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Ex-Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Pleads Not Guilty in Border Wall Fraud Case

Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty Thursday in a federal court to charges that he defrauded donors to a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign.
Sputnik

A federal judge has agreed to release Bannon on a $5 million bond. He will be able to only travel within the New York and Washington, DC, areas.

Bannon was arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a private fundraising initiative called "We Build the Wall," which was intended to boost Trump's initiative to build a border along the US-Mexico border.

According to the US Justice Department (DoJ), Bannon, along with US Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration Timothy Shea, conspired to defraud the initiative's donors.

The "We Build the Wall" crowdfunding campaign was a scam to defraud hundreds of thousands of people, according to the DoJ. Bannon and his alleged co-conspirators are accused of using money raised in the crowdfunding campaign, which raked in over $25 million, on personal expenses.

Bannon's indictment makes him the seventh person linked to Trump's administration or 2016 campaign to face federal charges.

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