Asa Hutchinson Blames Ex-Rep. Fortenberry in FBI Case
The Department of Justice announced last week it would seek to retry former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., on charges he lied to the FBI amid a campaign finance probe.
Fortenberry was convicted in a Los Angeles trial in 2022 of making false statements to federal agents and sentenced to two years of probation, a $25,000 fine, and 320 hours of community service.
But the conviction was thrown out last year on grounds of improper venue — Fortenberry was alleged to have made the false statements in Washington, D.C., and Lincoln, Nebraska, but was tried in Los Angeles.
With a Washington, D.C., grand jury reindicting Fortenberry on Thursday, the former congressman, who resigned shortly after his conviction, will have to undergo trial on the same charges in the nation’s capital.
One who has serious questions about the prosecution of Fortenberry is someone who has himself spent a good part of his career dealing with legal matters — Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governor and 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, who previously served as a U.S. attorney, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation Security.
“My problem with this whole case is the charge itself — lying to federal authorities,” Hutchinson told Newsmax on Sunday night, “Whenever the FBI refuses to tape record their interviews, this is their ‘fall back’ position — they pursue ‘lying to the FBI’ whenever they can’t pursue a more substantive charge.”
The former presidential hopeful went on to call the charge against Fortenberry “a trap [targets of FBI investigations] fall into. I don’t think this is political because you’ve had Democrats who’ve been indicted recently.”
Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar was indicted less than two weeks ago on charges he and his wife accepted at least $598,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank and an Azerbaijani oil and gas company — and two years after the FBI raided his home and then told the congressman he and his wife were not targets of an investigation.
The former governor added that “It is simply a need for reform of the FBI so that it is required, with just a few exceptions, that when they interview a target or a witness, it is recorded. That way, there is not any question about what is said, versus relying on the recollection of an agent weeks or months after the fact and later recorded on a 302 [a document used by FBI agents to summarize an interview].”
During Fortenberry’s trial, federal agents played a recording of the Nebraskan talking in June 2018 with Dr. Elias Ayoub, who organized a fundraising event for him in Los Angeles and told the congressman the $30,000 was likely illegal and that if another event were held, “the amounts won’t be as large because Gilbert [Chagoury] won’t be involved.” Chagoury, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire with a long record of involvement in U.S. politics, is a major supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
Fortenberry and his lawyers contended that he misheard, forgot, or had a bad connection in the call when Ayoub indicated the contributions were illegal.
As it turned out, Ayoub’s call was orchestrated by FBI agents who, according to documents submitted in court, “told Dr. Ayoub what to say and made a complete contemporaneous recording.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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