Right-wing commentator Steve Bannon pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding donors in connection with a $15 million fundraising effort which he advertised as an opportunity for everyday Americans to support the construction of President Donald Trump’s wall at the southern border.
Bannon pleaded guilty to one first degree felony count of a scheme to defraud and will not face jail time. He was sentenced to three years of conditional discharge and will not be forced to pay restitution.
Bannon was indicted in 2022 for money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy for pocketing funds that were donated to “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraising effort which duped donors out of $15 million under the false premise that none of the money would go towards paying the founders. Bannon’s lawyers insisted in court on Tuesday that he did not personally pocket any of the money.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) pursued the charges against Bannon after Trump pardoned him on similar federal charges for the border wall scheme. Multiple associates of Bannon’s were imprisoned in 2023 on federal charges stemming from the fundraising scam. As president, Trump could not pardon Bannon for state-level charges because those powers only apply to federal cases.
Bragg also prosecuted Trump on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records upon which Trump was convicted last year. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge in the hush money case after he won the 2024 presidential election.
“This resolution achieves our primary goal: to protect New York’s charities and New Yorkers’ charitable giving from fraud,” Bragg’s office said in a statement addressing Bannon’s case.
“New York has an important interest in rooting out fraud in our markets, our corporations, and our charities, and we will continue to do just that.”
Bannon was set to face trial in the coming weeks before agreeing to the guilty plea. He faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted. As part of his sentence, Bannon cannot run any charitable organizations or nonprofits in New York, and he cannot access the list of donors to the “Build the Wall” scheme.
Bannon’s guilty plea took place not long after he spent four months in prison for contempt of Congress charges related to defying a subpoena from the House January 6 Committee. His prison stint followed several unsuccessful attempts to appeal his sentence, including a request for the Supreme Court to hear his case. Bannon was released from prison a week before President Donald Trump decisively won the presidential election this past November.
Once a chief strategist to Trump, Bannon remains influential with the MAGA faithful through his War Room podcast, a pro-Trump and populist program. Bannon routinely cast himself as the victim of political prosecutions because of his support for Trump.