Former Rep Lee Terry opens up on Fortenberrry indictment | Regional government

Former Rep. Lee Terry spoke empathetically on Thursday about former colleague Jeff Fortenberry and the federal indictment he faces, saying that when he runs for Congress, “there are just a lot of people. who send you money “.

“You have to know your client a little bit,” he told the World-Herald. “In my position, and probably in Jeff’s situation, you’ve come to know these people… they tell you they’re citizens, and then all of a sudden they’re not.

“We can do whatever we think is right, and then one little thing can mess it up,” he added.

Terry, who represented Nebraska’s 2nd District from 1999 to 2015, and Fortenberry both received illegal contributions to the “driven” campaign from Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury. Such donations from foreigners, even those channeled by US citizens, are illegal.

In Terry’s case, he said, he donated the $ 5,200 given to him in 2014 to charity as soon as the FBI told him they were investigating the legality of the gifts.

Fortenberry also donated the $ 30,200 it received from Chagoury, but that was late 2019, more than a year after the FBI alleged Fortenberry was told the contributions were illegal, and weeks after two meetings with federal investigators, who allege he lied about whether he knew the gifts were illegal.