Steve Bannon enters a not guilty plea to money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud charges brought by the New York State attorney general.

(CNN) Former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon entered a not guilty plea to charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud in a New York court on Thursday. The allegations stem from an alleged web plot to gather money for the building of a wall along the southern US border.

 

The federal accusations against Bannon and three others in 2020 that they had misled donors in the border wall endeavour, which garnered more than $15 million, served as the basis for the state allegations. Trump then granted him a pardon.

State investigations are not covered by presidential pardons, though.

Bannon stated, “This is what occurs in the latter days of a dying dictatorship. They will never shut me up, they’ll have to murder me first. I have not yet started to fight,” as they entered court while handcuffed and escorted by police officers and media.

The indictment claims that an unnamed Bannon colleague set up an online fundraising website to gather money for a border wall. Prosecutors claim that in exchange for money from contributors, the organiser guaranteed that “100% of the funds” would be used to construct a border wall and that he would not earn a compensation from the project.
According to the indictment, Bannon’s colleagues discussed assuring the public that nobody involved in the “We Build The Wall” effort would accept a salary. According to the indictment, one of the associates texted Bannon to remark that the assertion “removes all self-interest taint on this” and “gives [the CEO] sainthood.”

 

According to the indictment, Bannon said in public that he was working “kind of as a volunteer” for We Build The Wall. Bannon allegedly worked behind the scenes to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars to himself and his friends.

 

In announcing the charges alongside Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James remarked, “Today is an important day for justice.”
According to James, regular Americans follow the law, but wealthy, politically connected people believe they are above the law.
James cited Steve Bannon as the ideal illustration of this egregious inequity.

Bannon seems to attribute his predicament to political motives.

He told reporters Thursday outside the district attorney’s office: “This is an irony; they are punishing people here who try to stop them at the border on the very day the mayor of this city has a delegation down on the border.

Later, in reference to the November election, he stated, “This is all about 60 days from the day.”
Early this year, after then-President Trump pardoned Bannon on federal fraud charges connected to the same alleged scam, the Manhattan district attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation into Bannon’s “We Build the Wall” crowdsourcing efforts.

Federal prosecutors had accused Bannon of using more than $1 million in improper funds to pay an alleged co-conspirator and pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of personal expenses. Authorities claimed that contributors, some of whom were located in New York, were misled into believing that their contributions would all be used for the building project.

Several Bannon-related individuals have recently appeared before the state grand jury.
Over the past year, as they looked into Trump and his real estate firm, Manhattan prosecutors subpoenaed bank data and quietly worked on the case, individuals familiar with the situation previously told CNN. However, the district attorney’s office held off on charging Bannon until the three co-defendants who were not pardoned were cleared by federal prosecutors.

 

Late on Tuesday, Bannon released a statement, in which he described the charges as “fake” and the indictment as “nothing more than a partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system.”

He added: “They are coming after all of us, not just President Trump and myself. I am never going to stop fighting. In fact, I have not yet begun to fight. They will have to kill me first.” He said in the statement: “I am proud to be a leading voice on protecting our borders and building a wall to keep our country safe from drugs and violent criminals.
Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress in July by a federal jury for ignoring a summons from the House select committee looking into the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. According to federal law, he will be given a sentence in October that must include at least 30 days in jail.