Fortenberry Rep

defied norquist pledge

 ===

new trial technicality 9th?

Appeals court tosses former GOP congressman’s felony conviction for lying to the FBI - Alternet.org

ormer Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Nebraska) is no longer a convicted felon following a Tuesday afternoon ruling by a 9th Circuit US Circuit Court of Appeals panel.

In a 23-page filing, US District Judge James Donato — the author of the opinion by the 9th Circuit panel — wrote that Fortenberry was improperly tried by a federal jury in Los Angeles, California, when he in fact should have been tried either in his home state of Nebraska or in Washington, DC. Following Tuesday's ruling, Fortenberry will be entitled to a new trial in a different court.

"Fortenberry’s trial took place in a state where no charged crime was committed, and before a jury drawn from the vicinage of the federal agencies that investigated the defendant. The Constitution does not permit this," Donato wrote. "Fortenberry’s convictions are reversed so that he may be retried, if at all, in a proper venue."

The original allegations stem from October of 2015, when the FBI was investigating an unnamed "foreign national" who made approximately $30,000 in contributions to Fortenberry's 2016 reelection campaign at a Los Angeles-based fundraiser. On a recorded call, a cooperating witness told Fortenberry that the bulk of donations likely came from the foreign donor. When the FBI questioned Fortenberry about the funds, he falsely told federal investigators he didn't know the original source of the money.

In late 2021, Fortenberry was charged with one felony count of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts, and two felony counts of making false statements to federal investigators. In March of 2022, he was found guilty on all counts. Fortenberry was ultimately spared prison time and instead sentenced to two years of probation, 320 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.

In his ruling, Donato wrote that the Department of Justice's decision to try Fortenberry in Los Angeles was "highly problematic" for several reasons.

"An investigation was staffed by agents in California. In connection with the investigation, the agents traveled to Nebraska and Washington, DC to interview Fortenberry, who made false statements in those locations. The only connection between Fortenberry and the Central District of California, where he was tried and convicted, was that the agents worked in a Los Angeles office," Donato wrote. "What if the investigation had been conducted by federal agents in Los Angeles and Oklahoma? What if the government had transferred the investigation to agents in Massachusetts? What if an investigating agent simply moved from Los Angeles to Hawaii for personal reasons but maintained a lead role in prosecuting the case?"

READ MORE: How an 'obedient DOJ' could 'exact revenge on' Trump's enemies: legal experts

The appellate panel that ruled in Fortenberry's favor is made up entirely of Democratic judicial appointees. Donato was appointed by former President Barack Obama, and the other two 9th Circuit judges — Gabriel P. Sanchez and Salvador Mendoza, Jr. — were both appointed by President Joe Biden.

https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/jeff-fortenberry-broke-facin-prison/

an 10 21

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), indicted on federal charges on Tuesday for allegedly lying to the FBI about campaign finance issues, is a longtime member of the highly secretive, highly political, and largely evangelical Christian group known as The Family.

That organization was recently highlighted in a Netflix documentary inspired by Jeff Sharlet's investigative book, "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power."

In addition to its highly secretive political work The Family also hosts the annual National Prayer Breakfast, which has been attended by every U.S. President since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Many Americans became aware of the existence of The Family a decade ago when it was revealed the group had ties to the Uganda lawmaker pushing extreme legislation known as the **"Kill the Gays" bill.** The Family allegedly supported the bill. It provided the death penalty for homosexual acts, and after years of international outrage the text was watered down to become the "Jail the Gays" bill, imposing a life in prison sentence for LGBTQ people. It was signed into law in 2014, and later invalidated by the Ugandan Supreme Court.

On Wednesday The Young Turks exclusively reported Congressman Fortenberry's membership in The Family. TYT notes the secretive organization has also "been tied to multiple political scandals in recent years," although that report does not mention The Family's connection to Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill.

"Fortenberry's involvement with The Family has not been previously reported," TYT adds. "However, his chief of staff, Andy Braner, is a fellow insider, who has spoken publicly about his attendance at the National Prayer Breakfast, dating back to 2014, and has ties to The Family dating back as early as 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile."

Fortenberry has hosted highly anti-LGBTQ guests at the National Prayer Breakfast, including Timothy Broglio, the Archbishop for the Military Services,USA. Broglio, who recently came out against Pope Francis' position on vaccines in order to publicly oppose them, supported then-President Donald Trump's ban on transgender service members. He also opposed the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

TYT's report also says that Congressman Fortenberry "has been invited to multiple events overseas connected to The Family, two of which he was apparently invited to attend on The Family's dime. Congressional disclosure forms filed by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) list Fortenberry as having been invited on at least two of Aderholt's trips sponsored by The Family."...

819

good

Some in Congress are publicly bucking the Trump administration’s conservation rollbacks. Since Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan 12) and John Fortenberry (R-Nebraska 1) reintroduced the “Recovering America’s Wildlife Act” in mid-July, 98 members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have signed on as co-sponsors.

The bill would “provide $1.4 billion in federal funding to state wildlife agencies and tribal organizations to spend on ‘species of greatest conservation need.’ those are ones endangered or headed that way,” reports Pennsylvania’s TribLive.

==

Nebraska

In a state with four Republican incumbents, I didn't expect much.  I don't have any information on Dave Heineman (NE-Gov). Lee Terry (NE-02) sees a vigorous debate about the anthropologic [sic] impact on our climate.  Uh, Rep. Terry? It's not primitive cultures that are the problem.  Adrian Smith (NE-03) signed the AFP/Koch pledge and paints himself as a conservative. 

Is Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01), who believes that "reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critically important to our environmental health as well as societal well being," a believer in climate science?  He sits on the Agriculture Committee and really likes corn ethanol.  A cycnic might conclude that he only talks about greenhouse gas emissions to give cover for his ethanolism. In the interests of fairness, I'll consider him an unknown.

Semi-final score: one confirmed and one presumed climate zombie, two unknowns.

not horrible lcv

well 4/23% hard to see how he got 23

2013604Ban on Federal Fracking SafeguardsWater, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests, Drilling 

2013601Methane EmissionsClimate Change, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests 

2013600Big Oil GiveawayLands/Forests, Drilling 

2013557National Ocean PolicyOceans 

2013556Protecting Public Input & Environmental ReviewWater, Other 

2013483Decimating America's ForestsLands/Forests 

2013479Attack on Judicial ReviewOther 

2013471Hardrock MiningLands/Forests, Dirty Energy 

2013445Safeguards ShutdownOther 

2013440Nuclear SafetyOther 

2013432Blocking Public Health ProtectionsAir, Water 

2013430Social Cost of CarbonClimate Change 

2013418Toxic Coal AshWater, Dirty Energy 

2013394Restriction on Dirty FuelsDirty Energy, Climate Change, Other 

2013345Assault on Clean Energy and Clean WaterWater, Clean Energy 

2013329Clean Energy FundingClean Energy 

2013312Water Pollution from Mountaintop RemovalWater, Dirty Energy, Toxics/Public Right to Know 

2013311Clean Water ProtectionsWater 

2013304Offshore DrillingDrilling, Dirty Energy, Oceans 

2013299Drilling in Bristol BayDirty Energy, Oceans, Drilling, Wildlife 

2013286Anti-Environmental Farm BillLands/Forests, Water, Wildlife, Clean Energy, Other 

2013260Agricultural Conservation PracticesLands/Forests, Water 

2013203Flood Insurance ReformLands/Forests, Water, Other 

2013179Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline (KXL)Climate Change, Dirty Energy, Water 

201388Big Oil BudgetOther 

201322Resiliency in Disaster ReliefLands/Forests, Wildlife, Climate Change, Other 

201321Limiting Sandy Response EffortsLands/Forests 

201319McKinney National Wildlife RefugeWildlife 

2012603Broad Environmental AssaultAir, Climate Change, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests, Toxics/Public Right to Know, Water 

2012600Regional Haze Air PollutionAir, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests 

Cassidy, BillRLA-060%11%

Harris, AndyRMD-010%5%

Benishek, DanRMI-014%5%

Huizenga, BillRMI-024%8%

Amash, JustinRMI-0318%16%

Camp, DaveRMI-044%10%

Upton, FredRMI-064%31%

Walberg, TimRMI-077%6%

Rogers, Mike J.RMI-084%8%

Miller, Candice S.RMI-104%14%

Bentivolio, Kerry L.RMI-114%4%

Kline, John P.RMN-020%4%

Paulsen, ErikRMN-037%19%

Bachmann, MicheleRMN-0611%6%

Nunnelee, AlanRMS-010%3%

Harper, GreggRMS-034%5%

Palazzo, StevenRMS-044%6%

Wagner, AnnRMO-024%4%

Luetkemeyer, BlaineRMO-034%5%

Hartzler, VickyRMO-044%5%

Graves, SamRMO-067%5%

Long, BillyRMO-074%5%

Smith, Jason T.RMO-084%4%

Emerson, Jo AnnRMO-080%7%

Daines, SteveRMT-AL4%4%

Fortenberry, JeffRNE-014%23%

Terry, Lee R.RNE-024%9%

Smith, Adrian M.RNE-034%7%

Amodei, Mark E.RNV-024%3%

Heck, JoeRNV-0314%10%

Not all politicians come into office wealthy – but many leave that way. Here are the top 10 winners of the past decade.

==