If true, screw him. Possible this is to sideline him from the campaign. Either way, no bueno.


Steve Bannon Arrested in New York on Charges of Stealing From ‘Build the Wall’ Fundraiser

Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to President Donald Trump, was arrested in New York Thursday on charges of using the viral “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign to enrich himself.

Hundreds of thousands of donors who gave a total of $25 million to the crowdfunding campaign were defrauded, Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.

Three others were indicted along with Bannon: Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea.

“As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,” Strauss said.

The campaign, which asked supporters to donate money to build Trump’s much-hyped wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, raised $17 million in its first week. It was shut down soon after by GoFundMe after it became unclear how the money would be used.

Prosecutors allege Kolfage, the founder and public face of the campaign, promised contributors that he would not be paid a cent.

However, he “covertly took more than $350,00o in funds” that he used “to pay for his own personal expenses, including, among other purposes, home renovations, payments toward a boat, a luxury SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, personal tax payments, and credit card debt,” the indictment says.

Bannon, through a non-profit organization under his control, received over $1 million from the fundraiser that he used to pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses and secretly pay Kolfage, the indictment alleges.

“Bannon used a substantial portion of those donor funds for personal uses and expenses unrelated to We Build the Wall,” it says.

To conceal the payments to Kolfage, Bannon and the two other men allegedly devised a scheme to route payments from “We Build The Wall” through Bannon’s non-profit and a shell company under Shea’s control, prosecutors said. They did so by using fake invoices and sham “vendor” arrangements.

“This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist,” Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett said in a statement.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/...-the-wall-fundraiser

And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

Classic deflection.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

Pay back for side stepping the system. They should have known this was gonna happen and made sure everything was transparent.
It could just be a waste of tax payers money like the bs about Russians.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

I'm not defending Bannon or Kolfage, but you raise a great point. The Clinton Crime Family Foundation is a MUCH BIGGER example of the same kind of corruption.

quote:

Originally posted by daikyu:
Classic deflection.

It's the first thing which came to mind for me. Not the Clintons specifically, but it's funny how much more easily those on the right get arrested for such crimes than those on the left.

This is in no way excuses Bannon's behavior, not at all. He damages our cause and this will be used by the left against President Trump. It's very disappointing, even if Bannon is ultimately found to be innocent of these charges, because the damage is done merely with his arrest. And I think he probably did what he is being accused of.

Still, my initial thought was that if he'd been a lefty, we wouldn't be hearing of his arrest.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

Inconsequential.

He either did it or he did not. What the Clintons did or did not do have no bearing on this whatsoever.

Not defending Bannon at all. If he did this, he needs to go to jail.

Hopefully, this case sheds some light on the countless similar "non-profits" in and around DC, which pretty much exist to enrich their founders and execs, but really don't do much helping of a cause.

Innocent until proven guilty. Our justice system has been weaponized against conservatives to the point of evidence tampering in some cases. Until it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that he did it I will not pass judgement.

Embarrassing even being accused. This will be run into the ground. Hate that another burden is put on President Trump.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Innocent until proven guilty.

Tune into MSNBC and see if that's the way this will be portrayed.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

My first thought as well. Not saying it is right, and if found guilty, they all should pay the price.

I don’t watch the propagandists at MSLSD. I have less than zero interest in ANYTHING they have to say there. But yeah I can guess how they are acting. Probably much like they did with Gen. Flynn.

I'm sure we all saw the potential of that Build the Wall initiative going sideways right off the bat.

I hope that the charges are baseless but even so, our side should be smarter than this by now.

Yeah, that’s tough duty but necessary to watch what they’re up to.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
What the Clintons did or did not do have no bearing on this whatsoever.

As if there is a single member of this forum who needed to be told this.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
And yet the Clinton Crime Family Foundation is still in business and they walk free.

Inconsequential.
He either did it or he did not. What the Clintons did or did not do have no bearing on this whatsoever.

No one ever said otherwise. No one ever said that two wrongs make a right. No one here is saying that Bannon should go to Court and argue that other people committed crimes too, so it's OK.

But, still, it's worth noting who gets away with it and who doesn't.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
But, still, it's worth noting who gets away with it and who doesn't.

Yes

The Southern District of NY, yet again. Bannon and company may be guilty, or this may be another political production by the SDNY. Based on recent history, I am betting on the latter. The timing is, I am sure, coincidental.

While Barr says he may not release certain information against the Dems during this political season, the Left continues to exhibit their standard no-holds barred, street-fighting behavior. When will we learn?



.

Well Shit...I donated and thought it was a good thing.