Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon must face NY criminal fraud trial, judge rules
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) -Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon must face trial in New York on criminal-fraud charges over a push to fund the former U.S. president's signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a judge ruled on Friday.
Justice April Newbauer's decision to deny Bannon's motion to dismiss the charges paves the way for a trial set to start on Dec. 9, just six weeks after he is scheduled to be released from federal prison. Bannon is serving a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.
Bannon, 70, was charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office in September 2022 with money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly deceiving donors who contributed more than $15 million to the private fundraising drive, known as "We Build the Wall."
Construction of a border wall was a key element of Trump's immigration policies during his presidency, supported by his fellow Republicans but opposed by Democrats and immigrant advocacy groups.
According to the indictment, Bannon promised donors that all their money would go toward building Trump's wall, but he concealed his role in diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the drive's chief executive Brian Kolfage, a decorated U.S. Air Force veteran who had promised to take no salary.
Bannon pleaded not guilty. In his lawyers' motion to dismiss, filed on Dec. 6, 2023, they argued that Bannon transferred some funds to entities Kolfage controlled to reimburse him for reasonable expenses. They also said the organization built more than three miles (4.8 km) of the border wall in New Mexico and Texas.
"Prospective donors to WeBuildTheWall did not care whether Kolfage or his entities received a small percentage of their donations," his lawyers wrote. "WeBuildTheWall donors simply wanted a border wall to be built. And, WeBuildTheWall did as it promised - it built miles of wall on the southern border."
In a Jan. 5 response, Bragg's office said Bannon's text messages and emails made clear he knew money from We Build the Wall was being funneled to Kolfage despite Kolfage's statements to donors that he would "not take a penny of compensation."
The 2022 indictment concerned some of the same conduct underlying a 2020 federal prosecution of Bannon, Kolfage and two other men.
Bannon pleaded not guilty in that case, which ended abruptly in January 2021 when Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his presidency.
Presidential pardons do not prohibit state prosecutions.
Kolfage, 42, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to federal fraud and tax charges. He admitted to using more than $350,000 in donor money for expenses such as a boat, a luxury SUV, jewelry and cosmetic surgery. He is serving a 4-1/4 year prison sentence.
Bannon was a key adviser to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, then served as his chief White House strategist in 2017 before a falling-out between them that was later patched up. He also has played an instrumental role in right-wing media.
In a separate federal case, Bannon was convicted at trial in 2022 of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress after refusing to turn over documents or testify to a Democratic-led House of Representatives committee that probed the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol attack.
Bannon has called himself a "political prisoner."
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel
آخر الأخبار
إخلاء المسؤولية: تتيح كيانات XM Group خدمة تنفيذية فقط والدخول إلى منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت، مما يسمح للشخص بمشاهدة و/أو استخدام المحتوى المتاح على موقع الويب أو عن طريقه، وهذا المحتوى لا يراد به التغيير أو التوسع عن ذلك. يخضع هذا الدخول والاستخدام دائماً لما يلي: (1) الشروط والأحكام؛ (2) تحذيرات المخاطر؛ (3) إخلاء المسؤولية الكامل. لذلك يُقدم هذا المحتوى على أنه ليس أكثر من معلومات عامة. تحديداً، يرجى الانتباه إلى أن المحتوى المتاح على منصة تداولنا عبر الإنترنت ليس طلباً أو عرضاً لدخول أي معاملات في الأسواق المالية. التداول في أي سوق مالي به مخاطرة عالية برأس مالك.
جميع المواد المنشورة على منصة تداولنا مخصصة للأغراض التعليمية/المعلوماتية فقط ولا تحتوي - ولا ينبغي اعتبار أنها تحتوي - على نصائح أو توصيات مالية أو ضريبية أو تجارية، أو سجلاً لأسعار تداولنا، أو عرضاً أو طلباً لأي معاملة في أي صكوك مالية أو عروض ترويجية مالية لا داعي لها.
أي محتوى تابع للغير بالإضافة إلى المحتوى الذي أعدته XM، مثل الآراء، والأخبار، والأبحاث، والتحليلات والأسعار وغيرها من المعلومات أو روابط مواقع تابعة للغير وواردة في هذا الموقع تُقدم لك "كما هي"، كتعليق عام على السوق ولا تعتبر نصيحة استثمارية. يجب ألا يُفسر أي محتوى على أنه بحث استثماري، وأن تلاحظ وتقبل أن المحتوى غير مُعدٍ وفقاً للمتطلبات القانونية المصممة لتعزيز استقلالية البحث الاستثماري، وبالتالي، فهو بمثابة تواصل تسويقي بموجب القوانين واللوائح ذات الصلة. فضلاً تأكد من أنك قد قرأت وفهمت الإخطار بالبحوث الاستثمارية غير المستقلة والتحذير من مخاطر المعلومات السابقة، والذي يمكنك الاطلاع عليه هنا.
