Daily Mail: Steve Bannon is released on $5m bail and says 'this entire fiasco is to stop the wall being built' after appearing in court in handcuffs over $25m border wall fundraiser fraud following his arrest on Chinese billionaire's superyacht
* Steve Bannon emerged from Manhattan federal court on Thursday evening after posting $5million bail
* It came after the former top Trump aide appeared before a judge and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering
* He is accused of ripping off the We Build The Wall scheme that pledged to build a crowd-sourced border wall
* The group raised money claiming the idea was 'Trump approved' and took in $20 million on GoFundMe before being kicked off the platform, then $5 million more
* 'Non-profit' told hundreds of thousands of donors the people behind it were volunteers when they were secretly being paid, feds say
* Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York say he helped run scheme which funneled donations to its co-founders
* Some of the cash has built sections of wall - and Donald Trump Jr. and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle took part in a fundraiser; first son now claims he too was 'deceived'
* Bannon received $1 million and kept hundreds of thousands for his personal expenses
* Massive amounts of cash went to Brian Kolfage, the triple amputee co-founder who prosecutors say spent it on his lavish lifestyle
* Kolfage used the money he received on home renovations, boat payments, an SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, tax and credit card debt
* His wife Ashley, 34, received cash too and posted on Instagram about their lifestyle and said Thursday that Kolfage, 38, was on his way back home
* All four indicted men face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
* Bannon was arrested Thursday morning on a yacht, the Lady May, owned by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui
* Wengui and Bannon broadcast a podcast interview from the yacht on Wednesday - with Kolfage
Steve Bannon has been released on $5 million bail after appearing in court in handcuffs and pleading not guilty to being part of an alleged crowd funded border wall scam.
The former Donald Trump campaign strategist beamed with excitement as he emerged from Manhattan federal court on Thursday afternoon with his coronavirus mask in one hand and papers in the other.
As he approached a throng of reporters, Bannon said: 'This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall.'
Read more ....
Update #1: Ex-Trump aide Bannon pleads not guilty in border wall scheme (AP)
Update #2: Steve Bannon, key to Trump's rise, charged with defrauding border-wall supporters (Reuters)
WNU Editor: It is always troubling to me when a charity ends up being used to lavishly reward its managers and directors. Is the "We Build The Wall" charity one of those schemes? We will soon find out. I live in Canada, and the Canadian Prime minister is also experiencing a charity scandal (and maybe police investigation) over his support for a no-bid billion dollar contract to a charity that paid his family hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking engagements .... WE charity scandal - A simple guide to the new crisis for Trudeau (BBC).
On a side note. There is one thing about Steve Bannon that has still stuck with me since the 2016 Presidential election and is relevant in today's race. After the 2016 election Steve Bannon's primary focus was on making sure President Trump would win in 2020. His strategy was simple. Pursue policies that would result in 60% of whites and 40% of the Black and Hispanic community supporting Trump .... This Is How The Trump Presidency Will Operate (November 19, 2016). According to the latest tracking poll, President Trump is enjoying a 30% to 35% approval number among blacks. Among Hispanics, about 40% would vote for him .... Trump’s surprising resilience with Hispanic voters, explained (VOX). His approval numbers among whites is between 50% to 55%.
