MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Steve Bannon, the former ideological adviser to the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, and who is already sentenced to four months in prison for not collaborating in the investigation into the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, has appeared this Tuesday in a New York court for his alleged involvement in another case and has assured: “I will not go to prison, it is all a farce.”
Bannon has gone to the Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York, this Tuesday for a hearing on an alleged fraud in the fundraising of the ‘We Build the Wall’ project, a mechanism that allowed donations from Trump supporters to finance his project star, the construction of a wall along the southern border with Mexico.
According to the accusation, that money would not have been used for that purpose, but the Government would have used it to enrich itself. On his last day as president, Donald Trump pardoned Bannon for these alleged crimes, but that does not prevent the State from investigating and prosecuting him, as is the case now.
Bannon was already sentenced last July for refusing to collaborate in the investigation into the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, for which he has been sentenced to four months in prison, which the magnate has appealed. For this new case of fraud and money laundering, he could face 15 years in prison.
In view of this Tuesday, Bannon has come with a new team of lawyers, after the previous ones alleged that they have not had contact with the politician since January. These new lawyers have until May to review the evidence that was already delivered to the previous team of lawyers five months ago, according to the US portal ABC News.
The judge assigned to the case, Juan Merchan, has expressed the need to speed up the process: “Apart from handing over the evidence, we have made no further progress, and part of the fault lies with Mr. Bannon. We cannot continue prolonging this case”.
The organization ‘We Build The Wall’ is also listed as a defendant. At Tuesday’s hearing, his defense lawyer has asked that the charges against the group be withdrawn, since “all the people who were part of ‘We Build The Wall ‘ have resigned, so there will be no one in the organization for me to communicate with.” Merchan has neither confirmed nor denied the request, and has asked the defense attorney to return to court on March 16.