Below is my column on the Steven Bannon case that ran in the Washington Times. Notably, one of the defendants indicted with Bannon is a Andrew Badolato, a person who has repeatedly assisted the government in prior cases. While Badolato has pleaded not guilty and has a long association with Bannon, his history could raise a serious threat for defense counsel that he might cut a deal with prosecutors. In a case of this kind, a cooperating witness confirming an intent to hide transactions would be devastating to the defense. A May 24, 2021 trial date has been set though U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres called that date “optimistic.” (Note: postings this week may be limited due to my duties in a criminal defense case).
Here is the column:
“This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall.” That was the only response noted from former White House strategist Steve Bannon after his indictment for fraud in New York last week.
Facing up to 20 years in prison, it was perhaps the most ambitious political spin from a man whose creativity was matched only by his audacity. If Mr. Bannon is hoping to convert his signature deep-state conspiracy into a criminal defense, however, he will face perhaps his most formidable opponent yet: himself.
In a recent book, “Deep State: Trump, the FBI and the Rule of Law” by James B. Stewart, Mr. Bannon is quoted as saying “deep state conspiracy theory is for nut cases” and that such claims are out of bounds since “America isn’t Turkey or Egypt.” He is now suggesting the a similar conspiracy is afoot to derail his work to build the wall. However, Mr. Bannon needs an explanation, not a narrative, to address his alleged conduct in the indictment.
The problem with the deep-state conspiracy as a defense is that it only works if prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are pursuing a simple and honest wall builder with bizarre or novel theories of criminality. In fact, the 24-page indictment is as simple as sin itself. It details knowingly false statements to donors coupled with the misuse of contributed funds for personal expenses of the four principle figures behind the “Build The Wall” campaign.
Mr. Bannon never does anything small and, when he decided to delve into the funds of this charity, he did it with signature gusto.
The charity raised $25 million and Mr. Bannon is accused of taking $1 million of that money as personal compensation. His co-defendants Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea are accused of taking their own shares despite assurances to donors that all of the money would go to building the wall along the southern border.
Mr. Kolfage is a double amputee war hero who first founded the campaign with the ambitious goal of seeking $1 billion. As part of the pitch, Mr. Kolfage assured donors that the charity administrators would “not take a penny in salary or compensation.” Yet, he allegedly took more than $350,000 and allegedly use the money on everything from a boat to cosmetic surgery.
It is certainly true that indictments always look more daunting before they are subject to challenge from the defense. For example, prosecutors love to detail expenses like Mr. Kolfage’s purchase of a boat called “Warfighter” to paint a defendant as not just fraudulent but frivolously fraudulent. Such purchases could have been made with money unconnected to the alleged fraud, but prosecutors love to parade shining objects as some form of loot.
Moreover, the prosecutors highlight the use of nonprofits to distribute money for the campaign. However, the fund-raising site GoFundMe had told Mr. Kolfage that it had concerns about a campaign that only promised to give the money to the government. It pushed Mr. Kolfage to use a nonprofit and Mr. Kolfage appeared to turn to Mr. Bannon for help.
However, the indictment describes a series of shell companies and nonprofits used to distribute payments. That array of companies is all the more troubling when they served to hide that fact that officers were indeed taking considerable amounts of money from the charity. The indictment describes how money was sent to a nonprofit controlled by Mr. Bannon who then used that nonprofit to give money to Mr. Kolfage through “fake invoices and sham ‘vendor’ arrangements.”
What is striking about this indictment is the boldness and clarity of the claims made to donors including that “100% of your donations would be given to the government for the construction of a wall” and that, if the campaign did not attain its goal, the campaign would “refund every penny.” Few lawyers would sign off on such absolute promises even with the most righteous of charities.
When GoFundMe compelled the organizers to go back to donors to get them to agree to send the money to the nonprofit, these pledges were repeated to the crowdfunding site and to donors. This included assurances that “Kolfage will take no salary” and “will personally not take a penny of compensation from these donations.”
These assurances were not just limited to Mr. Kolfage. On social media, Mr. Kolfage declared almost indignantly “I thought it was pretty clear. I made a promise that I would NEVER take a penny 100% of fundraising through … donations will only go towards the wall. 100% means 100% right? Board won’t see any of that money!”
As a criminal defense attorney, I can say that “clarity” amounts to “100%” of a trial nightmare.
This does not make for a deep-state conspiracy or even a selective prosecution defense. The prosecutors can argue that these officials were actually siphoning off funds that were taken to build the wall. The irony is that the rules governing nonprofits are not particularly stringent.
As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, the group was not legally required to disclose its donors or file regular campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) like a political committee. Moreover, charities and nonprofits have long had controversies over compensation packages. The key is to be open about taking the money. The National Action Network of Al Sharpton paid him more than $1 million in compensation in 2018 and then forked over $500,000 for rights to his life story. However, it was all in the open and astonishingly no one seemed to care.
Mr. Bannon could point fingers at Mr. Kolfage, but he was still taking money donated under false pretenses. He will have to sit next to his co-defendant as prosecutors repeat mantra-like “100% mean 100%, right?”
This is why soundbites make for lousy defenses. Steve Bannon et al did a dreadful job in building the wall. What they now need to do is build a defense.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and a practicing criminal defense attorney.
“We will stop him.”
– Peter Strzok to FBI paramour Lisa Page
—————————————————-
“[Obama] wants to know everything we’re doing.”
– Lisa Page to FBI paramour Peter Strzok
I wonder where this will lead to.
And Former General Secretary Barack Obama continues to conduct his illegal and treasonous Obama Coup D’etat in America.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Obama Coup D’etat in America is the most egregious abuse of power and the most prodigious scandal in American political history.
The co-conspirators are:
Kevin Clinesmith, Bill Taylor, Eric Ciaramella, Rosenstein, Mueller/Team, Andrew Weissmann,
James Comey, Christopher Wray, McCabe, Strozk, Page, Laycock, Kadzic,
Sally Yates, James Baker, Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Priestap, Kortan, Campbell,
Sir Richard Dearlove, Christopher Steele, Simpson, Joseph Mifsud,
Alexander Downer, Stefan “The Walrus” Halper, Azra Turk, Kerry, Hillary,
Huma, Mills, Brennan, Gina Haspel, Clapper, Lerner, Farkas, Power, Lynch,
Rice, Jarrett, Holder, Brazile, Sessions (patsy), Nadler, Schiff, Pelosi, Obama,
Joe Biden, James E. Boasberg et al.
Mike Nifong, “I’m charging the entire Duke Lacrosse team with rape.”
That wasn’t a great career move for Mr. Nifong.
To be precise, he secured indictments of three young men even though he had super-sensitive DNA testing of Crystal Gail Mangum’s rape kit which revealed that she had the DNA of four men in her orifices, none of them lacrosse players. He concealed this for eight months. What was public was that cell phone data, security camera footage, electronic key card data, and testimony from a disinterested eyewitness demonstrated that one of the three had left the premises when he was supposedly raping this escort. One of the judges who presided over hearings in the case was Nifong’s former supervisor. The same man testified as a character witness at his disbarment proceedings.
I followed it fairly closely and was shocked at the vicious reporting by all media except Fox in their attempts to send those boys to prison. The university acted disgracefully too. Unfortunately I am no longer shocked to see such vile behavior in the media and the universities. They are enemies of all of us.
LOCK HER UP!!!
San Francisco – Feminazi White Shirt, Nanshe Antoinette, Gets Illegal Blow-Out!
Film at Eleven!
“Let them eat blow-outs.”
– Nanshe Antoinette
Breaking News: Middle East Prays for Peace in Portland
“When a city erupts after a police shooting, it’s almost always about more than that particular shooting. People tend to rise up when a shooting taps into long-simmering anger and despair.” -Radley Balko
Portand and Kenosha are examples of what happens when we fail to police the police. (People are blabbering about Kenosha downthread.)
Radley Balko
@radleybalko
·
2h
“This is from 2017. Worth stating this again: When a city erupts after a police shooting, it’s almost always about more than that particular shooting. People tend to rise up when a shooting taps into long-simmering anger and despair.”
https://www.tmj4.com/news/i-team/kenosha-pd-accused-of-corruption-lies-multiple-evidence-plantings
‘”Corruption, lies, multiple evidence plantings and deceit existed throughout the entire Kenosha criminal justice system.”
Those are the words from a Wisconsin Supreme Court investigator looking into claims of misconduct.’ -tmj4
https://twitter.com/radleybalko/status/1301173118455742464
If we don’t take steps to clean things up, we’ll see more of what we’re currently seeing in Portland and Kenosha.
Whistleblower Testifies Deputy Who Shot Gardena Teen Was “Chasing Ink”
By Kate Cagle Los Angeles
PUBLISHED 12:03 PM ET Aug. 30, 2020
https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-east/public-safety/2020/08/30/whistleblower-testifies-deputy-who-shot-gardena-teen-was–chasing-ink–
Excerpt:
Gonzalez, testifying for nearly six hours under oath, said the existence of the clique was “common knowledge” at the station and that the gang’s so-called shot caller controlled the work schedule and their actions boosted arrest numbers.
Earlier this month, Mayor Aja Brown called for state and federal investigations into the station.
“They terrorize the community and then they cover their tracks,” Brown said.
This week, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said he has not spoken to Brown about her concerns.
“We’re trying to build bridges, not tear them down, and I don’t think we’re going to achieve that with press conferences,” Villanueva said.
The sheriff said his department is investigating the claims and has already relieved two deputies of duty and transferred six others.
“When you say whistleblowers, know these are people that are suing and when they’re suing…you have to make the allegations as big as possible. That’s just part of the lawsuit process,” Villanueva said. “When you go to the actual hard facts and try to prove them, it’s a whole different animal.”
The attorney who compelled Gonzalez to testify, John Sweeney, has represented several families suing the county over wrongful death and excessive force cases stemming from the Compton Sheriff’s station.
“I am quite tired of going to funerals, sitting in living rooms..telling young kids their father is not coming back,” Sweeney said. “Families feel horrible. It’s something that has to stop. Society has reached an inflection point.”
Gonzalez’s testimony casts a cloud over other cases, including the shooting of 18-year-old Andres Guardado, who was shot five times in the back by a sheriff’s deputy earlier this year. Gonzalez claims Vega was a prospective member of the Executioners.
Spectrum News 1 requested a comment from Vega’s attorney but did not hear back.
As for Gonzalez, he’s now on leave from the department and in fear for his life, he said. His testimony has inspired two more deputies to come forward with similar stories of the Compton station.
-spectrumnews1
I have no doubt there are problems within police departments throughout the country.
Just as there is withing the DMV, the legislatures, the judiciary, and throughout government.
In fact what is especially disturbing is that as corrupt as government is, we are wasting so much time investigating charities and non-profits.
Atleast the contributors to BTW or NRA or the Clinton Foundation all have a choice – they can donate or not. If those institutions can not satisify their donors – the donors will go away – not a single government action necescary.
While free markets are not completely self regulating – they are damn close.
Government is not anywhere near close.
That said, for all the problems we may have with policing, it is likely one of the least corrupt parts of government.
We have seen both crime, particularly crimes of violence as well as police shootings of all kinds on the decline over the past 40 years.
If Our police are corrupt, etc. they are probably the least corrupt part of government.
And as we are seeing – whatever the problems we have with policing, they are small compared to the problems we have with slightly less policing.
If you live in Kenosha – or anywhere in the US and you die as a result of violence – with near certainty it was NOT at the hands of a police officer.
I love Balko and am behind nearly every reform he would like to enact.
But the worst problems we have even with law enforcement today – are NOT with the police – but with those who set policies for the police – they are with local governments. The police departments set very few of their own policies.
“If you live in Kenosha – or anywhere in the US and you die as a result of violence – with near certainty it was NOT at the hands of a police officer.”
#DemocracyNow
Jacob Blake Shooting Shines New Light on Death of Michael Bell, Killed by Kenosha Cops in 2004
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/8/28/michael_bell
I have noted something else more recently.
The right over emphasizes the violence we are seeing right now.
The left ignores it.
Reality lies in between – Balko is correct, but because the scale of this is actually quite small – this is NOT the summer of rage i 1968. This is not the LA riots. Outside of Portland we is self destructing the this is actually quite small throughout the country.
The portion of people taking to the streets is very small. Further their violence has alienated the majority of people.
Politically this has been disasterous for the left.
Progressives have staged a revolution – and no one came.
Democrats have greatly overestimated the popular support for this.
Policing in the US is not perfect. Most of us – especially minorities would like to see some reforms.
But almost no one wants to “defund the police”
Almost no one would trade more violent crime for fewer police shootings of black men.
Even in the worst minority neighborhoods they want MORE policing not less.
They are more angry because police have not reduced crime than they are that they occasionally shoot a black man.
Stop dropping acid . of 270 persons arrested for rioting (you know, peaceful protesting = burning the city down) over 100 were from out of WI, some from CA.
Soros apparently flew some rioters on his private jet. OK, this last part may be only partly true. Soros likely finances these riots but not sure if he flies the felons on his own plane.
The existance of a conspiracy is self evident SDNY has no victim.
NONE, no one has come forward saying that they were defrauded because every penny of contributions did not litterally go to building the wall.
The NY AG has a similar problem with the NRA case – in fact there is a PATTERN.
When left wing nuts wish to destroy some group they do not like, it is done by AG’s in NY.
This is the most ludicrous venue Shopping.
We have a whole serious of cases targeting groups unpopular with the left, in NY, when these groups have little or no nexus with NY, where some NY prosecutor asserts essentially global jurisdiction and seeks to prosecute people and/or destroy groups unpopular with the left.
This is an approach that is unlikely to end well. The left seems to fail to grasp that ultimately those on the right will adopt the same techniques. This is how we got Trump. The left spent decades accusing every significant republican of being a Nazi and a Hateful hating Hater – so Trump fires back.
Turn about is fair play. Next you will see NARAL and Planned ParentHood investigated and prosecuted in Alabama.
Sorry Prof. Turley – this is a conspiracy. It is a political prosecution that never should have happened.
Bannon is not my favorite person. But thus far the evidence shows nothing more than inattention to the details of management of a charity.
Under scrutiny that no left wing groups could survive.
Does anyone think that Bannon’s group is actually corrupt ? Does anyone think that the Clinton Foundation is NOT Corrupt ?
Why isn’t the Clinton foundation being prosecuted – they have far more problems than Bannon.
Further we wathched the nonsense that FBI/DOJ pulled under Obama in 2016. This is no difference.
Trump promised to drain the swamp – the SDNY AG’s office would be an excellent starting place.
DOJ should impose rigid guidlines prohibiting the various US Attorney’s offices from persuing cases that are not PRIMARILY in their backyard.
That does not solve the problem with the NY AG’s office.
Regardless, Groups that do not wish to be exposed to the politicized justice system in NY should be able to base their operations out of states and DOJ districts that are not so heavily politicized and not have to fear this kind of nonsense.
With respect to Bannon – unless SDNY can come up with a victim the case should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY.
otherwise Bannon is correct and this is a political hit job – which it OBVIOUSLY is.
Is there anyone who doubts this case could not be brought in most of the US ?
The USA for the SDNY was a Trump appointee who donated to his campaign.
What is wrong with you?
NY Gov & AG are no doubt attempt to cover up of the nursing homes deaths they knowingly caused:
https://www.infowars.com/mark-levin-exposes-ny-cover-up-of-gov-cuomos-controversial-nursing-home-order/
The key word in this article is “alleged.” These are allegations, not established fact. As the old saying goes, a grand jury can indict a ham sandwich. That this is coming out of the Southern District of New York is a good indication that this is all political. The Southern District is Chuck Schumer’s personal prosecutors and are as much a tool of the Democratic Party as the New York Times and Washington Post.
Gee, I wonder why the Trump appointed SDNY USA didn’t prosecute the Clintons for all the corrupt stuff you guys said they did with their charity. Or for that matter, any of the USA’s across the country – all they need is some of the action to have crossed into their district. All Deep Stater’s no doubt!
Lock her up!
Looks like “Lock him up!” is a better bet.
Absolutely. And just in time to get the details on how these guys ripped off 80 mill from the inauguration just out of the gate. Odds are looking strong for a post Labor Day bail and plead from the Trump circle for anyone who can.
Did someone take YOUR money ?
If not, then you have no basis for complaint.
The innauguration is funded by private contributions. If some contributor is unhappy with the way the funds were handled – they have a basis for a civil and criminal complaint.
It is not the job of the government to manufacture victims and crimes.
The odds are very strong that after a protracted legal battle this is ultimately dissmissed – there is no case.
These phony “charities” receive and dole out money as income to people like Bannon TAX-FREE, so the taxpayers do have a basis for complaining. Just like the Trump Foundation, which was nothing more than a personal tax-free slush fund, the Trumps used their “charitable foundation” as a means for generating income without having to pay taxes. The rest of us are taxed on our income. Just think what would happen if we all set up “charitable foundations” into which money is deposited and which we then take as tax-free income. The Trumps have used lots of schemes to avoid taxes, like Pa Trump purchasing millions of dollars of chips from The Donald’s casinos, which were never cashed in, and never intended to be cashed in. Not only was this a gift that for which gift tax wasn’t paid, it juiced up the bottom line on the books, which were used to get banks to loan money, which is fraud. Then, there’s the fake building supplies company set up by Trumps, again, to avoid paying taxes. This is according to his niece, who obtained some financial documents in discovery in her will contest lawsuit. I wonder what else his financials would turn up. I can’t be good, which is why Trump is fighting so hard to avoid disclosing the records.
+10
Why do you beleive you are entitled to insert yourself into the charitable giving of others ?
It is your business whether and how you give to charity.
It is mine to determine how I do.
I have no right to decide anything about your charitable giving – you have no right to decide anything about mine.
I am entitled to the protection of the law with regard to Fraud when I beleive I have been defrauded.
I do not want governments “protection” – when I am happy and YOU beleive I have been defrauded.
My affairs are none of your business.
“These phony “charities” receive and dole out money as income to people like Bannon TAX-FREE, so the taxpayers do have a basis for complaining. ”
Clueless as ever, anyone being paid by BTW – will owe income tax on the payments they receive.
Contributors to charities MIGHT pay less taxes on contributions, but anyone paid by a charity owes taxes on what they were paid.
Personally I would prefer that we just eliminated entirely the concept of a non profit.
Eliminate corporate taxes entirely – they are just a way of taxing consumers without their being able to tell anyway.
No business in the country pays taxes – taxes are paid by people – by employees or customers.
Businesses Collect taxes -sometimes obviously – as with sales or payroll taxes. and sometimes less obviously as in higher prices to pay government levies. But no business pays taxes.
So lets eliminate the fakery. Eliminate business taxes, eliminate ALL individual tax deductions.
Then there is no reason for government to involve itself in what people give to churches, charities, political campaigns, or anhything else.
“Just like the Trump Foundation, which was nothing more than a personal tax-free slush fund, the Trumps used their “charitable foundation” as a means for generating income without having to pay taxes.”
False. The trump foundation is a private trust – which is radically different from a public charity.
All private trust owe taxes on any revenue they create. These are not “personal tax free slush funds”.
“The rest of us are taxed on our income.”
Everyone is taxed on income – The Trump’s, Bannon, Kolface, all the employee’s of BTW.
An actual nonprofit is not ALLOWED to make money – so they have no income to tax.
But every dime they spend goes to someone who is taxed on that money.
You are clearly clueless.
“Just think what would happen if we all set up “charitable foundations” into which money is deposited and which we then take as tax-free income.”
If you think that is how things work – then go ahead. It is not particularly hard to setup a family trust.
It does not happen that much because it does not make sense for most people.
“The Trumps have used lots of schemes to avoid taxes, like Pa Trump purchasing millions of dollars of chips from The Donald’s casinos, which were never cashed in, and never intended to be cashed in. Not only was this a gift that for which gift tax wasn’t paid, it juiced up the bottom line on the books, which were used to get banks to loan money, which is fraud.”
Aparently neither reality nor logic are your forte.
You or Pa Trump can give money to ANYONE,
If Pa Trump bought casino chips – buying those is NOT a tax deductable expense – not for him or anyone else.
So Pa Trump was ALREADY taxed on that money – just as you are taxed on the money you use to buy chips.
Trump Casino’s are a corporation – and they owe taxes on their profits.
Normally a the GROSS profit for a casino is about 15% on total bets – the net profit after overhead is much lower.
But if either by luck or machination the Casino has large purchases of chips which it never has to cash out, the casino’s profits are even higher – the profits are still taxed.
Further because the casino is a corporation it the profits of the casino are not theirs to spend on themselves.
To transfer corporate funds to a person, either you much pay them wages – and that is subject to income tax, or you must issue a dividend – and that is subject to capital gains taxes.
Avoiding taxes is far far harder then you think.
And none of this defrauds lenders. You have the most bizzarre idea what fraud is.
You also seem to think that lenders and insurance companies are stupid.
Last week I did a due diligence inspection on a small apartment complex about $1m in new jersey.
A bank was lending money to the owners and they required lots of proof of everything.
I had to inspect the property to determine its current condition and to assess the likely maintanence costs during the term of the loan.
There was an assessor there to determine the market value of the property. There was an environmental inspector to determine if there were any undocumented environmental risks, The bank had a representative, as did the insurance company, Rent schedules and vacancy rates, as well as a complete set of financials were provided to the lender.
Basically there was a small army to make sure that the loan was sercure – and we looked at risks that you have not even imagined.
Do you think that lendors to an even worse job when someone borrows $500M instead of $1M ?
If you do you are completely clueless.
Last year i did the property condition assessment for a luxury hotel on Park Avenue. I do not know what their most expensive room was – but the most expensive room they showed me was 27,500/night.
Regarldess the point is that there is ZERO need for NYAG’s or any other law enforcement to look into any commercial loans that are through banks. It is damn near impossible to defraud a bank without someone on the inside.
Banks still write bad loans – because someone unforeseably goes bankrupt. Because markets change.
But fraud is near non-existant. And it is even harder to defraud an insurance company.
“Then, there’s the fake building supplies company set up by Trumps, again, to avoid paying taxes.”
Again, if you pay money to a “fake” business, and they do not have expenses – like actual building supplies – then you have not avoided taxes, you have only changed where they are paid.
“This is according to his niece, who obtained some financial documents in discovery in her will contest lawsuit.”
Some of the manuveurs that you cited – while NOT useful in evading taxes – ARE useful as a means to shift assets arround in an inheritance. BUT – these can not happen after death, and before death they require the permission of the decedent.
If I write my will to give you my house, and while still living I strip the house of everything of value – and then die – you have not been defrauded.
“I wonder what else his financials would turn up.”
Why do you beleive you are entitled to the financial of ANYONE else ?
The “right to privacy” that SCOTUS found in the bill or rights, that provided women the right to contraception and abortions, is an implied right. The right to be secure in your papers and records is EXPLICIT in the 4th amendement.
“I can’t be good, which is why Trump is fighting so hard to avoid disclosing the records.”
Or maybe because it is none of your business.
Trump’s supporters do not care, Trump’s opponents are not going to vote for him.
There is no reason to share financial information when you get nothing in return for it.
I suspect Trump would be happy to share financials with you – if you would agree to vote for him if you found nothing.
You have no irght to anyone else’s papers, and nothing to offer to entice them to provide them to you.
Is the standard for a crime whether or not someone took my money?
And with the inauguration scam, the investigations are no doubt diving into its money laundering aspects. IOW Trump’s practice of taking foreign money though the inauguration fund. The biggest bombshell of all the tell alls may very well prove to be MELANIA AND ME.
Can’t wait.
“Is the standard for a crime whether or not someone took my money?”
It would help if you could write clearly.
Violent crimes are the unjustified use of force.
It you use force to murder someone
if you use force or the threat of force to take their property
Much more rarely there are frauds – that is when you take something from others by deceipt.
It is not fraud if no one is deceived – even if misrepresentations are made.
It is not fraud if all parties got what they wanted.
Further all instances in which agreements are breached are NOT fraud.
There is no actual fraud here.
“and with the inauguration scam, the investigations are no doubt diving into its money laundering aspects.”
God not this idiotic money laundering nonsense.
Money laundering is the conversion of illegally obtained money into otherwise legitimate money.
Money laundering is an illegal service provided to other criminals – drug dealers, the mafia.
Please explain how anything Trump has ever done in his life comes close to money laundering ?
Can we stop this nonsense with lawfare made up crimes.
“IOW Trump’s practice of taking foreign money though the inauguration fund.”
That would not be money laundering.
Separately I do not give a crap who wishes to contribute to the innaugural.
It is most certainly no business of yours or the governments,.
Absent proof of some illicit quid pro quo this is meaningless.
Fraud is the government’s job. John Say may not like it, but nobody is asking him and they won’t.
No actually fraud is NOT.
Securing rights is the governments job.
If no actual rights have been violated – there is no crime. There is no role for government.
The alleged Fraud here would make every single charity in the US into a criminal enterprise.
This is completely bogus.
This is SELF EVIDENTLY a political witch hunt.
And you know it.
You know quite well that this could not be prosecuted in 90% of this country – because this prosecution is politically corrupt.
But keep it up – just as the Left created Trump – you will create the mess that follows.
If you win on this, if you insist this constitutes fraud and that it is the business of the SDNY, then you will have empowered ever red state AG or USA in the country to do the same thing to the Clinton Foundation, Sorros, Move on, …..
You can have a cell right next to Bannon.
This is a good question Book. The rumor is that DOJ stifled the prosecution, slow rolled it, went through the motions, and suppressed the results that some of the investigators were able to bring.
There is little upside for a prosecutor to go after whales like the Clintons. If they lose they lose and if they win they lose. It’s much easier to let the investigators spin their wheels and just say wello it’s just not enough, and then when the statutes of limits run out, it’s a dead deal anyhow.
One suspects that Barr has improperly limited the scope of the FISA fraud investigation such that Obama and Biden were off limits. One can understand this choice, it may have made a lot of pragmatic sense from many angles. But, at the same time, it means the Durham effort will probably not yield much more than Klinesmith.
I wonder if Barr and Stroke’s dad were chums back in Agency days. Yes, Sztroke’s daddy was a “Christian in Action” back in the Shah’s Iran. In fact Petey went to school as a kid in Tehran
I suspect that the statutes of limits are going to run on the FISA fraud thing and little will come from Durham besides the Klinesmith conviction and another “scathing report”
Good point – Why haven’t the Clinton;’s been prosecuted ? Clinton foundation is far worse than Bannon and Kolache in terms of delivering the actual charitable benefits.
Why is there no victim here ? Why can’t SDNY find a single contributor to claim they were defrauded ?
And why isn’t this case being brought by any other USA in the country ? There is no Nexus betweent he Build the Wall group and SDNY.
Why isn’t SDNY expending its efforts investigating and prosecuting where there are real victims, and where the group is actually formed in their district ?
If you have actual evidence of a crime – what is it ?
There is some excellent analysis of this case on YouTube by real lawyers who have read the complaint.
There is a reason this is in SDNY – no other USA’s would prosecute it and no other courts would convict.
Bannon’s Build the wall group is actually doing far Better than probably every charity in NYC and most in the country in terms of delivering on its promise.
If you do not like BTW – do not contribute.
But if you want to play this nonsense game of trying to criminalize political differences – and that is precisely what is being done.
This is little different from the “Collusion Dellusion”. then you should expect that those on the right will ultimately adopt the same tactics.
I am sure there is a State AG or USA in Alabama who would be happy to prosecute the Clinton’s for malfeasance in the Clinton Foundation.
Robert Barnes has a different take on this…check it out..
https://youtu.be/Y4HvlJT2aTE
barnes often has good insights. sometimes he wanders afar from his wheelhouse. of course i am the pot calling the kettle black to criticize someone for that.
Most charities cut off an ‘administration fee’ of at least 10%, sometimes 25% and higher. The people who run these charities have CEOs that get paid millions a year, financial advisors that get high six figure salaries, and expenses for wooing contributors. A billion raised rarely sees half that much going to the point. Advertising costs and promises. The promises are no different than those of any politician where they are thrown out and quickly disregarded. Bannon, Kolfage, and others don’t seem to even be near the 2.5 mil that would be 10% of the 25mil they raised. So, in actuality they are pikers when it comes to the business. Their crime is that of any politician who lies, either after the fact by not producing or consistently like Bannon’s mentor Trump. It’s that old sausage making conundrum again. Now, if Bannon and his gang were in any way connected to the left, this blog would be on fire. As it is it is just another ‘self made man’ scamming along. For the most comprehensive illustration of this sort of scam, just read up a little on Trump. What Bannon forgot is that only a President can get away with this sort of scamming. And he has to be able to pay forever for lawyers and lie like a rug.
Contributors to BTW were given the opportunity to request their contributions back when it became clear that there would be some administrative costs.
There is no victim, there is no crime. There is nothing here.
I do not personally like Bannon, and I have many political disagreements with him.
But my distaste and political differences do not make him a criminal.
This does not end well. If the left continues this nonsense – just wait – someone like Roy Moore will pursue NARAL and PP in Alabama.
And what the heck – even the Clinton Foundation.
If NYC can chase after every organization whose politics they do not like weaponizing the courts – then the other 90% of the country can do the same.
Or better yet, we’re sure you’d agree: Read up on the Clintons.
Put a collection of present day political junkies together on a billboard at the Mexican wall. Do Not Enter!
I would wager this is selective prosecution for political reasons.
The USA for the SDNY was a Trump appointee who also donated to Trump’s presidential campaign. Look it up genius.
None of what you say is pertinent to the charges. You litter the blog with this type of nonsense.
Yes it is a selective prosecution but it is also a viable one. And selective prosecution is almost never a successful form of defense.
Copping a plea is a more likely outcome than we may suspect.
Kolfage is an idiot and Steve, in this instance, seems to have been too clever for his own good.
I regret this bad news for Steve, as I like a lot of his content very much. But Turley is right, this one doesn’t look very good.
The fact that they only skimmed a small proportion, in a way, makes them look even more foolish, and that was the point of the remark about Sharpton
According to Michael Franceze, his New York crime family regularly paid bribes to Sharpton to connect them to college and pro athletes and help fix ball games.
It’s viable because he’s guilty.
Bug, I inform you that every person has the presumption of innocence in our system, and they are not “guilty” until a judge or jury enters a verdict against them.
We call this “due process”
“Lock him up. Lock him up!”
Ooh, I’m sorry for being so insensitive Kurtz. I know you and you leader are much more genteel and fair minded than that and I don’t know what I could have been thinking.
Can you ever forgive me?
Because of your facetious words of contrition, I give you my insincere forgiveness. LOL
And you can bet the reason Bannon came out all ‘deep state’ from the jump is that him pleading, and talking, is his best. and most likely only, pathway out of this.
So Kurtz, how is a prosecution of a Trump campaign and administration executive by a Trump appointed USA who also donated to Trump’s campaign selective?
Help me out.
just speculating here but first of all, there is a lot of financial fraud going on all around us. the USA is rife with it. the SEC is pathetic and they can only bring civil actions and refer criminal prosecutions for financial frauds of various types to DOJ which brings precious few. and they don’t always win those, either. this is a problem for decades. about the only time anybody seemed serious about prosecuting major financial fraud was under Giuliani. Certainly Obama’s failure of an AG Eric Holder produced next to nothing in the wake of the mortgage bond debacle.
Now they do bring criminal fraud cases pretty regularly, if you read the reports which the AUSAs issue and I do, but I get the sense over time they are mostly just the easy ones. and I suspect that as against the amount of frauds which they may suspect, the ratio is very low for those brought to bar.
And they might think this is an easy one. that is “selective” not in a political sense– that’s the thrust of your mockery, I get it– but selective in the sense that there is a lot of chicanery going on in nonprofit fundraising and crowdfunding especially, and they picked this fish out of a barrel. selective in that way.
a lot of things escape by the statute of limitations. for example. I referred to Michael Franceze telling stories about his NYC crime family paying Sharpton to help them connect with college and pro ballers to help them fix games. This is blatant racketeering and at the time or within the SOL it would have been viable against Sharpton. But you can be sure that if Franceze is telling the story now, it’s beyond the SOL for all parties.
So we hear a lot of things once the time for prosecution has run out.
The fact that Bannon was a Trump associate is not relevant now. Trump fired him and Steve was unhappy about it. There is a saying the coaches used to say to us back in school when we would have a star player. They would look right at the star player and say, nobody is indispensable to this team. That is how effective teams operate. Everybody is dispensible. So if the AUSA felt confident bringing this case, where’s the downside for him? Trump will not intervene, nor will anybody else. His only embarrassment may come if he loses. Even then he will be rewarded for targeting Steve with trouble. Especially in SDNY. But the prosecutor losing is the outside chance Steve will play for if he is as tough as he seems. I guess we gonna find out.
“there is a lot of financial fraud going on all around us”
Yet white collar crime prosecution has fallen under Trump. Wonder why a “law and order” president would allow that. /s
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-10/trump-oversees-all-time-low-in-white-collar-crime-enforcement
There is a limit to what one man can do. Right now democrats are pushing rioting, looting, and destruction of neighborhoods so one has to focus too much effort and time on stupid democrat mayors and governors that don’t care about their citizens. Someone has to care so it falls to Trump who deeply cares about the well being of American citizens.
If only we could say the same for you, but you have proven over and over again your lack of concern for the nation or its citizens.
We have to put up with you because we live in a free country. Should Biden win we won’t be free so you might feel you don’t have to put up with us much like twitter and FB have done. Your love is despotism as long as you believe you are part of the ruling class.
What’s Trump supposed to do? He can’t command FBI or DOJ to do a darn thing according to you guys
but yes a lot of socalled white collar crime prosecutions have declined and they were declining under Obama too make no mistake
part of it is the volume of money and rapidity of transactions and commerce. it is all growing very fast. presently there is no sign either candidate has any interest in this issue so we might as well not waste our breath on it. like i said Giuliani was the last one to make an impression in this area. since then pfffffft
There is no “you guys.” I’m one person, and other people do not speak for me.
As a simple example of what Trump could have done: he could have nominated people (AG, USAs, …) who think it’s important to pursue and who had relevant expertise. He could call for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to be strengthened rather than weakened. He could publicly state that white collar crime concerns him and that he wants more resources to be devoted to it. …
“As a simple example of what Trump could have done: he could have nominated people (AG, USAs, …) who think it’s important to pursue and who had relevant expertise. ”
He did – you conflate political agreement with legal, moral, and ethical correctness as well as with expertise.
Even some on the left have noted that while Trump’s judicial choices are ideologically unpalatable to them, that with very few exceptions – far less than Obama, these appointments have been stellar.
Nearly all of Trump’s judicial appointments clerked for federal judges, many of them clerked for supreme court justices.
These are far more qualified than Obama’s appointments – they are far more qualified that possibly any prior presidential appointments.
Barr – despite the lefts attacks on him is an excellent appointment – while I do not agree with all of his policies, he is inarguably one of the best AG’s in decades. This is his second time arround. He did not need to take this job. He did so out of a sense of duty – somethingf sorely missing from most in government service today. He is also fully prepared to “tell it like it is” Frankly he let Mieller get off easy on that mess he produced – Barr’s initial memo was perfect – there was no collusion, it is damn near impossible to have obstruction – more than half of Mueller’s report is a whinefest for an investigation that never should have happened. had Mueller had the slightest ethics he would have closed the investigation the moment he found that the reasonable suspicion necescary to investigate DIED in January 2017.
And there is no possibility that Mueller did not quickly learn that.
Many other Trump appointments have proven excellent. De Vos is a fantastic Sec Ed. She has wiped out the Obama era nonsense and is working to improve rather than politicize public education.
I would further note that you criticise Trump and Trump’s appointments – but the fact is that regardless of how that came about – Trump has accomplished or made far more progress on his campaign promises than any prior president.
I would further note that the radical restructuring of US foreign policy under Trump is incredibly beyond beleif.
You rant about Trump/Russia – Trump has isolated and ignored Putin. Russia would be a total non-entity on the world stage but for the worlds largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. In every other way – Russia grows increasingly inconsequential – yet US policy under Obama was fixated on Russia. You rant that Trump is in bed with Putin, blind to the fact that the Obama administration was almost entirely fixated on Russia. A Russian invasion of various Caucus countries was going on during the 2008 election – AS President Obama looked to improve relations with Russia. Russia invades the Ukraine – Obama negotiates a deal to give Russians control of 20% of US urainium.
Whether that was some corrupt deal involving the clintons or not, it was still highly favorable to Russia.
Shortly after getting elected Trump opens up US Fracking – this radically alters the global balance of power related to energy.
Trump guarantees the European supply of Natural Gas – radically altering the European ability to negotiate with both Russia and the Mid East. Trump backs out of the Iran deal and returns to the prior arrangements in the mideast. No our old and now new mideastern allies are not good people – neither are the Iranians. But the difference is important.
From the begining to the present there is regular news of improvements in the mid east. The US embassy is in Jerusalem – something every US president in my lifetime has promised – and yet the mideast has not exploded – and in far we have increasing overtures of peace with Israel. Clinton failed, Bush II Failed, Obama failed – Trump has already delivered tremendous gains in the mideast.
ISIS is as defeated as they can be. No sane person expects that Trump or anyone else has ended mideast terrorism. But atleast the terrorists do not have a country any more. Whatever the mess in Syria today – it is not a mess we need to care about. We are extricated from whatever is going on with Syria, the kurds and Turkey – again no good people, but atleast it is not our mess. ‘
And most consequential of all the entire asia sphere has flipped dramatically. China is surrounded by countries that have re-aligned strongly with the US – Australia, Philipines, Vietnam, Tiawan, Japan, India, are all on better terms with the US and working with the US to contain chinese foreign ambitions. The US is returning to Subic Bay, a joint agreement with Japan repositions US forces from Okinawa to within 300km of China, the US is far better able to assure free trade through the south china Sea.
Domestically Trump has been more deregulatory than any president since Carter, and people are not dying all over from polited water, Polar bears are thriving. We are out of the Paris accords. 2020 is no hotter than 2016, and not hotter than 1998.
The global warming Trend since 1979 is 0.14C/decade barely about the 0.12C/decade that it was for the prior century before human CO2 could have changed anything.
Even with the C19 recession Trump’s economy is stronger after 4 years than any 4 years of Obama – only barely, But Obama did not have to deal with a C19 recession.
The only bad news I can think of is that the left is bat$h!t crazier than ever. We spent 4 years ranting over this Collusion Delusion – and STILL Trump managed to govern. The left has convinced itself that US racism is worse than anytime since slavery. Oblivious to the fact that while not perfect we still live in the least racist most diverse country in the world at the least racist moment in history – except tomorow.
After 4 decades of improvement in policing with crime way down. with relatively racially representative police forces accross the country the left wants to rant about “systemic racism” in the police.
We are at a moment in time when it is LONG past time to end all race based preferences int he US. Minority students are able to compete, for education, for jobs, for their future. There is no difference in outcome between similarly situated whites in this country today than blacks or other minorities. If you are poor and black – your future is as bright as if you are poor and white. IF you avoid mistakes – like dropping out of school, engaging in crime, getting preganant before you are ready – your long term prospects are the same as a white person who aviods the same potholes, and if you do not – they are the same as any white person who falls in those potholes.
American is not free from Racism – but we have excellent reason to be proud of our accomplishments on reducing racism – but those of you on the left are blind to that.
De Vos has raised the profile of Charter Schools throughout the US – these are the best hope for poor minority kids from broken families. They have an excellent track record – yet the left has worked studiously to DESTROY the opportunity for poor minority kids to get ahead.
And you rant that Trump’s choices are poor or fail to respect experts.
If Trump’s appointments are ignoring the “experts” – then we should ignore the so called experts more often.
The experts are wrong about education.
They are wrong about climate.
They are wrong about russia,
They are wrong about the mideast,
They are wrong about china.
They are wrong about the economy
they are wrong about unemployment
They are wrong about CAGW
And they have been wrong from the start about C19.
If Trump’s apointments are ignoring “the experts” – “Please Sir could I have more ?”
“He could call for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to be strengthened rather than weakened.”
Why ? What do you want – Corruption like that of Biden ? Or fell good laws ?
“He could publicly state that white collar crime concerns him”
Why ? When was the last time you were murdered or raped by a white collar criminal ?
“that he wants more resources to be devoted to it. …”
You do not seem to grasp – Trump is a republican – voters elected a republican.
Voters chose LESS government not more.
There are very few things I want more government resources devoted to.
Right now we are all fixated on policing. Aside from providing assistance to cities whose police forces are overwhelmed by rioting, there is no general federal police power. Policing is the responsibility of local government. We should hold mayors, govenors, and local officials responsible for our policing. We should end all federal funding for local policing. We should repeal the vast majority of federal crimes, and reduce the power and number of USA’s and the FBI.
If someone rapes you, steals from you, defrauds you, or murders you – those are roles for your state courts.
The policing of each state is the business of that state and its voters – without federal interferance.
We should not be providing police forces with federal money – or with military surplus weapons.
We should let local governments fix their own police forces.
“I regret this bad news for Steve, as I like a lot of his content very much. But Turley is right, this one doesn’t look very good.”
It may not look good, but is their evidence he did anything criminal?
There does not appear to be anything here at all.
I have not heard any actual evidence that could not easily be found with regard to any charity in the world.
That is my belief though civilly some money may be returned.
It’s my belief that you put your head in the microwave and turn it on for a minute or so before typing your posts.
Bug, you have a lot of crazy beliefs so we expect you to act like a moron.
It is my understanding that BTW came clean on this almost a year ago and offered to refund money to donors.
No one asked for money back.
There is absolutely no victim here.
You can not have fraud without defrauding someone.
This is much like the stupid left wing nut garbage about “russian influence”
Lets say that the russians were actually effective – and they PERSUADED millions of voters to vote for Trump.
So ?
No one held a gun to their head.
When they went into the voting booth Putin was not with them to make sure they filled in Trump.
Finally there are not millions of Trump voters who are openly admitting they were duped by Russians.
One of the problems with the idiots who think that the ends justifies the means, is that ultimately they come to beleive that when they do not like the ends, that a crime must have been commited to reach them. This is bunk.
The left is philosophicially bankrupt.
Thanks, John. I haven’t followed this close enough. I knew it started off as crowd funding, had a problem with the crowd funder and then was converted to a 501 (c) 3 that was attached financially to Bannon. It sounded like another hit job so my interest in details was low.
I can’t be sure of the totality of the facts and more importantly the timing but I followed a few earlier hit jobs and felt it wasn’t worth it to pursue it further. Since I beleive the crowd funding organization protected those that donated that we would only be dealing with a private 501 (c) 3. Based on what I believe the exposure to criminal charges should be quite low in that type of organization. I doubt Bannon’s lawyers would have permitted any criminal exposure and this seems to be one of those where the lawyers will fight until it ends in a civil financial settlement or a dropped case after the election fever dies.
Of course if Biden wins, since we are dealing with people that feel they are above the law, we might see persecutions, but that can happen to anyone, the best example being General Flynn. Those persecutions may occur even though those that were involved in true crime will be treated as heros by those on the left.
In summary the left is making its power moves to take over a free nation. A lot of those on the left are too stupid or brain dead to realize it. It is essential that Trump win and the Legislature be run by Republicans (even though I don’t like the way most Republicans handle themselves.)
Look on YouTube – Robert Barnes and Viva Frei have an excellent VLOG on the issue.
The dissect the complaint in detail, They make clear that the complaint fails on its face – the complaint is SPIN, not evidence, not facts. not law.
Then they address the actual facts.
A great deal of this was CAUSED by the CrowdFunding sites refusal to allow them to accept donations without becoming a 501C(4).
Which is NOT a standard they impose on others – if you want to fund McCabes legal defense, or those of Christine Ford – there is no 501C(4), and in fact the recipients are not even obligated to use CrowFund monies for the purpose they were raised.
But if you are a conservative – there are separate rules for you.
Anyway the 501C(4) required an enormous amount of overhead as well as fees to an assortment of Lawyers and accountants.
The moment they were forced to become a 501C(4) 100% going to the wall became LITTERALLY impossible.
Even if Kolfage and Bannon personally covered those costs – it still would be a donation, and it still would mean that the 100% claim would be technically false.
Barnes notes that Bannon is notorius for lax administration, and that will get the prosecutor a TEMPORARY advantage.
But Barnes also notes that what is most likely is that much of what the SDNY identified is Bannon moving funds between different 501C(4)’s in a disorganized fashion. This will ultimately devolve to accounting errors not malfeasance.
Barnes further notes that whether BTW is 100% or not – that they are over 95% probably over 99%.
That is what makes this especially political.
Who in there right mind is going to charge one of the most efficient donation driven organization with fraud ?
I do not think even Catholic Charities or the Menonite Central committee are as donation efficient as BTW.
This is NOT a mistake. It is a vendetta.
And as Barnes also noted it is likely an effort to keep Bannon out of the 2020 election. Bannon is incredibly effective.
It is also an effort to slime a Group that is tied to one of Trump’s campaign promises.
The object is to make Building the Wall look corrupt and seedy.
There are some serious problems at the NRA – there is waste and corruption.
But that is NOT the business of the NY AG – it is for NRA members to resolve.
But BTW is the epitome of efficiency. Their donations are going where they say. No one is getting rich off BTW.
There is no actual fraud or pilfering of funds.
“Finally there are not millions of Trump voters who are openly admitting they were duped by Russians.”
CIA conduct during Russia assessment may be next boomerang in probe of investigators
“ Specifically, the officials said, it highlighted dissent and doubts by some intelligence community analysts about Vladimir Putin’s intentions in intervening in the 2016 election. Some believed it was to help Trump; others believed it was simply to sow chaos without picking a winner, and still others saw evidence Putin might have preferred Hillary Clinton, the officials said.
In other words, an assessment that was portrayed as unanimous when it was made public in early January 2017 was anything but at the analyst level, according to Fred Fleitz, a longtime intelligence officer who was briefed on the House intelligence committee’s concerns when he served as chief of staff in the National Security Council”
Continued with a video at JTN https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/cia-conduct-during-russia-assessment-may-be-next?utm_source=daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
Every rhetorical tool in the Democratic tool box is a lie.
I have never understood this from the start.
Why do we need a CIA assessement ?
What is wrong with your Mark I Brain ?
It is quite clear based on information that is known to all of us that Putin was more likely to favor Clinton over Trump.
When the IC comes out with an assessment that is completely at odds with publicly known and obvious facts,
it is Nigerian Yellow Cake, or missing 9/11, or missing the fall of the USSR or any of the myriads of intelligence failures of the decades all over.
If you want to persuade me that Putin favored Trump – you MUST produce some facts that MUST be secret, because based on the publicly available facts, Russia’s best interests were served by Clinton, and Putin is going to Put Russia FIRST.
I find the – they lied about the IC assessment ho-hum.
Of course the IC assessement is a politically motivated lie.
That is self evident – because it is WRONG. OBVIOUSLY WRONG.
Either the IC lied or they are too stupid to do their jobs.
I do not care much which.
Nah, they just Bs’d it. .
Of course there’s enough evidence. And the reason Bannon is going all deep state cartoon world is his only options are to roll.
“Of course there’s enough evidence.”
Bug, If it is clear there is enough evidence for criminal charges any moron would be able to provide some of that evidence. But you are not any moron. You are the moron the others look down at so no evidence for a criminal case will be supplied.
That would also mean that there would be no sane reason this case belongs in SDNY.
Let the USA in each district where significant numbers of BTW donors have come forward claiming to be defrauded prosecute the case.
What are there – two people in NYC who contributed to BTW ?
Regardless, if you do not have a victim there is excellent reason to PROHIBIT an investigation.
We had a variation of this in Wisconsin where democrats used bogus claims where there was no crime and no victim to raid and shutdown GOP political operations and to gather records of donors and methods of fundraising.
Unless you are going to send SDNY investigators to jail should private information leak out, they shoul dnot have access to private information absent an actual victim.
“That would also mean that there would be no sane reason this case belongs in SDNY.”
That the SDNY was responsible for this farce that doesn’t seem to be their problem made me not waste time on it. I am sure their indictment will list all sorts of things much like the impeachment of Trump but it won’t have the necessary elements. That is what bugs and books fail to recognize.
They cited some of the evidence in the indictment: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/politics/bannon-indictment/index.html
I do not know what you think is evidence, but I have not read any evidence.
One of the major problems with the complaint is that it conflates numerous organizations with each other.
The original campaign – and the 100% promise was based on an orgainization that was NOT a 501C(4).
While crowd funding sites allow that all the time, they specifically demanded that BTW form a 501C(4) or THEY were going to refund the money.
That was done. the 501C(4) BTW organization is a successor organization to the original. It is not bound by the prior promises of Kolfage even though he had a role in both groups. Further by requiring a 501C(4) the crowdfunding site guaranteed the 100% promise could not be kept. There is litterally no way to fund the creation of the 501C(4) without donations from someone.
Regardless at the time that BTW was restructured donors were offered the oportunity to withdrawl their donations – and very few did.
New donors as well as old donors who did not accept a refund KNEW that they were donating to a 501C(4) and that such an organization has overhead.
I would further note that this type of representation has been dealt with in myriads of court cases – including civil cases.
This is not fraud.
But the compalaint is FRAUD.
Good arguments John. I also want to note that in my prior replies I mistakenly said c 3 rather than c 4.
Thanks for posting, CTHD. indictment seems pretty solid to this lay person.
Bug – there is no actual evidence in there.
You conflate oratory with evidence.
Quite simply you can not defraud someone who knowing all the facts is happy with what they have done.
The indictment alluded to the evidence driving the case, including naming banks, etc. Don’t know, not being a lawyer and all, but aren’t trials for evidence? An indictment summarizes the case? If indictments were meant to put in depth details of evidence out there’d be no need for trials and people could be tried entirely in the media.
And this is a fraud situation…, it doesn’t matter if the people who got conned consider themselves victims or not. The act of fraud itself is the crime and, in that regard, the indictment looks strong to me.
“The indictment alluded to the evidence driving the case,”
Correct. Real evidence is not something you have to allude to.
The indictment is nothing but spin.
“including naming banks, etc.”
Wow, They named banks!! – Bannon and Kolfage are obviously guilty of something – thye have banks.
“Don’t know, not being a lawyer and all, but aren’t trials for evidence?”
Aparently you have paid no attention over the past 4 years.
We are getting a lesson in the constitutional standards for all of this.
To open an investigation you must have reasonable suspicion – that is the lowest standard. It requires evidence. But not alot.
If reasonable suspicion ceases – the investigation MUST STOP.
Anything that constitutes a search or seizure requires probable cause – both that a crime has been committed and that the search or seizure will provide further evidence of that crime.
The standard to indict is higher still – while not as high as the beyond reasonable doubt needed to convict.
These standards are met by EVIDENCE.
If you can not provide EVIDENCE – you did not meet those standards.
AND you PROVIDE EVIDENCE – you do not allude to it.
A criminal complaint is NOT a laundry list of spin and innuendo – it is actual evidence that a crime has been committed and that the party charged is the one that committed that crime.
The absence of evidence in the compliant is a clear sign of the weakness of the charges.
“If indictments were meant to put in depth details of evidence out there’d be no need for trials and people could be tried entirely in the media.”
The defendants right to a fair trial is NOT a right to be tried in secret with secret evidence. Trials are conducted in public – from the complaint which MUST make a prima fascia presentation of sufficient evidence to proceed – or the cause must be dismissed – through the hearings.
There is no predjudice created by revealing the evidence before or during the trial. Predjudice is created by statements of oppinion – by prosecutors, and by the media – not by the actual evidence.
You will never win an argument that the public revalation of the evidence against you precludes a fair trial.
“and this is a fraud situation…, it doesn’t matter if the people who got conned consider themselves victims or not.”
Yes, it does.
It is not fraud if the “alleged victims” do not consider themselves victims.
hundreds of billions of free exhanged occur every single day. Almost none are “perfect”. Almost all one party or the other did not get exactly what they expected.
An imperfect transaction is NOT fraud.
Criminal fraud requires at a minimum a deliberate effort to deceive, actual decepetion, and HARM to the victim.
If you do not have these you do not have a crime. If the person purportedly defrauded is aware of the facts and does not consider themselves harmed or considers any harm deminimus – you do not have a crime.
We do not want to clog our courts with prosecutors alleging fraud over less than perfect transactions that all parties are satisified with.
That is pretty much the definition of totalitarian government.
YES, you must have a victim for fraud.
Frankly from a moral and ethical perspective you must have a victim for ANY crime.
We know how badly prohibition went – Drug laws are doing worse.
Nor are prostitution laws serving any legitimate purpose.
You can not oppose the victimless crimes involving drugs and prostitution without opposing ALL victimless crimes.
It is not the role of government to dictate out behavior outside of behavior that harms others or infringes on their rights.
“The act of fraud itself is the crime and, in that regard, the indictment looks strong to me.”
The only thing strong about it is that is in in NYC and Bannon and Kolfage will be easy to convict of anything in NYC.
There is no actual substance to the complaint.
It is political. Barr never should have allowed it to proceed.
We have had 4 years of bogus political machinations in law enforcement.
We should not encourage more.
The indictment is written as indictments are written. The trial, short of an immediate trump pardon or a plea deal, will be handled as a trial is handled. ..
But feel free to rewrite how these things are handled. I’d expect nothing less.
You keep pretending that this is somehow normal – demonstrating a bizzarre wilful blindness to the consequences of its actually becoming normal.
Do you really want prosecutors like Roy Moore bringing NOW, PP, NARAL, MoveON, Sorros, Bloomberg, Steyer before Alabama Juries on similar claims ?
All of these organations accept donations on the promise of accomplishing things they have FAILED to do.
Atleast BTW did actually direct 98% of what they collected to the purpose they collected it for.
in general conservative charities are far better managed and more efficient than left wing ones.
If you are going to make donation efficiency into a fraud claim – even though donors are free to request their money back – and have not,
If that is your idea of normal – then remember
“they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind”
Hosea 8:7:
You should feel fortunate that Trump’s judicial appointments will protect the left from the same bad legal claims they use against the right.
And, given how Barr has been acting as AG, that the only reason he “let” it happen is that the evidence you don’t think is there is actually so overwhelming he couldn’t squash it.
“And, given how Barr has been acting as AG, that the only reason he “let” it happen is that the evidence you don’t think is there is actually so overwhelming he couldn’t squash it.”
Then actual evidence would exist.
Regardless, Barr allowed the stone case to go forward and is even upset with Trump over the commutation.
While Stone is the standard unappealing political operative, the FACTS still are that the law was nearly as egregiously abused in the stone case as the Flynn case.
In fact there is NOTHING that Mueller/FBI have done that is not corrupt.
None of that has anything to do with the Bannon case.
Of course – there is no actual case against Bannon – there is an evidence free set of allegations.
Why don’t you wait til the trial (if Bannon doesn’t plead) and see what the evidence is in the way evidence is normally introduced?
I doubt there will be a trial. There never should have been a complaint, and probably no investigation.
At this moment you can not provide evidence that rises to the level of suspicion that an actual crime has been committed.
Is your idea of how our criminal justice system should work is that we should allow injustice right up to the moment a case reaches the supreme court ?
We are watching riots accross the country motivated by far more dubious claims of government misconduct.
I am opposed to the abuse of power by law enforcement.
By police officers in cruizers, by DC judges, and by USA’s in the SDNY – or anywhere else it occurs.
I am opposed from the moment it happens.
I expect that when when a USA indicts someone that after deleting all the spin and judicious spray of adjectives from the complaint there will be enough substance to go to trial – there is not here.
I am especially opposed to the abuse of the legal process to interfere with the political process.
You have ranted about Durham – but failed to make a case.
Durham has not going public about anything – until he has been able to prove it.
Not so with Comey, Mueller, the FBI, the SDNY, the NYAG.
Provide me with a meaningful indictment of Bannon – and I will get behind you – but THIS is not it.
We have something similar going on with the NRA – while there is little doubt that Wayne LaPierre and his cohorts were living extravagantly as the heads of the organization – addressing that is the problem for NRA members – not the NY AG.
Personally I would have kicked LaPierre out long ago – but I am not an NRA member. Nothing demonstrated thus far has been criminal.
And the NRA case is about 100 times stronger than the Bannon case. No one was living high on the hog off of BTW and the money was going to the purpose for which it was given to a degree no private charity has matched.
There is no one who has been harmed.
It is self evident this is political.
An I will unfortunately be defending the left – when some idiot red start AG’s or USA’s decide to pull the same nonsense with the left’s sacred cows.
I look forward to you arguing out of the other side of your mouth then.
Then what is this mysterious evidence ?
There is no evidence in the complaint.
There are no victims.
We are dealing with a chartiy with overhead so low that almost no other charities are close – certainly not the Clinton Foundation.
What is your evidence ?
” rules governing nonprofits are not particularly stringent.”
If one digs into non profits, even the ones very much loved, one finds a lot of unsavory business. This opens the question as to whether any charity or non profit organization should be immune from the tax codes the rest of us have to abide by.
Allen:
Big Charities are the biggest scam going. Never give them anything.
United Way is an abuser. People feel obligated to donate money to them when their bosses come around collecting for charity. Guess who gets invited to events or ends up indirectly benefiting.
Ideally, the corporation tax assessed on philanthropies would be according to a function which had the number of FTE and the compensation schedule of it’s executives, and the nominal compensation per worker in the economy as a whole as arguments, with some dispensations offered for philanthropies which provide medical services. Philanthropies could avoid the tax by keeping executive pay modest.
Ideally also, stand-alone foundations would have to dissolve (say) 60 years after their founding, with the assets distributed by surrogate’s courts among various parties according to formulae.
It would also be agreeable if self-regenerating boards were limited to a founding period and replaced with boards elected by an identifiable stakeholder body.
the build the wall thing was a c4. absurd’s comment appears to aim at 501c3s.
501c3s are divided into two distinct regulatory reporting groups for income tax purposes., for starters they all file form 990s
“public charities” are those which have “public support,” i e, a broad base of donations
“private foundations” are those which have narrow financial support or endowments.
there was a whole raft of perceived abuses which lead to the 1969 Private Foundation Law
http://www.capdale.com/files/Publication/E44A0B84-95C7-403F-B3A9-650681E25075/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/62C06DCF-DE96-4A23-BFFC-67A996F1C949/The%201969%20Private%20Foundation%20Law.pdf
Caplan and Drysdale is a law firm that really, really knows the ropes. On this and a lot of other very interesting “private banking” difficulties.
Absurd you will enjoy this article
i should add, that the 990-PF requires financial reporting that is designed to reveal whether or not a private foundation has distributed enough money each year off it’s endowment to avoid the penalty tax for sitting on too much of it.
as in regular business reporting, the cleverness factor for all 501 organizations, often comes in burying the remuneration under contractual obligations. such as they allege in this case.
for example. one wonders how much of the gobs of money the SPLC used to pay out to contractors for their direct mail services and other promo stuff, actually was pocketed by contractors in which Morris Dees held a significant ownership stake. one can only speculate since he never got caught for that, just “harassing women and people of color” according to the New York Post, when he and his top lieutenants were all forced out a year or two ago or so.
anybody can pull their 990s off “charity Navigator” and see where the extra juice might have flowed. doesn’t take a rocket scientist to form a hypothesis about that one. on top of the openly reported executive comp which was already pretty handsome
of course Mo Dees has worked so many informants parallel to them reporting to federal law enforcement over the decades, one suspects he may have believed he was operating with a degree of impunity. like who? like April Howe of course, the lady who reported to her ATF handler a few weeks before the OKC bombing, that bad guys were targeting the murrah building. FOIA documents have confirmed this report. & yes she was also an SPLC informant. See Stephen Jones’ book,. “Others Unknown” about his defense of Tim McVeigh.
DSS, I considered that the tax deduction should be based on the percentage that went directly to the charitable organization but the use of the funds is too political. I think charities should be no different than regular corporations. Religious institutions might be an exemption but only to a limited extent.
I actually give substantially to charitable organizations, however, I would give to those organizations with or without the tax deduction.
Allan chases the bright shiny ball into oblivion.
As usual the Bug substitutes empty rhetoric just so he can be seen and heard. One can tell he knows near zero about the subject matter.
Jonathan: Sure, it’s easy to dump on Steve Bannon. He’s now the poster child for how to fraudulently take money from a 501(c)(4) charity for his personal benefit. Before Bannon Trump had his face on the poster until the NY AG caught him red-handed using charitable donations to the Trump Foundation to fund his 2016 political campaign. Had Trump been a private citizen he no doubt would have been indicted as well. But as part of a settlement Trump agreed to dissolve the Foundation. repay the donors and he, his sons and daughter are now barred from serving on the board of any charity in New York. No wonder Trump hates New York!
And there is probably no coincidence you can find nothing to defend in Bannon’s actions. This was not the case in the Michael Flynn case where you vociferously defended AG Barr’s intervention, Now, your good friend AG Barr is unlikely to intervene in the case because Bannon is persona non grata in Trump’s White House. Trump hates “traitors” and Bannon’s kiss and tell book was a bridge too far. Just as Mary Trump. This was not the case with Michael Flynn who was always “loyal” to Trump. Bannon didn’t learn this lesson because selling his book took precedence. Because Barr is apparently taking a hands off position in case you too can find nothing to defend in the former WH advisor’s actions. That’s strange coming from an experienced criminal defense attorney. But maybe you are too busy working on Kyle Rittenhouse’s “well regulated militia” defense. Unfortunately, your steadfast loyalty to William Barr has a serious blind spot.
Fun comment from JT above:
“In a recent book, “Deep State: Trump, the FBI and the Rule of Law” by James B. Stewart, Mr. Bannon is quoted as saying “deep state conspiracy theory is for nut cases” and that such claims are out of bounds since “America isn’t Turkey or Egypt.”
Discuss.
Bookish:
Oh come on, Bookie, too easy. Bannon is just practicing Biden-speak where you say that you hold both positions at the same time. You know like with fracking:
Well mespo, fortunately for you, your candidate is the picture of clarity and consistency and never says things in the heat of a debate he has to correct later. He just doesn’t bother and the fools like you who follow him don’t care.
Do I have something wrong in that?
“Do I have something wrong in that?”
***********************
Yeah, most everything but it’s why you amuse us so. Biden’s a hypocrite and said it about four times in the video that he was banning fracking or fossil fuels which fracking produces.
And Trump is inconsistent. He ran only once and won. Biden is very consistent. After November, he’ll be a three time loser. Bravo foolish consistency! Little statesman Biden is so Emerson-esque — complete with the little mind full of hobgoblins.
Mespo, I feel your pain and sympathize with your mantra. I hope it lets you sleep at night.
Has Trump corrected his lie of yesterday that he sent the National Guard to Kenosha?
Never mind. I know you don’t care.
“Has Trump corrected his lie of yesterday that he sent the National Guard to Kenosha?”
**************************
Been sleeping great for 3 1/2 years. Here let me correct your latest lie. “This ended within an hour, as soon as we announced we were coming, and then they saw we were here. This ended immediately,” Trump said during a tour of law enforcement operations in Kenosha.”
Trump’s been railing on Wisconsin Gov. Antifa and Kenosha Mayor BLM for not calling them out for days now. That they technically do it doesn’t’ make Trump’s threat to nationalize the NG and show up a lie. It just means two more Dim cucks just knelt down to him again. They like that position.
Putting aside your disturbing sexual fantasies about governors, mespo, and the fact that you apparently like being lied to, that’s BS.
“On Sunday, Aug. 23, a white police officer shot and partially paralyzed Jacob Blake in front of his children. Protesters, reacting to the shooting, clashed with police officers, smashed car windows and set fires and officers dispersed the crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets.
On Monday, Aug. 24, Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin authorized the state National Guard to support local law enforcement. Protesters and police continued to clash, and city officials later described that Monday as the peak of the chaos and “our big night.”
A day later, Mr. Trump urged Mr. Evers to send the National Guard, even though he had already done so. Mr. Evers declared a state of emergency and increased the size of the guard deployment to 250. Two men were killed and another seriously injured in shootings. Sheriff David Beth of Kenosha County noted the presence of out-of-town counterprotesters that night and said they “create confrontation” and “that doesn’t help us.” Mr. Beth also said tactics like securing cooperation from local residents and blocking off interstate highways proved to be effective in reducing the violence.
Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Illinois who signaled support for pro-police causes, was arrested in the killings on Wednesday morning. The Justice Department sent about 200 federal agents to the city that night. Protests continued, but Mr. Beth said they were “very peaceful.”
Mr. Evers again increased the number of National Guard members deployed to Kenosha on Thursday. The governors of Arizona, Michigan and Alabama also sent National Guard troops to Kenosha, after Mr. Evers requested their assistance as part of a mutual aid compact.
Protests that night were “much calmer, much safer,” Daniel Miskinis, the Kenosha police chief, said in a news conference on Friday….”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/us/politics/trump-fact-check-protests.html
Bookless:
On Monday(after Sunday’s justified shooting and the resultant unjustified mayhem), Wisconsin Gov. Evers declared a state of emergency and only deployed 125 guardsmen as ancillaries to local officials before Trump embarrassed the slime ball with a tweet Tuesday night into sending more. Despite needed at least 750 according to local law enforcement, Gov. Evers sent only 125 more Tuesday and then later full deployment. That delay until Tuesday (and also turning down immediate federal help from DHS), led to the woefully inadequate force resulting in the death and mayhem you Dims so enjoy. Rittenhouse was a victim of Evers’ feckless and inadequate leadership. Once Trump got involved the BLM/Antifa mob ran like the cowards they are. Things are quiet now in Kenosha thanks to Trump. Biden, of course, was in his bunker drooling.
So 2 days late and of course on twitter instead of a phone call, like real Presidents make, the Gov was supposedly was embarrassed by a coveted slurr frokm the A..-in Chief? You’re sticking with that as how Trump can claim to have been Gary Cooper in High Noon?
You do like being lied to and thanks for acting that out.
Trump did not claim to be Gary Cooper in High Mood. Trump claimed that ultimately he had the power to send in those needed to keep the peace. He pushed the governor to act even though the governor resisted and acted slowly. Had Trump not been involved we might be seeing even more violence there today. In the meantime the feds are arresting the core of the rioters and determining who and where they are.
Democrats seem to be foolish and totally unconcerned with their citizens that face more and more trouble from rioters. You have a fine lot of sh1t fromr democrat mayors and governors that permit this violence to continue.
The national guard should have been called in long ago.
There is no place in this country where the police can manage to deal with regular rioting AND continue their normal job of law enforcement.
We have a perfect storm that is moving to destroy policing in our cities.
I have more problem’s with Trump’s FAILURE to act than any ludicrous claim that he is overreacting.
John, we disagree on the issue. I strongly believe in federalism and though the President could have stepped in without the approval of the governor I can’t see that bright line that tells us when to do so. That means that the envelope will continue to be stretched and that will end badly.
Do you remember Katrina? Bush also respected federalism and wouldn’t go in until the democrat governor aksed for help. Though the governor was stupid I think Bush was correct.
As citizens we elect our leaders. NYC elected DeBlasio. Should the feds go into NYC? Murders are increasing and I think the damage to the city is going to be horrendous and potentially non repairable. I might have a home in the city where I dn’t vote but I am paying a big price for the stupidness demonstrated by the democrat leaders.
I am not arguing about Federalism.
Mayors, and governors should have called in the NG LONG AGO.
While I think we are past the point at which it is reasonable for Trump to do so unilaterally. That is NEVER the prefered solution.
Regardless, there are few police forces in the country that can deal with constant rioting and normal crime.
“While I think we are past the point at which it is reasonable for Trump to do so unilaterally. That is NEVER the prefered solution.”
The line for the President has to be clear so I don’t think he should officially enter at this time unless requested. But he can act in the background protecting federal institutions. Most of the large cities might already have other federal officers he isn’t doing nothing. He is preparing to arrest a lot of people and already has but the democrats in some areas refuse to keep the criminals in jail.
Now, I disagree.
Absolutely local solutions are to be prefered.
It is beyond despite that many place NEED the National Guard NOW. The police can not sustain riot control AND policing.
Local governments have had more than enough oportunity to solve the problem themselves.
They have failed to do so.
They have failed to ask for help.
It is PAST time for Trump to act.
I do not disagree that we should move SLOWLY before overriding local authority.
But Portland as an example is NOT SAFE. and it has not been for months. And there is no hope that local authorities will solve the problem on their own.
It would be prefered to have state-federal cooperation.
But ultimately the president’s job is to prevent the infringement of the rights of the people.
These riots infringe on peoples rights.
To the greatest extent possible I want federal forces to behave with restraint.
But I would have no problems with broad deployment of NG in portland to keep the peace.
I would have no problem with temporary measures barring protestors from doing so with weapons, and sheilds and body armor.
The objective is to stop rioting – not protests
Director of DHS called on Monday to offer help. He was rebuffed. Do you get anything right?
Yes John Say, because the next day is obviously just f…king around.
What is wrong with you?
You replied to yourself, as if you were replying to me.
I have no idea what you are even talking about.
Have you noticed that Biden never goes anywhere without his wife. She seems like a chaperone.
They flew him 300 miles to give a speech in some random building at Carnegie-Mellon – to an audience of about a dozen – technicians, reporters, and sundry aides. Nothing odd about that. (On, and he took no questions).
Chaperone or Orderly?
IB:
“Have you noticed that Biden never goes anywhere without his wife. She seems like a chaperone.”
**************************
Well, she’s Edgar Bergen to Joe’s Charlie McCarthy.
I was against fracking before I was for fracking.
Btb, Trump is mostly consistent but can change his mind when better alternatives arise. Biden is not consistent at all going back and forth between positions for no other reason than polls or to satifsfy a portion of his party.
You dealy with puny things when complaining about Trump, things that aren’t even worth discussing. Lies dominate your thinking process.
Biden isn’t great, but he’s absolutely better than Trump.
Here, enjoy some auto-tuned Trump on throwing soup:
https://twitter.com/gregorybrothers/status/1300967931975733248
(If you want to see the original statement: https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1300909465412091906)
No doubt Trump thinks that a brick is too heavy to throw because of his mini-strokes. ; -)
You know commit, I didn’t quite understand the complexities of throwing soup cans that he explained twice. I think three times and I would have got it.
Ha. This is awesome. And Rex is one of the best re-tweeters on twitter. Good man.
Every government is the top organized gang, and every big gang has factions.
When a state has large, important bureaucratic components, they become factions unto themselves
“Deep State” is now more or less a shorthand term for how the disparate factional interests of agencies like FBI-CIA-NSA-DOD-STATE-FedRes all seem to come together at times– and operate with an agenda all of their own, regardless of what politicians are elected into office
the article III lifetime judiciary is the Deepest and most obvious non-democratic element of the US government, enshrined all in the open by the Constitution itself. It too has its factional interests
“derin devlet” in the context of the Turkish Republic, meant the core of secularism operating in the army, which restrained Islamist democratic impulses.
It’s safe to say that the religious democratic leader of Turkey, the odious and disgusting Erdogan, has defeated the “derin devlet” and reduced it as a threat to his ongoing misadventures
So Kurtz, you’re one of those Bannon labelled “nuts”?
My statement speaks for itself. I told you I am just a nobody from flyover. Steve does not know me. I have got a lot out of his radio show and Guo Wenghui interviews.
Every bureaucracy has its own interests, and they may form factions within states. This is not paranoia, it is simple “organizational behavior.” I do have a little formal education in that area as well. You might be amused to know, that some very important academic researchers in the areas of organizational behavior and organizational development, were also associated with CIA. I would have to dig the names out, but I went down that rabbit hole one day and found the most interesting points of contact. Really, CIA related organizations, grants, and associates have been at the forefront of some of the most strategic work that has been done by American universities, and not just in technological matters but also “soft sciences”
Bannon has a radio show?
Is that the one with the Horst Wessel Lied theme music?
Yes he has a political one and a better one that related to the pandemic which goes all the way back to January.
“Raise the Banner High” is not the musical theme but I admit that I can pluck the right hand of that one out on the piano.
“The problem with the deep-state conspiracy as a defense is that it only works if prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are pursuing a simple and honest wall builder with bizarre or novel theories of criminality. ”
Agreed, Turley. And it’s my guess Bannon is setting land speed records to turn and plead. Writing’s on the wall. Or in Bannon’s case…, it’s on the floor.
I think the indictment is a little thin. For example, only Kolface actually says no salary FOR Him. He makes no representation about Bannon’s role or salary nor does Bannon. About the only thing they have on Bannon is the website representations that were likely made before he donated his 501(c)(3) to hold the money (because Go Fund Me threatened to return the funds to donors without one). Bannon did represent that “we’re a volunteer organization” but volunteer organizations typically pay management fees for fund management. A cool mil seems high on a 25 mil fund but that’s not fraud. It’s a typical fraud case which inherently are difficult to make given the malleability of words.
they may be able to raise reasonable doubt and we don’t konw what Steve will pull out at trial. he may have some lawyer’s letters that give him cover enough to kill off the scienter
but the prosecutors are going to hammer those representations
kolfage may just plead without a deal, & take one for the team. we will see
Mr. K:
Are you criminally liable for the misrepresentations of another co-defendant if you weren’t affiliated with him when you participated in so-called crime?
Your question is a little bit above me. i think they are going to try and prove that Steve and Kolface cooperated in the socalled crime
Of course Steve Did not control what kolface did or said, Kolface made these representations without Steve knowing or endorsing them, and he may not have been following all what the chatterbox was saying all over the internet, things like that. I guess they will have to tie these things together well enough to overcome reasonable doubt.
as an observer, I have seen federal prosecutors tie some stuff together in a pretty weak way to overcome reasonable doubt, when there was plenty of reasonable doubt to spare, and yet the jury basically just ignored the contrary evidence and interpretations and took the side of the prosecutor against an unlikable defendant. so maybe a lot of it wil just come down to voir dire.
I sure hope Steve’s lawyers will do better at voir dire than Roger Stone’s did
Whether it was said by Bannon or Kolface is irrelevant
SDNY is alleging criminal fraud that is just not going to fly.
It is damn near impossible to hold a person responsible for the purported promises of a 3rd party.
Unless the promises are in writing the case is pretty much non-existant,
the offer to return donations that NO ONE accepted pretty much destroy’s any claim of criminal intent.
And pretty much destroy’s even a civil case.
The NYAG’s case against the NRA is far stronger – atleast there is REAL malfeasance there there is also a nexus to NY,
But even in that case – there is no victim.
Fundimentally both the BTW and NRA cases boil down to charitable and advocacy groups engaged in self dealing – that of the NRA is much worse. The responsibility to address that falls with CONTRIBBUTORS – not the government.
If you do not like the way the NRA is being run – drop your membership.
If you do not like the way BTW is being run – don’t contribute,
The worst thing that could happen to the left would be to win these cases.
Especially the BTW case. Next thing you know some State AG – like a future Roy Moore will be sending Sorros, the Clintons, etc. to jail in Alabama and disolving NARAL or PP.
Dude, you’ve had a slate of Trump appointed USAs across the entire country in all districts for approaching 4 years now and the guy who appointed them still leads cheers of “lock them up” at his rallies. You think they don’t have anything on his political adversaries or he’s just Mr live and let live and never engages in personal vendettas?
“Dude, you’ve had a slate of Trump appointed USAs across the entire country in all districts for approaching 4 years now and the guy who appointed them still leads cheers of “lock them up” at his rallies. You think they don’t have anything on his political adversaries or he’s just Mr live and let live and never engages in personal vendettas?”
Trump was only able to appoint the USA for the SDNY recently. we have been through this before.
I would further note that appointing a USA is much like apointing an AG or FBI director – it changes very little with respect to those doing most of the work.
If you wish we can go back before civil service – and fire the entire US government when an administration changes.
There is nothing here.
This is another left wing nut deep state collusion delusion nonsense.
And the left fails to see there is no good outcome.
If they get Bannon and KolFace – then USA’s and State AG’s all over the country will start criminally coming after left wing groups – Sorros, the Clinton’s ….
If the fail – they have egg on their face.
This appears to be a ploy to keep Bannon out of the election – and that will backfire.
Looks to me like a bunch of gullible people got ripped off by Stevie.
“Looks to me like a bunch of gullible people got ripped off by Stevie.”
Then why can’t SDNY find a single one to come forward ?
If you were ripped off by Bannon – I will get 100% behind holding Steve accountable.
But I am NOT going to get behind a bunch of people like YOU who did not contribute to BTW pretending that it is corrupt, when in reality you DO NOT want BTW to do as it promised.
Regardless, those who have a right to complain are those who contributed and are dissatisified.
Where are they ?
Planned Parenthood has far more remorseful buyers. Where are the people who think they were ripped off by BTW ?
The reality is BTW is being prosecuted not because they ARE a fraud – but because they are NOT. Because they are actively doing something that few people in NY – and even fewer within the SDNY US attornies office want to see.
We have a similar problem with the NY AG prosecuting the NRA.
I will get 100% behind any NRA member who thinks they have been ripped off.
But the NYAG found none.
That should be the END of this.
I am not personally happy that the Wayne LaPierre is living so extravagantly off the contributions of members.
But I am not an NRA member, so I have no right to redress. I have not been harmed.
The prosecution of BTW is even more politically egregious.
Long before SDNY got involved BTW discovered they could not keep the 100% goes to the wall promise and agree to refund any donor who wanted their money back. They probably were not obligated to do this – I doubt that any left leaning group ever would.
No one took them up on the offer.
There is no agrevied party, there is no fraud, there is no crime.
But if the left wants to continue down this road – soon enough some roy moore type will go after all YOUR sacred cows in some hostile venue like Alabama.
Do you think jurrors in Alabama are going to be freindly to George Sorros ? or Move on ?
Steve Bannon’s personal MAGA:
MY A__ GOT ARRESTED
Mike Nifong, “I’m charging the entire Duke Lacrosse team with rape.”