Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) Resigned his committee duties on Wednesday after being charged with lying to federal investigators in connection with an investigation into illegal campaign donations.

What they say : In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Fortenberry said he was “grateful for the outpouring of support from my friends and colleagues as we fight the injustice I face.”

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• The nine-term congressman cited GOP conference rules that members charged with crimes that could lead to two or more years in prison must resign from their committees.

• Fortenberry stressed that the move is “temporary” and concluded its letter by stating, “I look forward to resuming these committee duties once this issue is resolved.”

• Fortenberry sits on the powerful House appropriations committee and is a prominent member of a credit subcommittee overseeing agriculture and rural development.

The big picture: A federal grand jury has accused Fortenberry of making false statements to the FBI about his knowledge of illegal contributions to his 2016 campaign by a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire.

• The Justice Department said in a statement that Fortenberry did not report the contributions when it became aware of it in 2018, and that it told investigators in 2019 that it was not aware of the contributions. .

• Fortenberry denied the accusation in a YouTube video reported by Lachlan Markay of Axios, in which he said: “I did not lie to them” and promised to “fight these accusations”.

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