09-09-22, 09:55
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Bannon Lawyer Pleads to be Removed From US Border Wall Fraud Case
TRUMPs' Ally Steve Bannon Surrenders on Charges Over Border Wall Fundraising
Steve Bannon surrenders to face New York state charges related to his fundraising effort to build a wall along the southern US border
Steve Bannon Could Be Behind Bars Before Fraud Trial Begins
AP 9 Sept 2022
Steve Bannon, former adviser to former President Donald Trump, arrives at the New York District Attorneys office to turn himself in on September 8, 2022, in New York City.
Bannon faces a new criminal indictment that will mirror the federal case in which he was pardoned by Trump. He and others have been alleged to have defrauded contributors to a private $25 million fundraising effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative political strategist and former Donald Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon turned himself in to law enforcement on Thursday regarding his alleged role in a money laundering scheme, marking a significant break in New York State Attorney General Leticia James' inquiry into a fundraising scheme to build a wall on the southern border.
Bannon, a top figure in conservative media, was officially arraigned Thursday afternoon on a bevy of charges, including money laundering, fraud and conspiracy related to his alleged role in a scheme to raise $15 million in funds for a wall that was ultimately never built.
Hundreds of thousands of those dollars went directly into Bannon's pocket via a nonprofit organization Bannon owned, prosecutors claimed, after he initially said that he would not accept a single cent of those dollars.
While Trump preemptively pardoned Bannon in the case shortly before exiting office in 2021, federal and state prosecutors have continued to pursue charges against him and We Build The Wall Inc., for which Bannon served as chairman of the board.
"The simple truth is that it is a crime to profit off the backs of donors by making false pretenses," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a press conference shortly after the arrest.
Bannon, who has fought the charges for more than a year, told reporters he plans to appeal the charges while entering Manhattan Criminal Court early Thursday.
"This is irony—on the very day the mayor of this city has a delegation down on the border, they're persecuting people here," Bannon shouted on his way into court, referring to New York City Mayor Eric Adams' recent announcement of a "fact-finding mission" to the border investigating the Texas government's plans to bus apprehended migrants from the border to New York.
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