(AFP) – Conservative firebrand Steve Bannon, a former advisor to US President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding donors who gave money to a private scheme to build a wall on the US-Mexico border. Bannon, 71, entered a guilty plea to New York state charges in a Manhattan court in an agreement with prosecutors that spared him prison time.
Bannon was indicted in 2022 for his role in a project called “We Build the Wall,” which involved private fundraising of more than $15 million to help build the southern border barrier championed by Trump. He had been scheduled to go on trial in March, facing five felony counts of money laundering, conspiracy, and other charges. Bannon, one of the masterminds behind Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, also faced federal charges over the border wall scheme but received a pardon at the end of the Republican’s first term in the White House.
The right-wing ideologue pleaded guilty to a single state charge on Tuesday of involvement in a “scheme to defraud in the first degree” and was given a three-year conditional discharge, which does not involve jail time or restitution. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Bannon is barred from acting as an officer or a director of a charitable or non-profit association in New York state.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Bannon lashed out at Bragg, who brought charges against Trump for paying hush money to a porn star, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “The existential threat to President Trump’s administration is not in federal court,” Bannon said. “The existential threat is right here in this city. It is the queen of lawfare. It’s Letitia James.” Bannon urged the new US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to launch an “immediate criminal investigation” into James and Bragg.
Bannon served nearly four months in federal prison in Connecticut last year after being convicted of contempt of Congress. He was sent to jail for defying a subpoena to testify before the congressional panel investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters. Bannon served in the White House during Trump’s first term as his chief strategist but left after seven months, reportedly due to conflicts with other top staffers.
Though he no longer works officially for Trump, he has remained a vocal backer of the Republican president, mainly through his podcast “The War Room.” Bannon is one of several Trump associates who have received jail time. Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro also served a four-month prison term last year for defying a congressional subpoena to testify about the events of January 6, 2021. Others include former Trump legal fixer turned whistleblower Michael Cohen and the CFO of the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg.
Trump was convicted in New York in May of last year of falsifying business records to pay hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump was also charged with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election and with mishandling classified documents, but the cases were dropped after he won November’s presidential election.
– Andréa BAMBINO
© 2024 AFP
