LOS ANGELES — Rep. Jeff Fortenberry spoke with Dr. Eli Ayoub twice in 2018, asking him both times if he would hold another fundraiser on Fortenberry's behalf.
Maybe something similar to the one Ayoub held in February 2016 in L.A. Maybe something smaller, more intimate.
But when FBI agents showed up at Fortenberry’s home nine months later, Fortenberry said he had a hard time placing Ayoub.
“I don’t know if I know him,†Fortenberry said.
“I think his name is Ayoub, Elias,†FBI agent Todd Carter responded.
“I’m not placing him,†Fortenberry said. “I may have (met him). I can’t say I have.â€
Fortenberry thought some more.
“If it’s Ayoub, he may have given me a political contribution,†he said.
People are also reading…
Ayoub did much more. Ayoub testified Monday that he took a brown paper bag of $30,000 cash from an associate of Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury and distributed it to friends and relatives. He had them write checks to Fortenberry’s campaign at a fundraiser the doctor held on behalf of the Nebraska congressman.
Day 4 of Fortenberry’s federal trial Tuesday delved into whether the congressman lied to FBI agents investigating the funneling of foreign money into U.S. politicians’ campaigns. Chagoury, a controversial figure who has been connected to corruption in Nigeria, had used Ayoub to steer money to several Republicans, including Fortenberry.
It is illegal for U.S. politicians to accept foreign money. Fortenberry, a nine-term congressman representing Nebraska’s 1st District, is charged with one count of concealing the source of illegal contributions to his campaign and two counts of lying. If convicted, the 61-year-old would face up to five years in prison on each charge, though supervised release also would be a possibility.
Fortenberry’s defense team says the congressman had no knowledge, direct or otherwise, that he had received foreign money. And Tuesday, they cast the lying charges as a reach.
The real liars are the agents who interviewed Fortenberry, attorney Ryan Fraser suggested.
Fraser and attorney Glen Summers accused the FBI agent and an IRS agent, James O’Leary, of “ambushing†the Fortenberrys at their Lincoln home in the March 2019 interview.
Fortenberry had just returned that week from a trip to Nairobi, where he was being briefed on elephant poaching. At the time of his return, eastern Nebraska was experiencing massive flooding and Fortenberry had toured some of the affected areas that Saturday.
He wasn’t home when agents first showed up at 1 p.m. When the agents returned that evening, two Lincoln police officers were waiting for them.
Fortenberry explained that he had called then-Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister because two people claiming to be federal agents had knocked on his door.
“We have gotten death threats against us,†Fortenberry told the agents who eventually stepped into the living room, according to an agent’s video played Tuesday.
“Sit down,†Fortenberry told the agents. “We’re gonna have a little conversation before we have a conversation.
“Because of the nature of your inquiry ... the surprising lack of professionalism you have shown ... this has resulted in us calling the local police chief and wasting their time.â€
As the three sat down, Carter began to give the standard admonition that Fortenberry needed to be candid with agents.
“I want to remind you that lying to the FBI is illegal,†Carter said.
“You lied to me,†Fortenberry shot back. “You said you were from Omaha.â€
“In Omaha, yes,†Carter said. “Not from Omaha, correct.â€
The L.A.-based agents later testified that they sometimes lie to gain access to people, to get them to talk. Hence their representation to Celeste Fortenberry that day that they needed to talk to her husband about a “national security matter.†And also their false statement that they already had spoken to Fortenberry’s office about what they were going to talk about.
“It’s common for us to use ruses,†O’Leary testified.
After expressing his displeasure, Fortenberry settled into a chair in his living room. The agents apologized for the confusion they created and asked Fortenberry if the Lincoln police officers could leave.
“I want them present,†he insisted.
Unbeknownst to Fortenberry, something else was present: Carter had a camera planted somewhere on him or his belongings, perhaps in a briefcase or satchel. The video was grainy and tilted.
But the audio was clear — and prosecutors say it was damning.
Carter got to the point. They were investigating In Defense of Christians, a group that Fortenberry supported.
Toufic Baaklini, a Chagoury go-between, had founded the group in 2014 and Fortenberry had spoken at In Defense of Christians banquets as it fought for one of his principal causes: protecting religious minorities in the Middle East.
In return — and Fortenberry says unbeknownst to him — Chagoury had funneled $30,000 in cash to Fortenberry’s campaign. He did so through a Los Angeles fundraiser put on by Ayoub and, indirectly, by Baaklini.
During that interview, Carter concealed something else. That FBI agents had recorded a June 2018 phone call Fortenberry had made in which he asked Ayoub if he would hold a second fundraiser. During that phone call, Ayoub had told Fortenberry three times that the fundraiser was funded with $30,000 cash that “probably†came from Chagoury.
Carter showed Fortenberry a photo of Ayoub. Asked a few times, Fortenberry said he couldn’t place him. The defense pointed out that agents had been using a 10-year-old photo of Ayoub that showed him with dyed-black hair and black eyebrows. Ayoub, 77, now has silver hair and silver eyebrows.
But prosecutors said Carter made it clear he was talking about Ayoub — a man Fortenberry had just spoken by phone with. A man who had just told Fortenberry that Baaklini had injected money, “probably†Chagoury’s money, to Fortenberry’s campaign.
And Fortenberry was evasive, they say.
Carter asked: “Are you aware if Baaklini ever provided any money to anyone to conduct conduit contributions?â€
Fortenberry: “No, I’m not aware.â€
Carter: “Are you aware of any foreign nationals giving direction or orders for the purpose of conducting illegal campaign contributions?â€
Fortenberry: “You know, no.â€
As agents pressed Fortenberry, the congressman leaned forward in his chair. He put his elbows on his knees.
“Well, at this point you’re starting to accuse me of something,†he said. “I don’t know what you’re digging for but I’m trying to help.â€
Fortenberry paused.
“I think you’re leading somewhere here and you’re not making me comfortable. I’ve been trying to help you with whatever you need. ... It’s not clear to me what you’re doing now so we have to call a timeout.â€
Fortenberry’s attorney, Fraser, said his client was clearly thrown off by the dated photo of Ayoub. Eventually, Fraser noted, Fortenberry recognized who the agents were referring to and described a couple of conversations with Ayoub. One was a trip to Nebraska so Ayoub, a graduate of Creighton University Medical School, could visit relatives. The other was another possible fundraiser in Los Angeles.
“I had done a previous, um, fundraiser with (Ayoub) out there,†Fortenberry said. “I thought it would be nice to do it again. But that didn’t happen.â€
The defense has suggested that Fortenberry wasn’t hiding anything and clearly had no idea his campaign had received foreign money — evidenced by the fact that he was openly disclosing his desire for a second fundraiser. Prosecutors counter that Fortenberry didn’t come clean about Ayoub until 32 minutes into the FBI interview.
Any explanation that Fortenberry didn’t realize the agents were talking about Ayoub was undercut three months later by Fortenberry himself.
Fortenberry asked for a second interview. In July 2019, he and his then-attorney, former Rep. Trey Gowdy, sat down with prosecutor Mack Jenkins in Washington. Prosecutors have indicated that they thought Fortenberry would come clean at that interview.
But prosecutors now argue that Fortenberry dug himself a deeper hole, contradicting some of his responses to the agents’ questions in the Lincoln interview.
At the second interview, Fortenberry acknowledged what he wouldn't in the Lincoln interview. That Ayoub told him on the June 2018 phone call that “the amounts, as I recall, the amounts wouldn’t be as large because Gilbert (Chagoury) wouldn’t be involved.â€
Jenkins: “And that was (Ayoub's) response to you asking about another fundraiser?â€
Fortenberry: “Yeah. ... That was discomforting to me, so I ended the conversation.â€
In reality, prosecutors say, Fortenberry did not end the conversation. Instead, he went on to ask for a second fundraiser.
As for the first fundraiser, Fortenberry insisted in the D.C. interview with Jenkins that “everything about this event was standard and engaging and people being generous.â€
A bit later, Jenkins asked: “And you’re aware that foreign nationals can’t contribute to campaigns?â€
“Why wouldn’t I know that?†Fortenberry scoffed. “I‘m a member of the United States Congress.â€
Jenkins: “You’d be surprised.â€
Fortenberry: “It’s my obligation to know that. I’m a lawmaker in charge of a political campaign.â€
Jenkins asked how he acted on the information that Chagoury “probably†provided $30,000 in cash.
“I didn’t have any more events,†Fortenberry said. “That was how I acted on it.â€
But, Jenkins noted, Fortenberry continued to talk about another event during the June 2018 phone call with Ayoub, even after Ayoub told him it may have been Chagoury's cash.
And prosecutors say Fortenberry failed to act as other politicians had when told they had received Chagoury’s money, which is disgorge the money by donating it to charity.
After the June 2018 phone call, it took Fortenberry more than a year — and two interviews with federal agents — before he got rid of the money.
In the D.C. interview, Jenkins asked Fortenberry if it was weird that Ayoub had told him that his campaign had “received $30,000 in cash†and that the money probably came from Chagoury.
“That would have been horrifying," Fortenberry said. "Not weird. Horrifying.â€
And, Fortenberry said, he would have disowned that money immediately.
Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case Wednesday morning. The defense has told the judge it will put on about a day of testimony.