Right-wing pundit Steve Bannon pleaded guilty to a fraud charge Tuesday in his Manhattan case, admitting he scammed supporters of Donald Trump’s immigration policies during his first term— and dodging prison for it a second time.
Bannon, 71, entered a guilty plea to first-degree scheme to defraud at a brief hearing before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice April Newbauer, around a month before he was set to go on trial. He waived his right to appeal the felony conviction.
“Yes, your honor,” Bannon said in court when asked by Newbauer if he wished to plead guilty.
The plea was made in a deal with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office that included no jail time or restitution but a three-year conditional discharge.
He was initially accused in the case of two counts of money laundering, three counts of conspiracy, and scheme to defraud for serving as the architect of a scheme to defraud Trump supporters who donated to the We Build the Wall crowdfunding effort that raised at least $15 million to construct a wall along the southern border.
The fund’s founders p romised to devote all money raised towards the wall’s construction and nothing towards salaries, when in reality We Build’s president, military veteran and triple amputee Brian Kolfage pocketed more than $250,000 in 2019 facilitated by Bannon, according to court docs.
The case brought by Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James was filed after Trump pardoned Bannon of similar federal charges in a last-minute clemency blitz before last leaving office. Kolfage and two other men charged in that case, who did not receive pardons, were all convicted and sentenced to three or more years in prison.
Asked by the Daily News whether he had anything to say to the Trump supporters victimized through the scheme, Bannon said, “Nobody lost money,” and then said he felt like a “million bucks.”
In frantic remarks outside the courthouse, the conservative firebrand sounded no more contrite, repeating an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Bragg is funded by Jewish billionaire George Soros and charging “queen of lawfare” AG James posed an “existential threat” to the Trump administration. He called on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch a criminal investigation into her and Bragg for “what they did to President Trump.”
Bondi has already established a “weaponization” task force to examine the work of both offices — whose respective cases resulted in Trump’s historic criminal conviction for the hush money scheme and some half a billion dollars in penalties for rampant fraud committed by his company, the Trump Organization — and others who sought to hold him to account for a broad range of misconduct after his first term.
Bannon’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, told reporters his client couldn’t have gotten a fair trial in liberal-leaning Manhattan based on his ties to Trump. When The News pointed out that the victims were Trump supporters, like several who emotionally testified at the related federal trials, Aidala said they represented a fraction of “thousands” who contributed to the fund, who he said he imagined wouldn’t care that some money didn’t go to the wall provided it wasn’t spent on “a yacht or going to buy a new Corvette.”
The conviction is Bannon’s second in less than two years. He recently completed a four-month stint in federal prison for an unrelated conviction last year for defying a congressional subpoena related to the House Committee’s probe of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
During his three years of conditional discharge, Bannon is required not to commit new crimes, serve as an officer or director for charities or non-profits in New York, and use, sell, or possess data gathered on donors to We Build the Wall.
In a statement, Bragg said he considered the outcome justice served.
“This resolution achieves our primary goal: to protect New York’s charities and New Yorkers’ charitable giving from fraud,” the DA said. “New York has an important interest in rooting out fraud in our markets, our corporations, and our charities, and we will continue to do just that.”
