Steve Bannon Arrested For Defrauding "Build the Wall" Donors

[ancianita]

"Law and order" is one thing. Rule of Law is another.

I'm so glad this unpardonable four are down and will have to spend a lot to build their pathetic defense.

Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced the unsealing of an indictment charging BRIAN KOLFAGE, STEPHEN BANNON, ANDREW BADOLATO, and TIMOTHY SHEA for their roles in defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall” that raised more than $25 million.

The defendants were arrested this morning.
KOLFAGE will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hope T. Cannon in the Northern District of Florida.
BANNON will be presented today in the Southern District of New York.
BADOLATO will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson in the Middle District of Florida.
SHEA will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix in the District of Colorado. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in the Southern District of New York...

Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett said: “The defendants allegedly engaged in fraud when they misrepresented the true use of donated funds. As alleged, not only did they lie to donors, they schemed to hide their misappropriation of funds by creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth. This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist.”

Each of these is a click away from Trump.


https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands

Badolato


Brian Kolfage


Timothy Shea


Big EDIT: I misidentified Timothy Shea and inserted the correct photo per newly found media info. Source:
https://heavy.com/news/2020/08/timothy-shea/

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Unfortunately, they will all be out on bail in time to play martyr at the RNC.

[ancianita]

2. But they can't even appear to be anything else. Martyr acts have always been standard GOP fare.

Who they contact, anything digital, will be under surveillance.

[Lonesome Beet]

3. Next time around they'll be smarter

and establish a "Church Of The Wall" instead.

[ancianita]

6. What makes you think they'll get a "next time around"?

Welcome to DU.

[Lonesome Beet]

9. 'cuz pardoners gonna pardon and grifters gonna grift

and thanks for the welcome

[ancianita]

12. They can't get pardoned at the state level. This thing's going all the way to Trump.

You must not have caught that in the OP.

[SiliconValley_Dem]

4. no sad side to this story..Bannon and fellow crooks arrested

for grifting millions of racist right wing rubes

[House of Roberts]

10. And stealing Trump's money.

All those donations belonged to Trump.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

14. Yeah! And Jared might've needed it...

... for his personal stash of PPE!

[Mike 03]

5. Thanks for the photos.

It sure looks like Mr. Badolato is enjoying himself, living it up, probably with the stolen funds.

[ancianita]

7. The et. al. guys are in Florida, aka, shenaniganistan.

[Baked Potato]

8. Bannon will be used for evidence on Trump.

He could probably tie up some loose ends on a few issues.

[ancianita]

11. Maybe have corroborating evidence with the Trump's taxes case at SDNY.

[Baked Potato]

13. Yes, I think deals will be made.

[Happy Hoosier]

15. So... pardons on the way?

I would not be surprised.

[ancianita]

16. Why. Please explain. These are charged in state jurisdictions under state statutes.

Just like Cyrus Vance's case that gets Trump's taxes, they're not pardonable.

If you can sort out the legal outcome and meaning of the two cases, please do. I could be wrong.

[Celerity]

17. These are federal charges, so can can be pardoned by Rump.

Manhattan federal prosecutors allege that Bannon, campaign leader Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea "received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donor funds from We Build the Wall, which they each used in a manner inconsistent with the organization’s public representations."

[ancianita]

18. Maybe there are also state charges that stem from New York bank SARs and the

role of shell companies, etc.

The fraud is federally charged, but can't it also be discharged through state fraud statutes re banking and wire fraud, as well?

The Trump Org got dissolved by the state of New York, alongside work done by the feds through Mueller.

I'm not equipped to argue further, so I'll take your word for it.

[Celerity]

20. There could state charges filed as well. I do not know if those are in the works.

[ancianita]

19. Here is the indictment itself, a good read.

It adds more to anyone's study of griftology and money laundering.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-indictment/index.html