Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to duping donors who gave money to a private effort to build a wall along the U.S. southern border, a case the conservative strategist has decried as a “political persecution.” Bannon, a longtime ally of President Trump, pleaded guilty to one fraud count as part of a plea agreement that spares him from jail time in the “We Build the Wall” scheme. He received a three-year conditional discharge, which requires that he stay out of trouble to avoid additional punishment, reports the Associated Press. Bannon called on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin an immediate criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Defense attorney Arthur Aidala called the case against Bannon flimsy, saying it was never about his client.
“Mr. Bannon deserves credit. He wants to fight. Everyone knows Steve Bannon, he always wants to put up a fight,” Aidala said. The district attorney’s office said Bannon is barred from fundraising for or serving as “an officer, director, or in any other fiduciary position” for any charitable organization with assets in New York state, under the plea agreement. He’s barred from using, selling or possessing any data gathered from donors to the border wall scheme. “This resolution achieves our primary goal: to protect New York’s charities and New Yorkers’ charitable giving from fraud,” Bragg said. Bragg’s office charged Bannon in state court after a Trump pardon in 2021 wiped away federal charges on the same allegations. In November, Judge April Newbauer ruled prosecutors could show jurors certain evidence, including an email they say shows Bannon was concerned the fundraising effort was “a scam.” He was accused of falsely promising donors that all money given to the We Build the Wall campaign would go toward building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Instead, prosecutors alleged the money was used to enrich Bannon and others.