NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s longtime ally Steve Bannon turned himself in Thursday to face charges in New York alleging he duped donors who gave money to build a wall on the U.S. southern border — a state-level reboot of a federal case that ended with a presidential pardon last year.
Bannon, 68, is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday afternoon on charges including money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to the “We Build the Wall” campaign. He is the second person pardoned by Trump and later charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office for the same alleged conduct.
Manhattan prosecutors say that while Bannon promised all donations would go to building the wall, he was involved in transferring hundreds of thousands of dollars to third-party entities and used them to funnel payments to two other people involved in the scheme.
The indictment didn’t identify those people by name, but the details match those of Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in April.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that after Bannon was pardoned, Manhattan prosecutors decided they had to hold him accountable because the alleged scheme ripped off hundreds of Manhattan residents.