NEW YORK (Dagbladet): The four now risk up to 20 years in prison for embezzling the equivalent of more than 220 million kroner donated to the campaign “We Build the Wall”. The money was to go to a private project that built part of the border wall with Mexico. But according to prosecutors, the money ended up in the pockets of Bannon and his partners instead.
Near Trump
Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday. As Trump’s former chief strategist, he is undoubtedly the most famous of the three, but his partners have also spent a lot of time trying to make money on Trump’s political movement.
Surrounded by criminal cases
Bannon himself was arrested on board a luxury yacht. The prosecution also believes that the four have spent embezzled money on, among other things, a luxurious Range Rover, a fishing boat, refurbishment and cosmetic surgery.
Some American commentators believe they thought they could get away with the scam because their husband was in the White House.
– This group of types used Bannon as a facade to get people to support themselves. That he thought he was not going to be caught – and if he was caught, he would be pardoned – may have been a contributing factor to his involvement, former Miami prosecutor David S. Weinstein told AP.
Bannon pays tribute to Frp
Lost arm and legs
One of Bannon’s partners is former soldier Brian Kolfage (38). He lost both legs and an arm in a rocket attack in Iraq. Since then, he has been a motivational speaker and a conservative activist who is very active in social media.
Kolfage has started up a number of different businesses. This year alone, he has started a company to buy and distribute N-95 face masks, collected donations for a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter protesters and worked for a boycott of the NFL and basketball leagues.
Norway can also be affected
On Instagram, he has posted photos of himself on board the elegant fishing boat of the type Jupiter Marine. It is named “Warfighter” and recently participated in one of the boat parades held in honor of Trump. Authorities are now planning to seize the boat.
«Liberal tears»
Bannon himself commented on the charges on Friday in his own podcast.
– This happened to stop and scare people who want to talk about the wall. This was done to stop and intimidate people who support Trump and the construction of the wall. This was a political assassination, says Bannon.
He also describes Kolfage as an “American hero”.
The other accused partners are Timothy Shea from Castle Rock in Colorado and Andrew Badolato (56) from Sarasota in Florida.
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Shea runs the company Winning Energy, which makes energy drinks. The boxes are decorated with a drawing of Trump as a superhero. They also claim that the drink contains 35 decilitres of “liberal tears”, according to AP.
Badolato has known Bannon for years. He is also a writer for the extremely right-wing website Breitbart News, which Bannon previously led.
Tribute by Trump junior
Donald Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, was briefed on the investigation into “We Build The Wall” a few months ago. Earlier, Trump’s son, Donald Trump junior, described the whole thing as a “fantastic” grassroots project.
CNN journalist Andrew Kaczynski posted a clip on Thursday Twitter from 2018 where Trump junior pays tribute to Kolfage and the project.
Nordic media days should be ashamed
– Brian, thank you so much for all you have sacrificed by doing this and really showing what capitalism is all about. This is private business at its best. Things are done better, faster and cheaper than anyone else, says Donald Trump junior.
But after the arrests became known, Trump senior said Thursday that he did not like private initiatives to build the border wall. The junior is also now trying to distance himself by saying that he only attended one event.
So far, the initiative, which has promised to build as much as 160 kilometers of boundary wall, has built less than 8 kilometers, according to the AP.
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