US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska expects to be indicted

US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska expects to be charged with lying to the FBI while federal agents were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire, the nine-term Republican said as he proclaimed his innocence and promised to fight the charges.In a YouTube video posted Monday night, Fortenberry said he was shocked and stunned by the allegations and asked his supporters to rally behind him.

US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska expects to be charged with lying to the FBI while federal agents were investigating campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire, the nine-term Republican said as he proclaimed his innocence and promised to fight the charges.

In a YouTube video posted Monday night, Fortenberry said he was "shocked" and "stunned" by the allegations and asked his supporters to rally behind him. Knowingly making false statements to a federal agent is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

''We will fight these charges," he said in the video, filmed inside a pickup truck with his wife, Celeste, against a backdrop of corn. "I did not lie to them. I told them what I knew. But we need your help.'' The expected indictment stems from an FBI investigation into $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Gilbert Chagoury. The contributions were funneled through a group of Californians from 2012 through 2016 and went to four US politicians, including $30,200 to Fortenberry in 2016 and $10,000 to then-Rep. Lee Terry, who represented the Omaha area in 2014.

The FBI office in Omaha referred questions Tuesday to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California, which didn't immediately return a phone message Tuesday morning.

Fortenberry's campaign has said he didn't know the donations, which the campaign received during a fundraiser in Los Angeles, originated with Chagoury.

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