Did Nepotism Stop Jeff Fortenberry From Firing Reyn Archer?

Anyone who was tuned into Nebraska politics 2 years ago remembers the “Fartenberry” saga, where Congressman Jeff Fortenberry’s Chief of Staff Dr. William “Reyn” Archer threatened University of Nebraska Professor Ari Kohen for liking a Facebook post where stickers had been placed on a Fortenberry signed and tried to get him fired from the University of Nebraska. His erratic, unhinged behavior became the subject of a House Ethics Investigation and many a late-night laughs, like the clip below from the John Oliver show.

After turning into a national scandal I didn’t understand why Congressman Fortenberry didn’t fire Reyn Archer. Fortenberry was known around Nebraska politics as a tough boss who had gone through many staffers (including Senator Ben Sasse and Norfolk Mayor Josh Moenning) and had fired staffers over much less egregious behavior.

I began looking through Reyn Archer’s Facebook page looking for other examples of bullying, abusive, inflammatory language. I happened to notice this Happy Birthday message from his cousin Peggy Gregory.

As someone who has done research for the Democratic party and candidates in the past and have been casually studying Jeff Fortenberry since he ran against my buddy Max Yashirin in 2008, I spotted Fortenberry’s wife’s maiden name Gregory. When I went to Peggy Gregory’s Facebook page I saw Celeste Fortenberry in her cover photo below, top row second from left. On her Facebook ‘Family and Relationships’ status she confirms that Celeste Fortenberry is her daughter.

Is this why Jeff Fortenberry hasn’t fired Reyn Archer, because he is his mother-in-law’s cousin and a close family member?

Reyn Archer’s Troubled Past

The “Fartenberry” fiasco wasn’t Archer’s first run in with controversy. As the son of Congressman Bill Archer, who replaced George H.W. Bush as Texas’ 7th congressional district representative and served as Chair of the powerful Ways-and-Means Committee, Reyn Archer was a “child of the swamp.”

Well connected and well educated in the way Washington works, Reyn served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services under President George H.W. Bush . According to Slate, Reyn “endeared himself to social conservatives by being the Bush administration’s chief defender of its “gag rule” prohibiting anyone who was not a physician from discussing abortion with pregnant women at family planning clinics that receive federal funds. (The Clinton administration subsequently reversed that policy.)”

Reyn was quite the Cultural Warrior in the War on Women’s Reproductive Rights for Bush 43. As he mansplained to the the Washington Post

“I’ve always said abortion is a symptom of other things. It’s the broken hearts of people who haven’t cared for one another. Or men who have deserted women. It’s the sign of how we act towards each other.”

The same article mentions Archer was disinvited from a conference of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), a group that represents Title X family planning funding. Their executive director Judith M. DeSarno said

“He has no credibility in the family planning community. He is well-meaning, but he confuses empathy with the idea that he has to protect people from themselves.”

With his reputation in Bush43’s administration for what would nowadays be called “owning the libs,” Archer was appointed by Texas Governor George W. Bush as Texas Health Commissioner.

Racist Incidents

Despite several other controversies, Governor Bush continued to support Archer until October 2000, when Dr. Demetria Montgomery released a tape recording of Archer making references to “lynching” and told Montgomery used her brain to advance her career and “that’s what white people do.” As CBS News reported in April 2000 Archer had made a statement about Latina teenagers “wanting to be pregnant” and in 1998 had made a similar claim about Black teens.

July 2016 World Herald Reporting

The Omaha World Herald reported on the incident in a July 2016 article “Fortenberry stands by chief of staff, who 16 years ago was in middle of racial controversy.”

Fortenberry told the World Herald he’d known Archer for a long time, describing him as “an extraordinarily qualified individual” who has worked with him on tribal hospital issues. He went on defending him, quote “This was a very long time ago. This man is deeply dedicated to helping those who are in structural poverty, to coming up with innovative policy solutions that are community-oriented. I am grateful to have him.”

Congressman Fortenberry failed to tell the World-Herald that Reyn Archer was his wife’s cousin once removed.

House Ethics Investigation

With the fallout of the “Fartenberry” debacle, the Daily Beast reported that the House Ethics Committee began an investigation into whether Archer acted appropriately when he threated UNL Professor Ari Kohen. The congressional directory website directory.house.gov still lists Archer as his Chief of Staff.

When will we know the outcome of the House Ethics Committee investigation? It’s been two years, have they come to any conclusions as to whether Archer or Fortenberry acted inappropriately? Did Archer make the telephone call and email officials at the University of Nebraska (Kohen’s employer) under the direction of the Congressman or on his own?

On Donald Trump’s election day Fortenberry said that Trump would bring a “healthy dose of nationalism” to the office. According to fivethirtyeight.com Fortenberry has voted with Trump 94.3% of the time.

Fortenberry has continued to support and defend President Trump no matter what sort of erratic, racist comments and policies he makes and the bullying he does on Twitter and through his administration, just as he continues to support a family member after being exposed as a racist and using the congressional office to bully a professor who had been critical of him.