Former GOP Rep. Jeff Fortenberry wins appeal to overturn criminal conviction

A former Republican member of Congress who resigned in 2022 upon being convicted for making false statements won an appeal to overturn his conviction Tuesday.

Former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska represented the state’s 1st Congressional District for nine terms from 2005 to 2022. After he was convicted in 2022 for making false statements to federal investigators to conceal the foreign source of donations to his political campaigns, Fortenberry appealed his conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, arguing that the case was improperly decided in a federal district court in Los Angeles.

“The Constitution plainly requires that a criminal defendant be tried in the place where the criminal conduct occurred,” wrote Judge James Donato, a Barack Obama appointee to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation in the Ninth Circuit, for the majority. Fortenberry’s conviction was overturned on venue grounds, with the appellate court ruling that he could not have been tried in federal district court in Los Angeles for statements made in Nebraska and Washington, D.C.

United States v. Fortenberry by Daily Caller News Foundation on Scribd

After Fortenberry was convicted, he was persuaded by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to resign from Congress. There is no constitutional prohibition on a convicted felon serving in public office, though some states may preclude them from voting.

The criminal law, 18 U.S.C. § 1001, has been frequently used against high-profile public figures who make allegedly false testimonies during contact with prosecutors, such as in the case of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served as former President Donald Trump’s first national security adviser.

Apart from his argument regarding venue, Fortenberry raised a question of the substance of evidence before the jury in his 2022 conviction, but it was not considered by the court.

“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,” wrote Fortenberry in a statement provided by his counsel, Kannon Shanmugam, the appellate practice chair of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

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