Steve Bannon Is About To Go Through Many Things

On Thursday, Steve Bannon, a convicted felon and one-time chief strategist and top advisor to former president Trump, was indicted on state charges of fraud stemming from his illegal scheme to bilk donors out of a million dollars through an on-line “We Build the Wall” gofundme campaign. Bannon agreed to turn himself in to state prosecutors to face the New York State criminal charges for money laundering, conspiracy and fraud.

Bannon had been arrested two years ago in August of 2020 in a rather dramatic way by being pulled off the 150-foot yacht off the coast of Connecticut belonging to Chinese billionaire and conspiracy backer Guo Wengui. Bannon and his co-conspirators, Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, venture capitalist Andrew Badolato, and Trump-themed energy drink company owner Timothy Shea, were charged with various federal crimes including conspiracy and commission of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false tax statements. The federal cases against his co-conspirators resulted in two guilty pleas and convictions for his partners Kolfage and Badolato, who are awaiting sentencing, while Shea will be re-tried on after a jury deadlocked due to a single holdout juror. 

The only reason Bannon isn’t also already in jail for these crimes is because Trump pardoned him on his last day in the White House as part of a broad clemency order covering some 140 people. Given the guilty pleas of two of the co-defendants and likely eventual conviction of the third, it is widely expected that the state criminal case will follow the same contours of the prior federal one. 

The facts of the case are not great for Bannon. Federal prosecutors earlier alleged that Bannon and his cohorts defrauded contributors toward a $25 million online campaign, who were told that the money from a “We Build the Wall” drive was going to be used to construct a barrier on the U.S. southern border. Only about three miles of fencing were ever constructed, however, and around $1 million allegedly was diverted to the campaign’s founders’ pockets. Prosecutors in the federal case alleged Bannon and Kolfage used more than $1 million to pay for a boat, a 2018 Land Rover, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery and other assets. (Crazy fact: Even after the arrests were made and announced, supporters of the campaign continued to make contributions. “People are still giving money after the indictments?” asked a stunned U.S Circuit Judge Rosemary Pooler at Second Circuit arguments in 2021.)

Bannon is an example of how state charges can continue to dog federally pardoned criminals long after their pardoner is out of power because the federal pardon does not cover state crimes, and charges at the state level in New York state do not represent impermissible “double jeopardy” even if based on the same facts—at least not since New York passed a law in 2019 closing an earlier loophole and to ensure that Trump’s pardons wouldn’t mean no state charges either.

The grand jury in Bannon’s state law fraud case was convened by none other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose well-staffed and funded office typically handles state level criminal claims. In this case, he had an assist from Attorney General Letitia James, who is also cooperating with him on possible criminal charges against Trump for making false financial statements to lenders, insurers, and the government. By being the first in the nation to indict Bannon, DA Bragg has an opportunity to redeem himself a bit in the eyes of the left after it became apparent that Bragg didn’t support pursuing criminal fraud charges against Trump, even while his office pressed forward with its tax fraud case against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg.

This is not the only legal peril Bannon faces. He was recently convicted in federal court on two counts of contempt of Congress and will face sentencing on those charges in October. His role in the conspiracy around the January 6 insurrection is also under close inspection, particularly his statement on his podcast on January 5 that “all hell is going to break loose tomorrow”—indicating some kind of foreknowledge of the planning of the attack on the Capitol—and his tape recorded statements, made long before the election, outlining how Trump was planning to challenge the results on election night, even if he was losing, by taking advantage of the “red mirage” that would show early Election Day leads for him in key states.

Bannon earlier had issued a defiant statement following news of his pending state indictment that, unsurprisingly, managed to be antisemitic even while dismissing the charges as part of a political witch-hunt. He declared that “the Soros-backed DA has now decided to pursue phony charges against me 60 days before the midterm election because WarRoom is the major source of the MAGA grassroots movement.” When Thursday came around, he continued with his characteristic angry defiance as he was led in handcuffs into the courthouse. “They will never shut me up, they’ll have to kill me first!” Bannon shouted as he was escorted past a line of press.

Despite his bluster, it appears likely that Bannon is finally going to be held accountable for some of his actions and will spend significant time in jail with no hope for a pardon to spare him this time around.