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Embattled Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry Announces Re-Election Bid From Pickup Truck

The congressman, who is under scrutiny for lying to the FBI about illegal campaign donations, announced his candidacy in a video message alongside his wife and dog.

Sitting in his 1963 Ford pickup truck with his wife and dog at his side, Republican congressman Jeff Fortenberry announced his intention to seek re-election to Congress in a video message released Monday. In the video, which spans all of one minute and 35 seconds, Rep. Fortenberry did not address his ongoing legal troubles, including that he may soon go to trial over allegedly lying to the FBI about the source of an illegal overseas donation to his 2016 campaign. But in his Monday message, filmed in the same setting where several months ago he first acknowledged he was under federal investigation, the congressman focused on the positive. He cited “some major accomplishments” achieved during his tenure in office, including passing a new law to aid people suffering from a neurodegenerative disease, rebuilding an air force base, and raising funds for an agricultural initiative at the University of Nebraska.