker in case criticized by Trump

The Justice Department has moved to drop its criminal prosecution of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, a Nebraska Republican who resigned last year after a conviction on charges that he lied to the FBI.

Fortenberry’s conviction by a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2022 was subsequently overturned by an appeals court that ruled he should have been tried in Kansas or Washington, D.C. The Justice Department renewed the case in Washington and he was awaiting a new trial when Donald Trump won the 2024 election.

The request to dismiss the case against Fortenberry is the latest move by the Justice Department to end criminal cases against Trump’s political allies. The department on Wednesday also sought to end the criminal case against two men who were charged alongside Trump in Florida by special counsel Jack Smith. And on his first day in office, Trump ordered the department to dismiss hundreds of criminal cases against supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, including many who assaulted police.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the move, but a DOJ official suggested the prosecution represented politically inspired “weaponization” of federal law enforcement.

“This action is part of a larger review consistent with President Trump’s executive order to identify and take appropriate action to correct instances of government weaponization,” said the official, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

Fortenberry was charged with making false statements to FBI investigators probing an illegal foreign contribution to his campaign.

Shortly after the 2024 election, Fortenberry indicated he anticipated that the Trump administration might drop the case against him, claiming it was politically motivated. His retrial was set for July.

“The political elements of this case make it the type of prosecutorial decision the incoming administration has made clear it will reexamine upon taking office,” the congressman argued in a December court filing seeking to delay the trial.

Some of the FBI’s tactics in the case drew criticism, including its decision to surreptitiously record him in his own home after telling him they needed to discuss an urgent national security matter.

Trump himself criticized the case against Fortenberry in 2022, saying at a Nebraska rally that the case was “very unfair” and might result in punishment over a “a tiny amount of money.”

The trouble for Fortenberry stemmed from a 2016 fundraiser in Glendale, California, that raised more than $30,000 for his reelection campaign. That money, federal investigators later concluded, originated with Gilbert Chagoury, a billionaire businessman with French, Lebanese and Nigerian roots who was legally forbidden from donating to U.S. political campaigns.

Chagoury and his aides admitted making illegal donations to three other campaigns: former Sen. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential race, Rep. Darrell Issa’s 2014 House campaign and former Rep. Lee Terry’s 2014 House bid. Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also admitted he took a $50,000 loan from Chagoury and failed to include it in his financial disclosures.

Chagoury, who lives in Paris, paid a $1.8 million fine and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. prosecutors that avoided him having to face trial on criminal charges.

An attorney for Fortenberry, Jonathan Pitt, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the development.