Former White House strategist Steve Bannon will surrender Thursday in New York to face state criminal charges that he defrauded contributors to a fund to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, according to a person familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Former White House strategist Steve Bannon will surrender Thursday in New York to face state criminal charges that he defrauded contributors to a fund to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The charges relate to Bannon’s involvement in “We Build the Wall,” which funded about five miles (eight kilometers) of border fencing in two locations in Texas and New Mexico, according to the person, who declined to be identified discussing the case before it becomes public.
Bannon was pardoned by Donald Trump on his last day as president in a federal case also focused on We Build the Wall. Three other men were also charged with fraud by federal prosecutors but didn’t receive pardons. Two pleaded guilty and one went to trial, which resulted in a hung jury in June.
The new criminal case comes two months after a federal jury in Washington found the longtime Trump adviser guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress based on Bannon’s defiance of a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Manhattan prosecutors were working early last year with New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York’s top law enforcement officer, to gather information for a probe into Bannon’s role in “We Build the Wall,” people familiar with the matter said at the time.
“We Build the Wall” was a private-sector effort to support Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bannon was charged with fraud in federal court in 2020 over the alleged scheme, leading to his pardon hours before Trump left the White House. But Trump couldn’t shield his former aide from state-level probes because presidential pardons only apply to federal cases.
The Washington Post reported the new indictment earlier.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Read More: Trump Backer’s Trial Over Mexico Wall Fraud Ends in Hung Jury
(Updates that charges relate to fund to build wall on US-Mexico border.)
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