Steve Bannon, key to Trump's rise, pleads not guilty to border-wall fraud charges

[webfact]

Steve Bannon, key to Trump's rise, pleads not guilty to border-wall fraud charges

By Sarah N. Lynch, Andy Sullivan and Brendan Pierson

 

FILE PHOTO: Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon attends the "Atreju 2018" meeting organised by Fratelli d'Italia party in Rome, Italy September 22, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Steve Bannon, an architect of Donald Trump's 2016 election victory, was arrested on a yacht on Thursday and pleaded not guilty after being charged with defrauding donors in a scheme to help build the president's signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

 

As a top adviser to Trump's presidential campaign who later served as White House chief strategist, Bannon helped articulate the "America First" right-wing populism and fierce opposition to immigration that have been hallmarks of Trump's 3-1/2 years in office. Trump fired Bannon from his White House post in August 2017.

 

Bannon, 66, was among four people arrested and charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They each face up to 40 years in prison if convicted, but likely would get much shorter sentences.

 

Prosecutors accused the defendants of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors through a $25 million crowdfunding campaign called "We Build the Wall." Bannon used hundreds of thousands of dollars of that money to cover personal expenses, according to the charges.

 

Steve Bannon, an architect of President Donald Trump's 2016 election victory, has been charged with defrauding Trump supporters in a campaign to help build his signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, prosecutors said on Thursday. This report produced by Yahaira Jacquez.

 

Bannon wore a protective white mask amid the coronavirus pandemic and two open-collared shirts at a federal court in Manhattan, where his lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. He was freed on $5 million bond and was barred by a federal magistrate judge from traveling internationally.

 

Bannon was arrested in Connecticut by agents from the prosecutor's office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service aboard a 150-foot-long (45-meter-long) yacht, according to a law enforcement source. That yacht, called the Lady May, is owned by Chinese fugitive billionaire Guo Wengui, with whom Bannon has had a working relationship.

 

The famously disheveled entrepreneur headed the right-wing Breitbart News website - a voice for the alt-right movement that spans hardcore nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and anti-Semites - before joining Trump's campaign. Bannon, an anti-globalist, has since promoted a variety of right-wing causes and candidates in the United States and abroad.

 

Trump told reporters at the White House that he feels "very badly" about the charges but sought to distance himself from Bannon and the alleged scheme.

 

"I do think it's a sad event," Trump said. "I haven't dealt with him at all now for years, literally years."

 

Trump said he knew little about the project. But one of those involved, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, said in 2019 that Trump had offered his support, according to the New York Times.

 

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he feels "very badly" about the arrest of his former close adviser Steve Bannon but knows nothing about the fundraising organization involved in the federal criminal case.

 

Bannon is the eighth close Trump associate https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-bannon-associates-factbox/factbox-steve-bannon-and-other-trump-associates-arrested-or-convicted-of-crimes-idUSKBN25G1YU to be arrested or convicted of a crime, a list that also includes former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, longtime friend and adviser Roger Stone, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

 

Trump has struggled to build his border wall - a key 2016 campaign promise - in the face of court challenges, logistical hurdles and congressional opposition. His administration has completed 30 new miles (48 km) of border fencing and replaced another 240 miles (386 km) of barriers along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border, government figures show.

 

More than 330,000 supporters have donated to private fund-raisers and profiteers who have promised to build the wall on their own, a 2019 Reuters investigation https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-borderwall-business-special-repor/special-report-the-non-profits-startups-and-pacs-seizing-on-trumps-dream-wall-idUSKCN1TY23O showed.

 

The group tied to Bannon built two wall sections on private land in New Mexico and Texas, drawing criticism from local residents who said proper permits were not obtained. The Texas wall section has experienced erosion problems, a report last month showed.

 

"I know nothing about the project," Trump said on Thursday, "other than ... when I read about it, I didn't like it. I said, 'This is for government, this isn't for private people,' and it sounded to me like showboating."

 

Trump also said he did not believe he had ever met the three others charged.

 

BIDEN CAMPAIGN BLASTS TRUMP

The indictment comes as the Republican president trails Democratic challenger Joe Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

 

Biden's campaign said corruption surrounds Trump.

 

"He has consistently used his office to enrich himself, his family and his cronies, so is it really any surprise that yet another one of the grifters he surrounded himself with and placed in the highest levels of government was just indicted?" deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield asked on a call with reporters.

 

The charges are being handled by the same office that prosecuted Cohen. The office's top prosecutor, Geoffrey Berman, was abruptly ousted by Trump ally in June.

 

Also charged on Thursday were Brian Kolfage, 38, Andrew Badolato, 56, and Timothy Shea, 49.

 

A triple-amputee U.S. Air Force veteran, Kolfage formerly ran a company that made millions of dollars running right-wing media websites. He first pledged to send donations to the U.S. government when he launched the wall effort in December 2018, but then said he would use the money to hire private contractors and build the wall on their own.

 

Donors were told that all of their contributions would go toward a wall, prosecutors said. But Kolfage, whom they described as the public face and founder of the operation, took $350,000 for his personal use to fund a lavish lifestyle, the indictment said. That money and the payments to Bannon were routed through a shell company and a nonprofit group, using fake invoices, prosecutors said.

 

More recently, Kolfage started a business to sell protective face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. His lawyer declined comment.

 

Board members of We Build the Wall include Kobach, Erik Prince, a former government contractor and brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

 

(Additional reporting by Jan Wolfe, Jeff Mason, Mark Hosenball, Joseph Tanfani, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jonathan Stempel and Ted Hesson; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-21

 

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[Grumpy John]

Will be interesting to hear the evidence the prosecutor has cooked up!

[Kelsall]

Interesting timing.

[TopDeadSenter]

This is disappointing news. Conservatives have a soft spot for Bannon, he is regarded as one of the architects of the wildly successful MAGA movement that made the dated concepts of being rewarded for effort and entrepreneurship regardless of ethnicity, love of America, and traditional families "cool" again, and for that I thank him. Still, fraud is fraud. Hopefully he can get a fair trial although after the other botched investigations and trials recently this is questionable.

 

 The run up to this election is feeling like a giant board game. This Bannon news is like landing on a snake, a big one at that. Yet the spectacular victory of the brilliant Ms Loomer in the Florida congressional primaries - nearly with double the number of votes than the next candidate, even after being doxed by the left and banned/cancelled from all social media was quite a ladder.

[Kelsall]

12 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is disappointing news. Conservatives have a soft spot for Bannon, he is regarded as one of the architects of the wildly successful MAGA movement that made the dated concepts of being rewarded for effort and entrepreneurship regardless of ethnicity, love of America, and traditional families "cool" again, and for that I thank him. Still, fraud is fraud. Hopefully he can get a fair trial although after the other botched investigations and trials recently this is questionable.

 

 The run up to this election is feeling like a giant board game. This Bannon news is like landing on a snake, a big one at that. Yet the spectacular victory of the brilliant Ms Loomer in the Florida congressional primaries - nearly with double the number of votes than the next candidate, even after being doxed by the left and banned/cancelled from all social media was quite a ladder.

Yes, Bannon's arrest 70 or so days before the election shows the left's panic as they desparately try to defeat Trump.  The Lara Loomer victory is causing them to panic even more.  They know the second Trump term may well result in their so-called heros going down.

 

The arrest has backfired.  Trump has distanced himself and turned the tables.  Expect a Trump 2020 victory

[rcummings]

23 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 The run up to this election is feeling like a giant board game. This Bannon news is like landing on a snake, a big one at that. Yet the spectacular victory of the brilliant Ms Loomer in the Florida congressional primaries - nearly with double the number of votes than the next candidate, even after being doxed by the left and banned/cancelled from all social media was quite a ladder.

The brilliant Ms. Loomer cancelled an uber ride after it turned out that the driver was Muslim. She then urged the creation of a ride sharing service that banned Muslims from working there.

After 2000 Muslims died at sea she said "Good. Here's to 2000 more."

She also insisted that the lunatic who committed mass murder in Las Vegas was in league with Isis.

"In the wake of the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, she traveled to Parkland on behalf of Alex Jones’s InfoWars, where she accused survivors of “reading a screen or notes someone else wrote for them.” 

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/08/donald-trump-made-laura-loomer-primary-win-possible/

 

[Tug]

20 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Yes, Bannon's arrest 70 or so days before the election shows the left's panic as they desparately try to defeat Trump.  The Lara Loomer victory is causing them to panic even more.  They know the second Trump term may well result in their so-called heros going down.

 

The arrest has backfired.  Trump has distanced himself and turned the tables.  Expect a Trump 2020 victory

Wow lol what did you expect birds of a feather and all that and just how much was trump fined for his scam charity?or his rip off university lol nope he better get the old sharpie ready old Stevo might just start a squealing ahhhh........the chickens a coming home to roost only the best people oh boy as far as that nutter Laura loomed who believes pedifile canables are in charge of government and believes Alex Jones bs has anybody worried is pure bs it just opens trump up to more ridicule after all trump is what he is

[Sujo]

The swamp is being drained.

 

for someone who says he only hires the best trump sure does have a lot of dodgy employees.

[mtls2005]

"Steve who?"

 

"I don't know him."

 

Even with this news trumpers will not turn. Sure, take my money for a wall, then buy a yacht. 

 

A man of the people...

 

 

 

 

[tonray]

"Sloppy Steve"...I guess he was sloppy with the books too

[bendejo]

Time for Donnie to break out the ol' rubber stamp

 

 

 

[bkk6060]

Guy seemed like a scum bag used car salesman to me.

Better hurry and plead guilty so Trump can pardon him.

[Kelsall]

5 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

"Steve who?"

 

"I don't know him."

 

Even with this news trumpers will not turn. Sure, take my money for a wall, then buy a yacht. 

 

A man of the people...

 

 

 

 

Where does it say he bought a yacht?  Is that pic the yacht?  Or is your post fake news? ????

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, Grumpy John said:

Will be interesting to hear the evidence the prosecutor has cooked up!

Perhaps it is "real" evidence, (who knows) wait until the evidence is produced in court could be useful before judgement.

Not one word of sworn evidence given, but already some TVF folk have the "facts" one way or another in their minds.

Glad none of you will have to sit on a jury and listen before making up your minds

 

 

[mtls2005]

4 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Where does it say he bought a yacht?  Is that pic the yacht?  Or is your post fake news? ????

 

You are correct.

 

Sorry.

 

That is the yacht he was arrested on, in the Connecticut coast.

 

It is owned by a Chinese billionaire.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/08/20/steve-bannon-was-arrested-on-chinese-billionaires-28m-yacht/

 

The boat, the Lady May, is owned by Guo Wengui, one of China’s most wanted fugitives, who is wanted in Beijing on fraud, blackmail and bribery charges, according to the Washington Post.

 

 

I'm sure we'll find out what bannon spent his cash on? Ostrich jacket?

 

 

 

 

[tonray]

1 minute ago, mtls2005 said:

I'm sure we'll find out what bannon spent his cash on? Ostrich jacket?

More like Lao Khao

[rcummings]

2 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

 

You are correct.

 

Sorry.

 

That is the yacht he was arrested on, in the Connecticut coast.

 

It is owned by a Chinese billionaire.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/08/20/steve-bannon-was-arrested-on-chinese-billionaires-28m-yacht/

 

The boat, the Lady May, is owned by Guo Wengui, one of China’s most wanted fugitives, who is wanted in Beijing on fraud, blackmail and bribery charges, according to the Washington Post.

 

 

I'm sure we'll find out what bannon spent his cash on? Ostrich jacket?

 

 

 

 

Actually, you should have written the boat is owned by a dodgy Chinese millionaire. He and Bannon are also under investigation for an entirely different set of activities.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fundraising-at-company-tied-to-steve-bannon-and-guo-wengui-faces-probe-11597857467

[mtls2005]

Kris Kobach claimed Bannon's wall project had Trump's "blessing" last year

 

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told the New York Times last year that President Trump gave his "blessing" to a Steve Bannon-guided campaign to privately fund a wall along the southern border.

 

https://www.axios.com/kobach-trump-blessing-bannon-border-wall-fraud-d3cf4f4c-04bc-4163-8b6e-4fd5e34b6b85.html

[Laza 45]

19 minutes ago, bendejo said:

Time for Donnie to break out the ol' rubber stamp

 

 

..no pardon for state charges.. 

[PatOngo]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"I do think it's a sad event," Trump said. "I haven't dealt with him at all now for years, literally years."

But you did sleep with the dog, Donald and you still woke up with fleas! You also got more fleas from your ex good buddies Stone, Flynn, Cohen, Manafort, Gates, Papadopoulos, Nader, Collins etc etc! Great company you kept, Ay Donzo!

 

 

[bendejo]

29 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Guy seemed like a scum bag used car salesman to me.

Better hurry and plead guilty so Trump can pardon him.

A rich guy who looks like a falling-down drunk who sleeps where ever he passes out  at night.

 

They shouldn't give him bail, he's a flight risk.  This guy is an evangelist of nationalism, he's the devil in DT's ear.  He could run off to a country he's having an influence on, like Hungary, or Brazil, or Belarus.

 

 

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

This is disappointing news. Conservatives have a soft spot for Bannon, he is regarded as one of the architects of the wildly successful MAGA movement that made the dated concepts of being rewarded for effort and entrepreneurship regardless of ethnicity, love of America, and traditional families "cool" again, and for that I thank him. Still, fraud is fraud. Hopefully he can get a fair trial although after the other botched investigations and trials recently this is questionable.

 

 The run up to this election is feeling like a giant board game. This Bannon news is like landing on a snake, a big one at that. Yet the spectacular victory of the brilliant Ms Loomer in the Florida congressional primaries - nearly with double the number of votes than the next candidate, even after being doxed by the left and banned/cancelled from all social media was quite a ladder.

Yes, that's the attitude. Just as Trump, distance yourself asap, looks like overwhelming evidence.

[Tug]

29 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Where does it say he bought a yacht?  Is that pic the yacht?  Or is your post fake news? ????

Now what would a trump acolyte be doing on a yaught owned by a wealthy Chinese dude I thought his master thought China was the root of all bad things hummmm.........interesting that

[bendejo]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

"I haven't dealt with him at all now for years, literally years."

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTTT!!  Pinocchio strikes again!

About two weeks ago on one of his tv appearances he said Bannon was doing a great job.

I guess it had something to do with this

https://www.vox.com/2020/6/18/21295549/trump-bannon-pack-global-media-china-wednesday-massacre

 

 

 

[PatOngo]

29 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Kris Kobach claimed Bannon's wall project had Trump's "blessing" last year

 

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told the New York Times last year that President Trump gave his "blessing" to a Steve Bannon-guided campaign to privately fund a wall along the southern border.

 

https://www.axios.com/kobach-trump-blessing-bannon-border-wall-fraud-d3cf4f4c-04bc-4163-8b6e-4fd5e34b6b85.html

Sleazebags, the lot of them!

[mtls2005]

I thought that Mexico was going to pay for the wall?

 

What happened?

 

 

[Scott]

Troll post removed.

 

[Dumbastheycome]

It is  true that Bannon & Co. did built a couple of bits of wall. Randomly. The bit in Texas  is already  falling apart. One media comment put's it as an appropriate comparison to Bannon's  construction of Trump's political profile.

[RJRS1301]

Quote

and traditional families "cool" again

 

Are they the ones with only heterosexual parenting, and only one divorce?

No single parent families ?

 

 

[rcummings]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Perhaps it is "real" evidence, (who knows) wait until the evidence is produced in court could be useful before judgement.

Not one word of sworn evidence given, but already some TVF folk have the "facts" one way or another in their minds.

Glad none of you will have to sit on a jury and listen before making up your minds

 

 

But an indictment has been granted. Whereas you might recall the chanting of Lock her up! during the 2016 Republican convention. Where did that phrase come from? Hmmm...