LINCOLN — Indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry is the victim of a “political prosecution,” lawyers for the Republican lawmaker said.

“This prosecution was brought not because it was material to any investigation. It was brought because (lead prosecutor) Mack Jenkins was offended,” attorney John Littrell told a federal judge.

Jenkins’ fellow prosecutors disputed that claim during a one-hour hearing before U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld. Lawyers argued a trio of defense motions seeking to dismiss three felony charges against Fortenberry.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Har said that as more evidence was collected amid a five-year investigation into illegal political contributions from a Nigerian billionaire, it got to the point that “you cannot not charge” the Nebraska lawmaker.

“(This case) boils down to you cannot lie to a federal officer,” Har said.

Blumenfeld took the motion to disqualify the prosecutor, as well as others filed by Fortenberry’s lawyers, under advisement.

Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraska’s 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies — two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in “conduit” political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser.

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