Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House strategist and longtime right-wing provocateur, has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors who believed they were funding a border wall. Instead, their money lined the pockets of Bannon and his associates.
Facing five felony counts and the possibility of up to 15 years behind bars, Bannon struck a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to just one charge and walked away with a three-year conditional discharge—meaning no jail time, as long as he keeps his nose clean.
This isn’t Bannon’s first brush with the law over this scheme. Federal prosecutors originally indicted him in 2020 for siphoning off donations meant for the wall, but Trump bailed him out with a last-minute pardon on Jan. 19, 2021—his final full day in office. That wiped out the federal case, but Manhattan prosecutors picked up the slack in 2022, leading to this latest conviction.
Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York at the time, said in a statement that Bannon and his co-conspirators had “defrauded 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.”
A Coloradan sits in prison for the scheme that Trump ally Steve Bannon avoided jail time on today. Prosecutors say they convinced Trump supporters to send them $25M to privately build Trump's border wall. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/H4ZN8ayFqJ
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) February 12, 2025
Despite his legal troubles, Bannon remains a bomb-throwing fixture in the media ecosystem. Last month, he set his sights on Elon Musk, launching a full-scale attack on the billionaire just as Trump prepared for his second inauguration. Bannon’s criticism came in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, where he slammed Musk—the leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon said. “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.”
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Talking about being a bad guy, Bannon should be in jail along with his conspirators. Trump should avoid Bannon like the plague.
Looks like Steve Bannon has just experienced a lightning fall on Credibility, in Christian testimony, and as a Catholic Conservative
“Be sure your sins will find you out” says the Priest taking confession.
1 John 1:9 ESV
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
What of Steve Bannon now?
Bannon is the crook, con-artist, and evil person! This is another example of Trump trusting someone he should not. And to
help him avoid punishment twice? Come on Trump. Forgive, but don’t forget! Someone else pulled the same thing Bannon did
and is in Jail?
Please note, Bannon did not have Elon run out of the place by inauguration day.