Federal prosecutors in New York unsealed criminal charges Thursday against Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, and three other men they alleged defrauded donors to a massive crowdfunding campaign that claimed to be raising money for construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a news release, prosecutors said Bannon and another organizer, Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage, lied when they claimed they would not take any compensation as part of the campaign, called “We Build the Wall.” Bannon, prosecutors alleged, received more than $1 million through a nonprofit entity he controlled, sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage while keeping a “substantial portion” for himself.
The campaign, publicly supported by several of the president’s allies, raised more than $25 million through hundreds of thousands of donors, the news release states.Trump and his White House co-conspirators are spinning furiously to distance the president from Bannon and his indicted pals, but the "We Build the Wall" organization is a who's who of Trump allies.
Kris Kobach was one of the leaders of Trump's commission to uncover voter fraud. After months of investigation the commission quietly disbanded after finding no evidence of voter fraud.
Leaders of We Build the Wall, an organization that raised $25 million through a crowdfunding campaign to build a private southern border wall and whose general counsel is former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, have been indicted on fraud charges.
He repeatedly touted his involvement with the group during his Senate race. He said as recently as July 6 that he was working with We Build the Wall.
“There’s a lot of legal work in that because not only am I negotiating with landowners where we’re going to build the next privately-funded section of wall, I’m also talking to the Department of Homeland Security and making sure our specifications are consistent with theirs,” Kobach said.We Build the Wall's advisory board include Trump's favorite mercenary Erik Prince. Prince has been implicated in Russia's involvement with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Also included on the advisory board is Tom Tancredo, noted anti-immigrant campaigner and pro-racist former Colorado congressman. Rounding out the advisory board are Trump loving far right wing Wisconsin sheriff and Fox News commentator, David Clarke and ex-major league baseball player, fired ESPN commentator, the Trump loving Curt Schilling.
All of these loonies have been lauded by Trump on numerous occasions. Trump was strongly in favor of the We Build the Wall organization. What even more interesting is that Trump was instrumental in the award of US government contract for the border wall to the same company that We Build the Wall was using for their tiny wall construction. A company that remains under scrutiny by a federal inspector general.
A North Dakota construction company involved in an ongoing Defense Department Inspector General investigation and favored by President Donald Trump was awarded a $1.3 billion contract to build a segment of border wall earlier this month.
Fisher Sand & Gravel has already started building some barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border funded by the nonprofit We Build The Wall. The organization, which counts Steve Bannon and Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince as members of its advisory board, aims to build its own border wall on private land with private funds. For projects unrelated to the border wall, Fisher Sand & Gravel has dozens of environmental, tax and workplace violations dating back to 2000, according to a violations database from Good Jobs First, a nonprofit promoting corporate accountability.This is what we have come to expect from Trump and his cronies. They are all a bunch of grifters and crooks who see the Trump presidency as a means to steal as much money as they can get their hands on. And, if they can't steal from the government (US tax payers) they will steal from the lost souls who still believe in Trump himself.
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