Trump supports another former republican legislator accused of corruption

About a month after the election day, the president of the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives, Jim Jordan, I started to take a close look In the criminal case against one of his former Republican colleagues, former Nebraska representative Jeff Fortenberry. For Ohio’s republican, it was a predictable movement: Jordan has become accustomed to Research Research.

However, it turns out that Jordan can withdraw: how Politic reportedThe charges against Fortenberry are apparently ready to disappear.

Federal prosecutors referred to the case last May and were prepared to go to trial, before Donald Trump won a second mandate. Now, the conditions have changed in the application of the federal law.

NBC News reported“The movement to dismiss the case against Fortenberry was made by US prosecutor Ed Martin.” (Martin is A conservative activist who served at the board of a group that supports January 6 accused criminals And it is considered A prominent member of the “stop theft” movement. This week, he launched a “project 1512” Review the prosecutions of the protesters of January 6.

For How we get to this pointThe case against Fortenberry comes from an FBI investigation into the illegal campaign contributions of Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese ancestry. According to reports, their donations were channeled through a group of Californians from 2012 to 2016 and went to several politicians, including the Republican of Nebraska.

Congress members cannot, of course, accept foreign funds for their campaigns, but in this case, that was not the main problem: Fortenberry and their team also said they did not realize the $ 30,200 in contributions he received in a Los Angeles funds collection. 2016 came from a Nigerian billionaire. The congressman then donated the money to local beneficial organizations.

According to federal prosecutors, Fortenberry “lies repeatedly and deceived to the authorities“As part of the Chagoury scheme. The defense team of the Republican party legislator tried to blame this In a misunderstanding caused by “a bad cell phone connection”, although obviously I did not find this persuasive.

But before the former Republican congressman could judge again, the activist “stop the robbery” led by the United States prosecutor’s office in the capital of the Nation decided to abandon the charges completely.

The president expressed his delight through his social media platform. “It’s great to see that the Department of Justice has dropped witch hunt against former congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a proud American public servant and very respected of a lifetime.” Trump wrote. “Jeff and his family were forced to suffer a lot due to the illegal weapon of our justice system by the leftist radical democrats. … that scam is over. “

There was, of course, quite bad with the president’s pern, including the fact that federal prosecutors began to present a case against Fortenberry during … wait … The Trump administration. When he referred to the “illegal weapon of our justice system,” Trump apparently referred to his own team.

Stoping, it is also worth appreciating Trump’s seemingly unlimited support from Congress members who have been convicted of corruption. In his first term, for example, the Republican President forgiven Former Chris Collins representatives in New York and Duncan Hunter Jr. de California, for example. It is in this context that Trump is now singing Fortenberry’s praises.

Is it surprising why former Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez? It seemed anxious to publicly praise the Republican President After being sentenced to 11 years In prison after a conviction for corruption?

This publication updates our Related previous coverage.