Fortenberry’s crime reported more than Trump & Menendez’s foreign donor

Thursday was Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s last day in office because the nine-term congressman resigned after being convicted of several felonies related to his acceptance of illegal campaign contributions made by a foreign national.

There were about 201,000 broadcasts and stories about Fortenberry’s foreign contributor, his ultimate criminal conviction, and the crooked congressman’s departure from Capitol Hill but there were only 827 news reports when a top donor sold access to key politicians for millions in foreign cash.

When Imaad Zuberi was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for falsifying records to conceal his work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials, there were almost no media accounts that informed New Jersey voters that the Trump donor had also contributed $31,600 to US Senator Robert Menendez.

It is illegal for foreign nationals to make contributions to a federal campaign. It also is illegal for the true source of campaign contributions to be disguised by funneling the money through third-party conduits. And it is illegal for a federal candidate to knowingly receive foreign or conduit contributions.

Imaad Shah Zuberi, 50, of Arcadia, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who also ordered him to pay $15,705,080 in restitution plus a criminal fine of $1.75 million.

In November 2019, Zuberi pleaded guilty to a three-count information charging him with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by making false statements on a FARA filing, tax evasion, and making illegal campaign contributions. In June 2020, Zuberi pleaded guilty in a separate case to one count of obstruction of justice. His sentence pertains to both cases.

“Zuberi turned acting as an unregistered foreign agent into a business enterprise,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “He used foreign money to fund illegal campaign contributions that bought him political influence, and used that influence to lobby U.S. officials for policy changes on behalf of numerous foreign principals.”

“After learning he was under investigation, Zuberi doubled down on his criminal conduct, obstructing justice by creating false records, destroying evidence, and attempting to purchase witnesses’ silence,” said Demers. “This sentence should deter others who would seek to corrupt our political processes and compromise our institutions in exchange for foreign cash.”

“Mr. Zuberi flouted federal laws that restrict foreign influences upon our government and prohibit injecting foreign money into our political campaigns,” said Tracy L. Wilkison, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California.

“Through myriad international contacts and business partners, Imaad Shah Zuberi was able to raise money and gain influence among the U.S.’s highest political circles,” said Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner of IRS-Criminal Investigation Los Angeles Field Office. “An opportunist at his core, Zuberi worked with political figures across the aisle, depending on who was in power, to lend an appearance of credibility to his political charades.”

Being known for greed, loose morals and an eagerness to mix with Republicans, sources in law enforcement say Menendez was an obvious target for foreign influence.

Prosecutors called Zuberi a “mercenary” donor who worked for years as an unregistered foreign agent for at least six countries and officials, spending almost $1 million on illegal campaign donations over five years. 

“As Mr. Zuberi’s greed and wealth increased, his elaborate influence-peddling scheme collapsed,” said Kristi K. Johnson, the assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “By lending a veneer of credibility through name dropping and flashing photos with high-level government officials, Zuberi was able to con foreign donors.”

Foreign interference in U.S. elections is creating distrust among Americans, with the main goal of paralyzing the American political process and crippling the ability of the United States to act as an effective leader of the free world, according to a RAND Corporation report.

Americans think the nation’s democracy is in danger of collapse, but corrupt power brokers control much of the Democratic Party. If you want to save America, don’t give the nomination for Congress to the crooked son of a crooked senator.

evading the payment of millions of dollars in taxes, making illegal campaign contributions, and obstructing a federal investigation into the source of donations to a presidential inauguration committee.

A top donor for both Republicans and Democrats, Zuberi sold access to key politicians for millions in foreign cash, before he pleaded guilty to making illegal donations to U.S. candidates on behalf of foreign nationals.

Zuberi violated FARA by failing to register as a foreign agent when he lobbied for Bahrain and Menendez, then the Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee, supported arms sales to the kingdom situated on the Persian Gulf.

“This package of upgraded F-16’s and related munitions will help Bahrain effectively defend its territory, including U.S. Navy facilities, as well as participate in multinational efforts like the former coalition against ISIS in Syria,” said Menendez in a floor speech on June 13, 2019.

The government of Sri Lanka hired Zuberi and agreed to pay him a total of $8.5 million in 2014 to rehabilitate the country’s image in the United States.

That same year, Menendez wrote in a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay: “A democratic and stable Sri Lanka that represents the aspirations of all its people is in the interests of the United States and the international community. “

Zuberi violated the Federal Election Campaign Act in 2015—the same year Menendez was indicted—by making more than $250,000 in illegal conduit contributions in the names of other people, reimbursing contributions made by others, and being reimbursed for contributions he made.

The obstruction charge to which Zuberi pleaded guilty in June 2020 stemmed from a federal investigation into a $900,000 donation from Zuberi through his company to Trump’s presidential inaugural committee in late 2016.

FEC records show that Zuberi contributed $31,600 to Menendez, but local news media failed to report those campaign connections despite the clear danger of foreign influence on America’s political system.