Steve Bannon was in talks with prosecutors Monday to plead guilty in his Manhattan case alleging he scammed Donald Trump supporters in a crowdfunding scheme, a source told the Daily News.
The development comes less than a month before the right-wing pundit and Trump ally is set to go on trial accused of serving as the architect of a scheme to defraud Trump supporters who donated to the We Build the Wall crowdfunding effort to construct a wall along the southern border, Trump’s signature immigration policy during his first term. Bannon is tentatively due to appear in court on Tuesday.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of money laundering, three counts of conspiracy, and one count of scheme to defraud in the case filed in September 2022. It was brought after Bannon was pardoned by Trump of similar federal charges in the waning hours of his first presidency.
Three other men were convicted federally of participating in the scheme, who Trump elected not to pardon. They were military veteran and triple amputee Brian Kolfage, who was sentenced to more than four years in prison; Andrew Badolato, who got three years; and Colorado businessman Timothy Shea, who got five years after being found guilty at a retrial. His first ended in a mistrial after a juror alleged a government “witch hunt.”
In both the state and federal cases, prosecutors said the group misrepresented to Trump supporters, including hundreds of Manhattan residents, that every penny raised for the We Build the Wall fund would go towards the wall’s construction.
Law360 first reported on the potential plea deal, including that it would include no jail time for Bannon.
Bannon served four months in federal prison last year for an unrelated conviction for defying a congressional subpoena related to the House Committee’s probe of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
A lawyer for Bannon, Arthur Aidala, declined to provide a comment to the Daily News. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which brought the case, did not immediately respond to inquiries.
