Fresh off Prison Release, Former Trump Adviser Bannon Due Back in Court

Source: US News and World Report/Reuters

Nov. 12, 2024, at 6:05 a.m.


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, is due in court on Tuesday ahead of his trial on criminal fraud charges over a push to fund Trump's signature border wall, weeks after he was released from prison on a separate conviction.

Bannon, 70, is scheduled to stand trial starting on Dec. 9 in New York state court in Manhattan. Prosecutors say he deceived donors who contributed more than $15 million in 2019 to a private fundraising drive to build a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has pleaded not guilty. He is set to appear for a final pretrial conference before Acting Justice April Newbauer at 2:15 p.m. EST (1915 GMT).

Construction of a border wall was a key element of Trump's immigration policies during his presidency, supported by his fellow Republicans but opposed by Democrats and immigrant advocacy groups. Trump again made cracking down on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his successful 2024 campaign.

In the final hours of his first four-year term in January 2021, Trump pardoned Bannon on federal charges brought in 2020 over the same underlying conduct. The following year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, secured a four-count indictment of Bannon on charges including money laundering, conspiracy and scheme to defraud.

Presidential pardons do not prohibit state prosecutions. If Bannon is convicted at trial, Trump would not be able to pardon him after returning to the White House on Jan. 20.

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