Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), who resigned March 31 after being convicted of lying to the FBI about and falsifying campaign finance documents, had to sell his campaign vehicle to raise cash in a hurry to pay his legal bills.

The Daily Beast is reporting that and other details from the former representative’s recently filed campaign disclosure form. Fortenberry personally paid $13,500 for his own campaign vehicle the day of his conviction, and he also took out a home loan and burned through hundred of thousands of dollars of donors’ money as his legal defense costs climbed to almost $1 million in just the first three months of 2022.

“Had Fortenberry not taken personal steps” The Daily Beast writes, “those expenses would have busted the campaign before bills came due at the end of March, coincidentally just days after a Los Angeles jury convicted him of lying to the FBI about illegal campaign contributions.”

The campaign started the year with about $895,000 on hand. In addition to the legal fees […]