Steve Bannon Dumping Lawyers In Border Wall Fraud Case
An ex-White House strategist Steve Bannon He is jettisoning all his lawyers in a New York court case accusing him of defrauding supporters He claimed that he would use the donations to build a wall at the U.S. border.
Bannon’s current attorney David Schoen told Judge Juan Merchan in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday that “irreconcilable differences have arisen” on Bannon’s defense team, according to various press reports.
“We certainly don’t need to show good cause and we don’t need to go into detail,” Schoen said, per ABC News.
Merchan, however, was skeptical and asked if this was an attempt to delay proceedings. Schoen, however, claimed that there was a serious breakdown of communication between Bannon’s lawyers and Schoen.
Bannon had until February 28th to find a new representation.
Donald Trump Bannon was pardoned on his final night as presidentThe strategist can then use this information to determine the best strategy. dodge federal charges In the fundraising scheme. Andrew Badolato (and Brian Kolfage) were indicted along with Bannon for federal charges. pleaded guilty Last year.
But Bannon and We Build the Wall weren’t there then indicted in New York After a joint investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney, the September incident was resolved Alvin Bragg New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump’s pardon only protected against federal charges.
We Build the Wall, an operation that was launched in 2019, raised some $15 million on “false promises,” and hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on organizers’ wages and expenses, Bragg said at a press conference when he announced the charges. New York’s more than 11,000 donors were allegedly defrauded of $730,000.
James accused Bannon of taking “advantage of his donors’ political views to secure millions of dollars which he then misappropriated.”
“It is a crime to turn a profit by lying to donors, and in New York, you will be held accountable,” Bragg said.
Bannon has pleaded not guilty in the absence of evidence to money laundering, conspiracy, and scheme to defraud. If convicted, Bannon could be sentenced to up to 15 year imprisonment.
Bannon was sentenced to prison in October four months in prison After being found guilty of contemptuous of Congress, he was fined $6,000. Bannon was allowed to appeal the sentence and his sentence was suspended.