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Federal prosecutors in New York just indicted President Trump’s former campaign chief executive and White House strategist Steve Bannon for fraud — with a surprise assist from investigators working for the U.S. Postal Service.
Bannon and three others are accused of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars from an online “Build the Wall” campaign to a man named Brian Kolfage, the Southern District of New York said in a statement Thursday.
All four men allegedly profited from the scheme, prosecutors said.
“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,” Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Audrey Strauss, said in a statement.
“While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Strauss said.
Cover: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon gives a speech during the Respect for Life Prayer Breakfast at Genet Manor in Dickson City, Pa., Saturday, March 7, 2020. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)
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