The US Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit found that Fortenberry should have been tried on the crimes in Washington D.C. or Nebraska — not in Los Angeles where his trial was held. …

During the investigation into Fortenberry’s actions, federal agents based out of LA interviewed him in Lincoln, Nebraska, and his lawyer’s office in DC, according to the appeals ruling.

In the end, Fortenberry was not charged with campaign finance allegations — in connection to the 2016 fundraising event in LA — but rather lying during that investigation.

The panel ruled that because of that, his case was tried in the wrong venue.

[Yes, that seems like a straightforward jurisdictional issue. That doesn’t resolve the factual finding in the trial court, but instead forces the DoJ to decide whether to retry it in the proper jurisdiction. Fortenberry insists that he’s innocent of this charge, but is happy to see the conviction tossed on jurisdictional grounds. — Ed]