BBC: Bannon charged with fraud over Mexico border wall

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[China]

Steve Bannon Loses Lawyer After Suggesting Beheading of Fauci

 

Stephen K. Bannon, the former adviser to President Trump who is known for his right-wing extremism, suggested on Thursday that the F.B.I. director and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci should be beheaded, and Twitter responded by banning one of his accounts.

 

On Friday, a prominent lawyer who was defending Mr. Bannon against fraud charges in federal court in Manhattan abruptly moved to drop him as a client, one person familiar with the matter said.

 

“Mr. Bannon is in the process of retaining new counsel,” the lawyer, William A. Burck, said in a brief letter to the court, giving no explanation.

 

A spokeswoman for Mr. Bannon declined to comment.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

[abdcskins]

Lol whatever happened to that wall?  Such a stupid baldfaced promise that had no point whatsoever other than to rile up a bunch of racist anti-immigrant people.  Guess what, there already is a wall.  I've driven around Tijuana a few times and I've seen them - there are actually a couple of them.  What exactly did Trump have in mind?  Some gigantic wall that expanded thousands of miles between the US and Mexico border?  Not gonna prevent people from crossing illegally smart guy.

 

Not like it matters, he will be gone soon.  Just was curious what in the actual hell he was thinking.

[China]

Federal Judge Won’t Let Kris Kobach Get His Hands on ‘We Build the Wall’ Money

 

Hours after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal of a case that forced him to take court-mandated law classes, Kris Kobach suffered another defeat in New York on Monday, as a federal judge refused to let him move assets related to a charity that prosecutors allege was used to scam donors.

 

The order by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres relates to the criminal charges against four officials of “We Build the Wall”: founder Brian Kolfage, ex-White House strategist Steve Bannon, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea.

 

The foursome will return to court on Thursday, battling allegations that the duped donors by promising “100%” of the $25 million crowdfunded would build a barrier along the U.S. southern border. Bannon took at least $1 million from the charity, and Kolfage pocketed $350,000 and spent donors’ money on a Jupiter Marine yacht called the Warfighter, a Range Rover SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments and his credit card debt, prosecutors say.

 

Kobach, who has not been charged, serves as We Build the Wall’s general counsel, and he claims that a pre-trial order blocking the transfer of its assets violated his due-process rights. Kobach attempted to challenge a restraining order that “intended to safeguard funds that will be subject to forfeiture following a conviction in this case.”

 

Prosecutors argued against that attempt.

 

“We Build the Wall is not a defendant in this matter, and the fact that the [frozen] Accounts are in the name of We Build the Wall does not permit its intervening now,” the memorandum said. “Additionally, Kobach is neither a defendant nor the owner of the Accounts, and therefore in this context is nothing more than an unsecured creditor with no property interest in the accounts.”

 

Judge Torres was not persuaded by Kobach’s arguments.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Bannon, Pardoned by Trump, Now Faces Manhattan D.A. Investigation

 

Stephen K. Bannon, who received a last-minute pardon from former President Donald J. Trump after being indicted on federal charges of defrauding donors to a border wall, may yet face state charges in connection with the same scheme.

 

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has begun investigating Mr. Bannon’s role in the fund-raising project for the wall and is also considering opening an investigation into Ken Kurson, who was also pardoned by Mr. Trump after he was charged with federal crimes related to cyberstalking and harassment, according to three people familiar with the matter.

 

The decision to open an investigation into Mr. Bannon’s conduct and to consider doing so in the case of Mr. Kurson — a friend of the former president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner — came after Manhattan prosecutors reviewed the list of the 143 pardons and commutations issued in the last hours of Mr. Trump’s term in office, one of the people familiar with the matter said.

The president’s power to pardon only applies to federal crimes, not state ones.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[PleaseBlitz]

Disabled vet pleads guilty in border-wall scheme that included Bannon

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/21/kolfage-bannon-wall-plea/

 

Sympathies that this guy is a wounded warrior, but also what an opportunist scumbag. As noted so many times before, MAGA is just a battle between the grifters and the griftees. 

 

Quote

Brian Kolfage, a disabled veteran who headed a $25 million fundraising effort for a U.S.-Mexico border wall with the help of former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon, has pleaded guilty in connection to defrauding donors for his own gain.

 

Kolfage, an amputee who lost three limbs serving in Iraq, could serve more than five years in prison. He was accused of using more than $350,000 in donations on personal expenses such as home renovations and vehicle payments, after telling “We Build the Wall” campaign contributors that he would not take a cut of the collections or give himself a salary. On Thursday, in federal court in Manhattan, he admitted to siphoning off money for himself and also pleaded guilty to tax crimes for failing to report that income.

 

The Florida resident told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that the organization met roadblocks in carrying out its original mission of subsidizing the construction of a border wall but that he “continued to raise funds and promised I would take no salary and would not take a penny in profits.”

 

Kolfage, a conservative activist, admitted that he “knowingly and willfully conspired to receive money from donations” as he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax-related charges.

As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit more than $17 million collected during the fundraising push.

 

“We Build the Wall” was a large-scale private crowdfunding effort [fraud] orchestrated by Kolfage, Bannon, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea in 2018. Its stated goal was to help the federal government complete the coast-to-coast barrier President Donald Trump had repeatedly promised his supporters. The four men were arrested in August 2020, when prosecutors accused Bannon of personally pocketing more than $1 million.

 

Minor editorial by PB, in redline. 

[China]

Second 'We Build The Wall' fraud trial ends in conviction

 

A Colorado businessman was convicted Friday of charges that he and others siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars from an online fundraiser to build a wall along the U.S. southern border despite a promise to donors that every cent would go toward building the wall.

 

Timothy Shea stared straight ahead without reaction as he was convicted in Manhattan federal court by a jury that deliberated only a few hours after a one-week retrial. Another jury deadlocked on charges in the spring after 11 jurors wrote a note to the judge to say one juror had accused the others of being politically biased and suggesting the trial should be held in the South.

 

Shea, of Castle Rock, Colorado, was charged two years ago along with three others, including Steve Bannon, the former top adviser to then-President Donald Trump. Bannon, who is now being prosecuted in state court, was pardoned by Trump just before he left office last year. Two others pleaded guilty.

 

With its verdict, the jury rejected arguments by Shea's lawyer, John Meringolo, that prosecutors had failed to prove there was fraud in the promotion of the “We Build The Wall” fundraiser that attracted $25 million in donations from hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

 

Meringolo also encouraged jurors during closing arguments Thursday to conclude that New York was an improper venue for the trial.

 

Click on the link for the full article

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