For All His Newfound Power, Trump Can't Save Steve Bannon This Time [View all]

Source: Daily Beast

Updated Nov. 13 2024 8:13AM EST / Published Nov. 13 2024 12:13AM EST


After a scheduling hearing for his upcoming fraud trial, self-styled right-wing warrior Steve Bannon stood outside Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday afternoon and threatened top law enforcement officers in the city, state, and nation. He mentioned in particular Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Associate Attorney General Lisa Monaco and special prosecutor Jack Smith. “The hunted are to become the hunter,” he said.

One prosecutor Bannon did not mention was Audrey Strauss, who was acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New when she brought charges against Bannon and three codefendants for defrauding, in her words, “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.”

Rather than be outraged by just the idea that anybody would hoodwink folks who reached into their own pockets to help Build The Wall, Trump pardoned Bannon in his final hours of his term. Trump did nothing for the others, who were all convinced in federal court. That included Brian Kolfage, an air force veteran who lost both legs and a hand to an enemy rocket in Iraq in 2004. He is presently serving a 51-month term in a bureau of prisons medical facility. He is not due to be released until September of 2026. He has two young children at home.

In a move that does seem a little more aggressive than simple enforcement of the law, AG James and DA Bragg stepped in and indicted Bannon on a state variation of the federal charges for which Bannon had been pardoned. That is the case that brought Bannon to court a week after the election. No matter how powerful Trump may now become, he cannot do anything about the state case.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/for-all-his-newfound-power-trump-cant-save-steve-bannon-this-time/