Former top Trump adviser Steve Bannon has been arrested. Is this another scheme to get back at Trump?
Bannon served as President Trump’s chief strategist while serving in the White House. He was arrested on charges alleging he defrauded donors in a fundraising scheme.
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement:
“The defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction. While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle. We thank the USPIS for their partnership in investigating this case, and we remain dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting fraud wherever we find it.”
CNBC added details, as the alleged fraud involves one of Trump’s most iconic pledges–the wall:
Bannon, along with three of his associates were indicted by investigators at the U.S. Southern District of New York on Thursday. They allege that the group of conservative leaders defrauded donors and that led to raising “more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States,” according to the press release.
The United States Postal Inspection Service assisted in the investigation.
The others mentioned in the indictment are Timothy Shea, who in May was announced as the Acting Administrator of Drug Enforcement Administration, Brian Kolfage, a Iraq war veteran, and Andrew Badolato.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon charged with fraud over fundraising campaign to build US-Mexico border wall https://t.co/DwaG66DuxL
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) August 20, 2020
It’s my understanding from people directly associated with the project that Bannon and team tried to build sections of the wall. However, Leftists groups stopped them at every turn.
An acquaintance of mine commented that the crowdfunding source they used to fund the project actually froze the funds at one point. He said that the service froze the funds to guarantee funds would be used to build the wall. He implied that the team could only get cash if they lived up to the defined goals of the project.
I’m not sure where all this ends up. But expect the Leftists to attempt to tie Trump to the project, though he had nothing to do with it. Further, it won’t matter if Bannon and team are innocent. Because truth doesn’t matter to Democrats. Just politics.
