NEW YORK (AP) — Steve Bannon 's border wall fundraising trial was postponed to February as prosecutors disclosed Monday that the former Trump White House strategist himself once suggested the nonprofit venture was “a scam.â€
Bannon — who for a contempt of Congress conviction — had been due to go on trial next month on state charges related to the . He has .
Launched in 2018, the fundraiser rapidly raised more than $20 million and privately built a few miles (kilometers) of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. But it soon ran into , came under federal investigation and , the Republican whose policy the charity was founded to support.
Early on in the campaign, Bannon pooh-poohed it, prosecutors said at a court hearing Monday.
“Isn’t this a scam? You can’t build the wall for this much money,†Bannon wrote in an email, according to prosecutor Jeffrey Levinson. He said Bannon went on to add: "Poor Americans shouldn’t be using hard-earned money to chase something not doable.â€
Yet Bannon changed his mind and got involved with WeBuildTheWall Inc. because he saw an opportunity to advance and make money for his own, separate not-for-profit group, Levinson said.
Bannon, who had served as Trump’s and , chaired the wall charity's advisory board.
Bannon was not in court for Monday's hearing but listened in virtually. He did not speak except to say, “yes, ma’am†when asked whether he understood he must be in court when jury selection starts Feb. 25. Prosecutors asked Monday for an anonymous jury, but no decision has been made.
Bannon, who turns 71 next week, faces state charges including conspiracy and money laundering and has called them “nonsense.†Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, brought the charges after Trump pardoned Bannon in a similar that was in its early stages.
Until Monday, jury selection was due to start Dec. 9.
The case revolves around money paid to Brian Kolfage, a disabled military veteran who launched the campaign. He promised the public that he from the money poured in from 325,000 donors.
But, as Kolfage in a federal case that , he pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars. About $140,000 of his secret salary was funneled through Bannon's own organization, Citizens of the American Republic, or COAR, prosecutors say.
And COAR got and kept hundreds of thousands of dollars more from WeBuildTheWall during a period when Bannon's group was haggling with credit card company American Express over paying down a $612,000 balance, Levinson told the judge Monday.
“How much cash do we have??? We need more cash from the wall,†he quoted Bannon as writing to one of his associates in February 2019.
Prosecutors don't claim Bannon stole the money from the wall charity or from his own. But they say the transactions help explain his motive to participate in the alleged scheme.
“Helping to pay Kolfage’s salary ultimately helped the defendant personally,†Levinson said.
Bannon's lawyers say COAR was being paid for work performed.
“He was entitled to the money. COAR was entitled to the money,†and they were free to spend it on a credit card bill or “to give some of it†to Kolfage, defense lawyer John Carman said.
He argued that the credit card matter was irrelevant, saying prosecutors were just trying to make Bannon look shady to jurors.
“They'll think, ‘What a big AmEx bill. I wonder whether those are legitimate COAR expenses?’†Carman said.
“Not necessarily in this county,†Manhattan Judge April Newbauer countered, “but we'll see.â€
She ruled prosecutors can present the evidence at trial. Defense lawyers have said they now need a financial expert to address it.
With both sides' witness lists now potentially expanding for various reasons, Newbauer pushed the trial back to Feb. 25 but warned it would not be bumped again.
Bannon went to prison for in the investigation. Bannon, who called himself a “political prisoner,†is appealing his conviction.
