XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.trump, misc.immigration.usa   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
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   >whine bitches  wrote in   
   >news:70e46136543059961602aab94bbf2df6@dizum.com:   
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   >> In late September, the Biden administration's Department of Homeland   
   >> Security (DHS) awarded a $229 million contract for border wall   
   >> construction in Starr County to SLSCO Ltd., a contractor that also   
   >> built wall for the Trump administration and is presently doing so for   
   >> Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Starr County, a largely rural and   
      
   Bannon charged with fraud, money laundering, conspiracy in ‘We Build the   
   Wall’   
      
      
   NEW YORK — Stephen K. Bannon has been charged with money laundering, fraud   
   and conspiracy in connection with the “We Build the Wall” fundraising   
   scheme for which he received a federal pardon during Donald Trump’s final   
   days in the White House, with state prosecutors alleging that donors were   
   misled about how their contributions would be used.   
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   between in politics.   
      
   Bannon, 68 — who is awaiting sentencing in Washington after being convicted   
   this summer of contempt of Congress — was walked into New York Supreme   
   Court in handcuffs on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the state charges   
   through his attorney. He had turned himself in that morning.   
      
   The conduct described in the indictment closely resembles what was alleged   
   in a federal case brought by Justice Department officials more than two   
   years ago, during Trump’s presidency, when Bannon was yanked off a yacht   
   and taken into federal court to face charges.   
      
   But while federal prosecutors accused Bannon of personally pocketing $1   
   million from the fundraising scheme, the 25-page state indictment focuses   
   on his alleged role funneling We Build the Wall funds through an unnamed   
   nonprofit to pay the leader of We Build the Wall, despite explicit,   
   repeated pledges to donors that their money would not be used for that   
   purpose.   
      
   Bannon “acted as the architect of a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud   
   thousands of donors across the country — including hundreds of Manhattan   
   residents,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) said in a statement   
   issued after the indictment was unsealed.   
      
   None of the charges in the indictment are eligible for bail in New York,   
   and Bannon was released after the hearing. New York Supreme Court Justice   
   Juan Merchan granted a request from prosecutors to have Bannon surrender   
   any passports or passport cards he possesses and barred him from applying   
   for any new travel documents.   
      
   David Schoen, one of Bannon’s lawyers, said the request wasn’t necessary.   
   “He’s not going anyplace,” Schoen argued. “He intends to stay and fight   
   these charges all the way through.”   
      
   Justice Dept. seeks to block part of special-master order for Mar-a-Lago   
   documents   
      
   Both before and after the hearing, Bannon told reporters he believes the   
   timing of the case is an effort by Democrats to stop him from advocating   
   for right-wing candidates in the November midterm elections.   
      
   “This is all about 60 days until the day!” he said outside the district   
   attorney’s office Thursday morning.   
      
   Bannon is accused of having orchestrated a plan to deceive donors — through   
   emails, on the We Build the Wall website and in social media postings —   
   telling them that the president and chief executive of We Build the Wall   
   would “not take a penny” in salary and that all money collected from the   
   site would be spent on wall construction. That president and chief   
   executive is not named in the indictment but was identified in federal   
   proceedings as Brian Kolfage, a disabled veteran and the founder of We   
   Build the Wall.   
      
   Kolfage took at least $250,000 of money donated to We Build the Wall in   
   2019, according to the new indictment. It describes text messages in which   
   Bannon and others allegedly arranged for money to be transferred to the   
   unnamed nonprofit, and from there distributed to Kolfage. The indictment   
   also describes multiple transfers of money from We Build the Wall to the   
   nonprofit, and to another, also unnamed, nonprofit.   
      
   The status of key investigations involving Donald Trump   
      
   Neither Bragg nor New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whose office   
   worked with Bragg’s on the case, explained why Bannon was not charged   
   directly with keeping money from the fundraising effort, as he was in the   
   federal indictment. James said at a news conference that Bannon “basically   
   stole millions of dollars to line his own pocket and those of other   
   politically connected people.”   
      
   Of the counts in the indictment, the money laundering charges carries the   
   biggest potential penalty, up to 15 years in prison. But none of the   
   charges come with mandatory prison time upon conviction.   
      
   Bannon had been released on a $5 million bond in the federal We Build the   
   Wall Indictment. Five months later, he was in the clear after Trump   
   included him in a wave of clemency actions as one of his final acts in the   
   White House.   
      
   Presidential pardons only apply to federal cases, making it possible for   
   local prosecutors to bring charges covering the same ground that involve   
   potential violations of applicable state statutes. Because Bannon was   
   granted clemency in the federal case before a conviction, there is not   
   expected to be a viable issue of double jeopardy in his new case.   
      
   Steve Bannon found guilty in Jan. 6 contempt of Congress trial   
      
   Three other men charged in the federal case, including Kolfage, were not   
   pardoned. Kolfage and one of the other co-defendants pleaded guilty in   
   federal court. A trial for another alleged participant, Timothy Shea, ended   
   in a mistrial by hung jury in June.   
      
   Bannon’s ties to Trump landed him in legal trouble again in November 2021,   
   when the Justice Department charged him with contempt of Congress after he   
   refused to comply with a subpoena for records and testimony from the House   
   select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.   
      
   Bannon was convicted in that case in late July and is scheduled to be   
   sentenced Oct. 21. Each of the two counts he was convicted on carries a   
   minimum of 30 days in jail and up to a year.   
      
   Bragg and James have a pending criminal investigation into Trump and his   
   business practices, while James’s office has a parallel civil probe which   
   could result in a lawsuit that impacts the Trump Organization’s ability to   
   operate.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)