Steve Bannon, once chief strategist for former US President Donald Trump and architect of the successful 2016 White House election, was today charged with six felony charges related to Trump’s effort to build a nationwide wall across the US-Mexico. boundary. He surrendered to New York authorities in the morning.
According to the indictment, the charges include two money laundering, three conspiracy and one fraud conspiracy. One co-defendant, WeBuildTheWall Inc, was charged with the same six charges.
The charges come more than a year and a half after Trump pardoned Bannon in the final hours of his presidency by clearing him of a federal fraud case.
Bannon, 68, and three other men were accused of defrauding donors in August 2020 at a private $25 million fundraising event known as “We’re Building the Wall” to help build the wall defended by Trump along the US-Mexico border.
Bannon pleaded not guilty to federal prosecution, including allegations that he embezzled nearly $1 million for personal expenses. However, his indictment was dropped after Trump pardoned him.
Bannon’s new indictment is published by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A person familiar with the matter said the case may reflect parts of the federal wall case, but it’s unclear why the indictment has yet to be filed.
Presidential pardons cover federal charges and do not prohibit state prosecutions.
Image: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
He is indicted less than two months after being convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from a House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
In a statement Tuesday night, Bannon described the New York trial as “no more than a partisan political weapon of the criminal justice system.”
source: Noticias
