The criminal "he lied to the FBI" case against indicted GOP Congressman Jeff Fortenberry has taken a major step forward.

Each of five moves by Fortenberry to have the charges against him thrown out has been denied by a federal judge in California.

One of those five legal motions by Fortenberry argued the federal prosecutor overseeing the case— a case tied to illegal campaign contributions— should be disqualified.

But U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld ruled that Assistant U.S. Attorney Mack Jenkins can stay on the job.

Fortenberry claimed because Jenkins was involved in his investigation, he might have to call Jenkins as a witness. Blumenfeld simply noted that Fortenberry "has not established a 'compelling need' to call AUSA Jenkins as a witness."

Following the 9-term Congressman’s October indictment NCN reported extensively on Jenkins’ resume noting that the government cites several items regarding Jenkins’ hands-on workload:

  • The office’s first wiretap of a sitting state senator in decades, that resulted in federal corruption convictions against former California Senator Ron Calderon and his brother, former California Assemblyman Tom Calderon.
  • Prosecuted the District’s first RICO case against a Bloods/Crips gang. A 45-defendant indictment found all of the Pueblo Bishop Bloods convicted of RICO and related charges, and two defendants—who were previously acquitted on state charges—were both separately convicted of federal murder. 
  • An MSNBC report which stemmed from Jenkins’ prosecution of one of the largest “ink and jet” counterfeiting schemes uncovered by the Secret Service.

All this finds Fortenberry (NE-1) going into the New Year with a scheduled February 15 trial and, for now at least, no opponent in the May 10 GOP Primary.

Seven weeks ago, in a little noticed news release from the Nebraska Republican Party typically blasting Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks’ campaign against Fortenberry, the GOP statement included, intentionally or not, an eye-opening dozen words.

The race for Fortenberry’s 1st District seat was described this way: “Pansing-Brooks’ record in the Nebraska State Legislature is a stark contrast to the values held by Nebraskans across the region—and her efforts to champion a Biden-Pelosi agenda…will not hold up against any common sense conservative Republican vying to represent this district.”

Begging the question why “any common sense conservative” and not simply “Fortenberry.”

NCN asked GOP State Chairman Dan Welch about the statement:

NCN’s Joe Jordan: Is the party expecting someone to challenge Congressman Fortenberry in the 2022 GOP Primary? If not, why was that written?

Dan Welch: I would assume that Congressman Fortenberry is running unless I hear otherwise. No other Republican has indicated to me that they are entering the First District race.

Welch’s response pretty much what you’d expect, so NCN asked Fortenberry’s campaign manager, Chad Kolton.

NCN’s Joe Jordan: Are you expecting to see someone challenge Congressman Fortenberry in next year’s primary? If not, how do you explain that wording?

Chad Kolton:  I’m not going to speak for the Nebraska Republican Party, who I am confident can explain their own releases.

Maybe the NE GOP can, but not yet. NCN emailed Tyson Shepard, who sent out the release, but we’ve received no comment.

Taylor Gage—the GOP’s newly hired Executive Director—the man in charge of the party’s day-to-day operations— who took over several weeks after the statement was released has not responded either.

Meanwhile Jane Kleeb, the head of the Nebraska Democratic Party, has insisted there is a move to edge Fortenberry out tweeting she’s “heard” that GOP State Sen. Julie Slama “is considering a run for Fortenberry’s seat but (Governor) Ricketts keeps telling her no.”

NCN has tried to contact Slama but she has not responded to our questions.

At the same time in mid-November Ricketts, while insisting that Fortenberry is a man of “high integrity,” acknowledged that Fortenberry clearly faces an “additional challenge” at the ballot box this year.