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1 1 (February 9, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveohn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ R esearch Service Ninth Circuit on Whether a Federal False Statement Prosecution Can Be Brought Where the Effects of the Statement Are Felt February 9, 2024 In December 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) announced a decision in which it reversed a criminal conviction for making false statements to federal officers under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2), on grounds of improper venue. The decision, United States v. Fortenberry, reflects a division among the federal courts of appeals over an issue that the Supreme Court has yet to resolve: whether a federal false statement prosecution may be brought where the effects of the false statement are felt. In 2015, the FBI began an investigation of a foreign national suspected of making illegal contributions to several U.S. political campaigns. The investigation was run by the FBI's Los Angeles field office, in the Central District of California. Through the investigation, the FBI began to suspect that the foreign national had made contributions to the campaign of Jeffrey Fortenberry, who was then a Member of Congress. The FBI had a cooperating witness call the Member and tell him that a foreign national had probably made a substantial contribution to his campaign. Los Angeles-based agents then interviewed Representative Fortenberry at his home in Nebraska and at his lawyer's office in the District of Columbia. On both occasions, Representative Fortenberry stated that he was unaware of any illegal contributions to his campaign. A federal grand jury in the Central District of California subsequently indicted Representative Fortenberry under 18 U.S.C. @ 1001(a)(2) for making false statements to the FBI, a jury convicted him, and he relinquished his seat in Congress. The Ninth Circuit reversed the defendant's conviction, holding that venue in the Central District of California was improper but leaving open the possibility of retrial in a proper venue. The decision began with the observation that under the Constitution, federal crimes must be tried where they were committed. The Supreme Court has explained that federal crimes are considered to have been committed wherever one of their conduct elements was committed. Under 18 U.S.C. @ 1001(a)(2), a false statement conviction requires proof that the false statement was material-that is, that it had the propensity to influence an official decision. Thus, the question for the Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11114 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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