U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) resigned on March 26 after a California jury found him guilty of lying to federal investigators about a criminal campaign donation made by a Nigerian foreign national.
In a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, Fortenberry stated he will leave Congress on March 31.
“It has been an honor to serve with you in the House of Representatives of the United States,” he wrote. “Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve.”
The announcement of his resignation in his letter to the House followed a poem by Mother Theresa. Fortenberry said, “When things are difficult, I sometimes read a poem written on the wall of Mother Teresa’s children’s home in Calcutta.”
Fortenberry’s decision to step down came after pressure from politicians in Nebraska and Washington D.C. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy called for Fortenberry to resign on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Republicans in Nebraska said Fortenberry should step down from the office held since 2005 and do the right thing for his people.
According to NBC News, when the FBI interviewed Fortenberry twice, they said he told them he did not know about the illegal $30,000 donation made to his campaign by a foreign billionaire. He was interviewed at his home in Lincoln, NE, and then again in Washington, D.C., with his lawyers by his side. In October, Fortenberry was charged with fraud.
At the trial, prosecutors showed recordings of phone calls in which Fortenberry was told repeatedly that the money came from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. The money was sent through three strawmen at a fundraiser in Los Angeles in 2016.
Fortenberry has decided not to run in the primary, which means that state Senator Mike Flood is likely to be the GOP’s next candidate. Flood used to be a speaker of the Nebraska Legislature and has endorsements from Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman. Also running for the seat is Pansing Brooks, a Democrat from Lincoln.
Fortenberry served “many years of honorable service,” according to Flood, who thanked Fortenberry and wished him and his family the best.
“Working together, we will keep this seat in Republican hands,” Flood said, according to Headline USA. He continued that he will “fight for our families, our economy, and our conservative values in Congress.”
It’s a “wake-up call” that the district needs to change, Pansing Brooks said.
On Saturday, Brooks said Fortenberry’s resignation “opens the door for a new approach to serving [the 1st Congressional District] … I am ready and able to meet that challenge and lead with integrity.” Â
Nebraska state law says that the governor has to set up a special election for a vacant congressional seat in less than 90 days. Each political party picks a candidate who will run for the rest of the term of the person who was elected to the House.
Flood and Pansing Brooks will run in the special election to fill the seat. They will also run in November to serve the next term.
