Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was convicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress earlier this year, has been charged with money laundering, conspiracy, and scheming to defraud supporters of Donald Trump who thought they were funding a border wall along the US-Mexico border.
Bannon, who currently hosts the War Room podcast and show on the right-wing Real America’s Voice network, arrived at the Manhattan district attorney’s office on 8 September to surrender. As he entered the building, he shouted “they’re persecuting people!” to a group of reporters who’d gathered to witness his arrival.
The six-count indictment against Bannon and the non-profit We Build The Wall Inc is related to charges the ex-Trump aide once faced in federal court for defrauding donors in a $25m scheme to construct a privately funded border wall along the US-Mexico border.
Federal agents arrested him on board a yacht belonging to a Chinese exile and billionaire after a grand jury indicted him and three others in August 2020.
Prosecutors at the time charged that he siphoned more than $1m (£871,000) from donations to pay for personal expenses, but that case was dropped after then-president Trump issued his former adviser a last-minute pardon.
According to a copy of the 22-page indictment obtained by The Independent, the New York district attorney’s case against Bannon closely tracks the one he evaded with Mr Trump’s assistance.
In a briefing in New York on Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused Bannon and We Build the Wall and its associates of a “years-long fundraising scheme” that defrauded thousands of donors across the US, including in New York.
Bannon repeatedly and falsely promised that “not a penny” of the funds would go towards the salary of We Build the Wall president Brian Kolfage, Mr Bragg said. Bannon used that phrase “time and time again” while soliciting donations through online campaigns and in media appearances, he added.
In reality, Kolfage received a $250,000 salary from donated funds, which Bannon had obscured, prosecutors allege.
The money allegedly laundered by Bannon to pay the group president’s salary is in “direct contradiction to the many, many promises made by Bannon, We Build the Wall and many others” involved with the scheme,” Mr Bragg said.
“The simple truth is that it is a crime to profit off the backs of donors by making many false pretenses,” he added.
Kolfage is named in the state’s indictment as “Unindicted Co-Conspirator 1.” He pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges connected to the federal case.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said Bannon “gained power and influence as a top adviser to the former president and he used that influence and those connections to cheat everyday Americans and carry out this fraud.”
The wall scheme was “nothing more than a ploy to garner media attention and rob” New Yorkers and other Americans who supported Bannon and his associates
For his part, Bannon has decried the case against him as “phony charges” and attacked Mr Bragg as a “Soros-backed DA” bent on stopping his pro-Trump podcast.
“The [Southern District of New York] did the exact same thing in August 2020 to try to take me out of the election. It didn't work then, it certainly won't work now,” he said, adding that his latest legal troubles are “nothing more than a partisan political weaponisation of the criminal justice system”.
Bannon also said he would “never stop fighting” and vowed that “they” would “have to kill [him]”.
The case against him in New York is not the only criminal jeopardy faced by the former naval officer and investment banker turned political strategist and podcast host.
Earlier this year, a Washington, DC, jury convicted Bannon on two counts of criminal contempt of congress stemming from his decision to ignore subpoenas for documents and testimony from the House January 6 select committee.
The federal district judge who is overseeing Bannon’s case rejected his request for a new trial last week. Bannon’s attorneys had argued that jury instructions given before deliberations were improper and claimed that his rights were violated because he wasn’t permitted to call members of congress as witnesses.
“Defendant has not shown that the testimony from any member of the House of Representatives that he sought would be material,” Judge Carl Nichols said in his ruling.
Bannon will be sentenced in the federal case on 21 October and could face as much as two years in federal prison.
