The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-27)

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A21

BY MARIANA ALFARO

AND MARÍA LUISA PAÚL

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.)
said Saturday that he will resign
from Congress after he was con-
victed Thursday on three felony
counts for lying to federal investi-
gators about illegal campaign
contributions from a foreign bil-
lionaire.
In a letter to his House col-
leagues, Fortenberry said his last
day in Congress will be March 31.
“It has been my honor to serve
with you in the United States
House of Representatives,”
Fortenberry wrote. “It has been
my pleasure to call many of you
friends. May God bless you as you
labor for the good of our country,
help those in need, and strive for
what is right and just.”
In a statement posted on his
website, Fortenberry, who took
office in 2005, told his constitu-
ents that “due to the difficulties of
my current circumstances, I can
no longer serve you effectively.”

Fortenberry’s charges stem

from a 2016 fundraiser held in

Glendale, Calif., for the congress-

man’s reelection. There, Forten-

berry received donations totaling

$30,200 from Gilbert Chagoury, a

wealthy Nigerian business execu-

tive of Lebanese descent who

used other people as conduits to

make the contributions, the U.S.

attorney’s office for the Central

District of California announced

in October.

Foreign nationals are prohibit-

ed from donating to candidates

running for federal office in the

United States. It is also illegal to

disguise a donor’s identity

through third-party contribu-

tions.

Fortenberry was convicted of

one count of scheming to falsify

and conceal material facts and

two counts of making false state-

ments to federal investigators.

Each of the counts carries a maxi-

mum penalty of five years in

federal prison. Felons are eligible

to run for and serve in Congress.

Fortenberry’s week-long trial

in Los Angeles concluded with a

guilty verdict announced after

two hours of deliberations on

Thursday, the Associated Press

reported.

“A fter learning of illegal contri-

butions to his campaign, the con-

gressman repeatedly chose to

conceal the violations of federal

law to protect his job, his reputa-

tion and his close associates,” U.S.

Attorney Tracy L. W ilkison said in

a statement Thursday. “ The lies in

this case threatened the integrity

of the American electoral system

and were designed to prevent

investigators from learning the

true source of campaign funds.”

The congressman — who has

maintained his innocence since

being charged in October — said

he planned to appeal the verdict.

His defense team had argued that

authorities used deceptive inves-

tigative tactics to indict the con-

gressman.

House leadership, however,

called for his resignation after the

conviction.

“Congressman Fortenberry’s

conviction represents a breach of

the public trust and confidence in

his ability to serve. No one is

above the law,” House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a

statement Friday. “Congressman

Fortenberry must resign from the

House.”

House Minority Leader Kevin

McCarthy (R-Calif.) also called on

him to step down.

Speaking during the House Re-

publicans’ annual retreat in Flori-

da on Friday, McCarthy said

Fortenberry “had his day in

court.”

“I think if he wants to appeal,

he could go do that as a private

citizen,” McCarthy said. “But I

think when someone’s convicted,

it’s time to resign.”

According to court documents,

Chagoury, the Nigerian billion-

aire, and his associates had ties to

a nonprofit that fought the per-

secution of Christians and other

minorities in the Middle East.

Federal prosecutors said the trio

sought to funnel money to “politi-

cians from less-populous states

because the contribution would

be more noticeable to the politi-

cian and thereby would promote

increased donor access.”

Fortenberry, who supported

the group’s mission, maintains he

knew nothing of the illegal cam-

paign donations.

Twice in 2019, investigators

interviewed the congressman

about the contributions while se-

cretly recording him — the re-

cordings of which, according to

reports by multiple outlets, were

played during the trial. According

to the indictment, Fortenberry

“knowingly and willfully made

materially false statements and

representations to the FBI and

IRS” about the illegal donations.

Yet the congressman has re-

peatedly painted a different story.

Ahead of the announcement of

the indictment, Fortenberry —

sitting inside his pickup truck

with his wife, Celeste, and their

dog — said in a YouTube video

that “a person from overseas ille-

gally moved money to my cam-

paign,” adding that he “didn’t

know anything about this.”

Fortenberry said he had told

everything he knew to the FBI

agents. The charges brought

against him came as a shock, he

said.

“I feel so personally betrayed,”

he said. “We thought we were

trying to help.”

The GOP primary for Nebras-

ka’s 1st District currently has at

least four other contenders, in-

cluding Nebraska state Sen. Mike

Flood (R), who mounted a strong

challenge to Fortenberry after

news of the indictment broke last

October. The winner of the pri-

mary will likely face state Sen.

Patty Pansing Brooks (D). The

district is heavily Republican.

Pansing Brooks told the AP on

Friday that Fortenberry’s convic-

tion was a “wake-up call” and that

Nebraska is likely “to be the brunt

of some jokes” because of it.

Convicted of lying to FBI, GOP congressman from Nebraska plans to resign

BY STEVE HENDRIX

warsaw — Like many of the
exhausted Ukrainians lined up at
the concert hall turned refugee
center, Lidia Vergun had heard
that President Biden arrived in
the Polish capital and also that he
brought an offer to accept
100,000 Ukrainians into the Unit-
ed States.
She was grateful, she said, but
not interested. America was too
far.
“I have lived in Ukraine all my
life,” said Vergun, 52, a grand-
mother from near Chernihiv who
was waiting to collect some of the
donated diapers and shampoo
being handed out by volunteers.
“We want to go back to our
motherland as soon as possible.”
Vergun’s faith that war in
Ukraine would be a short-term
affair was common among those
still reeling from their rush to
escape. For now, staying in Po-
land or other neighboring coun-
tries offered their best hope of
resuming normal life as soon as
possible. Not many Ukrainians in
Warsaw have expressed a wish to
go beyond the bounds of Poland
or surrounding Europe.
“Mostly they are asking to trav-
el to Italy, Germany, Spain. We’ve
only had a few ask about the U.S.,”
said Rostyslaw Sydoruk, one of
the agents registering new arriv-
als at the center, which has pro-
cessed more than 10,000 Ukraini-
an refugees.
Most want to stay in Poland, he
said, which shares a 300-mile
border with their home country.
But many have also boarded the
buses and trains that offer free
passage to other countries within
the European Union. Several
refugee workers said they were
aware of no free flights from
Poland to the United States.
Whether Biden’s announce-
ment would open new high-vol-
ume paths across the Atlantic for
Ukrainians remained unclear Fri-

day. White House officials said

the new initiative would channel

refugees through a number of

existing programs but offered no

additional details.

Refugee agencies in Poland

said they had not gotten advance

notice of the expansion but wel-

comed any measure that would

ease the burden of caring for

more than 3.5 million Ukrainians

who are on the move.

Christopher Boian, a spokes-

man for the United Nations High

Commissioner for Refugees,

called the U.S. announcement “an

important demonstration of soli-

darity not just with the refugees

fleeing Ukraine, but with the

European countries that have al-

ready received millions of them.”

But “for the details of how this

commitment will be implement-

ed, you need to speak to the U.S.

government,” he said.

Refugee workers said it was

typical for recent refugees to fo-

cus at first on the possibility that

they would be able to return

quickly to their lives. But should

the war drag on, more Ukrainians

would seize on the chance to seek

a haven in the United States, they

said.

Many Americans have said

they are ready to help Ukrainians

if they come. Refugee workers

said they are hearing from hun-

dreds of U.S. citizens asking how

they can host Ukrainians.

One of them was retired Cali-

fornian physician Muthiyaliah

Babu, who emigrated from India

in the 1950 s and contacted the

United Nations to be part of his

adopted country’s response to the

Ukraine war. He and his wife

agreed they could easily accom-

modate a small family in their

Santa Barbara home.

“They told me most of them

wanted to stay in Poland, which I

understand if they really have a

chance of going home,” Babu said.

“But if they are going to let them

in, we are ready to help.”

As word of the U.S. offer spread

within pockets of Ukrainian refu-

gees throughout the Polish capi-

tal, it was met with both excite-

ment and skepticism. Many

Ukrainians have tried without

success to immigrate through

regular channels to the United

States for years. They were dubi-

ous that the barriers would drop.

“A l ot of people don’t b elieve it’s

true,” Olena Bessarabchuk, said

of the possibility of a fast track to

North America. “It’s always been

so hard to get a visa for America.”

Bessarabchuk, who traveled

from Odessa, Ukraine, with four

family members and a dog, had

lined up for hours outside of

Warsaw’s main soccer stadium to

be registered to work and receive

benefits in Poland. She is among

the many Ukrainians who plan to

wait out the war here.

Yana Khomotiuk, in the same

crowd, was keen to reach the

United States but skeptical that

the new program would benefit

her. In the early days of the war,

she said, she applied for a visa

through the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv

but was turned down, despite

having relatives in Oregon.

“I want to go there; I have to go

there,” she said, rolling her baby

carriage back and forth to keep

her infant asleep. “I can’t stay in

Poland forever.”

But for the young mother

whose husband was at home

fighting a war, not even the possi-

bility of a path to America was

much comfort. With her eyes

filling with tears, Khomotiuk

seemed to reach the limits of

optimism.

“For me, hope or no hope, it

doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have

no place to go.”

Julia Alekseeva contributed to this

report.

Ukrainian refugees, hoping for a short war, are slow to a ccept Biden’s o≠er

PIOTR NOWAK/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Ukrainian refugees line up outside the National Stadium in Warsaw on March 20. Many of them in

Poland’s capital greeted President Biden’s offer to accept refugees with doubts and a desire to go home.

Skepticism, desire to

return home greet U.S.

bid to take in 100,000

“I have lived in Ukraine

all my life. We want to

go back to our

motherland as soon as

possible.”

Lidia Vergun, a grandmother at a

refugee center in Poland, reacting to

President Biden’s offer for the United

States to accept 100,000 Ukrainian

refugees

WE GET

IT DONE.

WINDOWS

SIDING

DOORS

TRIM

TILE

A DIVISION OF

VA #2701039723 | MD MHIC #1176 | DC #2242

OVER TEN THOUSAND HOMEOWNERS

SERVED IN THE DMV

Industry leading 5 year warranty

Skilled and licensed professionals

that care for you and your home

Voted “Best Handyman” in Washington

City Paper and Bethesda Magazine

Awarded “Top Workplace” by

The Washington Post

VANITIES

FLOORING

COUNTERTOPS

ACCESSIBILITY

& MORE

VA: 703.691.5500

MD: 301.388.5959

DC: 202.770.3131

ScheduleFRED.com

N0173 3x10.5

  

 

 





 





Wednesday, March 30

Special Section

Green Homes.We look at ways the housing industry is moving

to build and retrofi t homes to better withstand the adverse eff ects of

climate change and achieve net-zero carbon production, including resilient

housing methods designed to better protect against wildfi res, strong winds

and fl ooding, and devices such as geothermal heat pumps and greywater

systems aimed at eliminating use of fossil fuels.

Expanded Food Section

All About Salads. Featuring a guide to building your own salad

bowl, the secrets to making your own dressings, a salad greens primer, how

to make your own croutons, a taste test of store-bought dressings, and lots

of recipes.

Special Section

Winter All-Met Teams. Our selection of the area’s most

outstanding athletes in basketball, swimming, wrestling, ice hockey and

indoor track.

All home delivery subscribers (both 7-day

and Sunday-only) will be charged the Sunday

home delivery rate for this special issue.

Don’t want this issue?

Visit washingtonpost.com/account

Home Delivery Customers

Retropolis

S0129-3x.75

Stories of the past, rediscovered.

washingtonpost.com/retropolis