Steve Bannon, Longtime Trump Ally, Expects NYC Criminal Charge

NEW YORK CITY — Steve Bannon, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is expected to surrender Thursday to face criminal charges in New York City.

Details about the still-sealed indictment against Bannon, 68, were unclear as of Wednesday, but the Washington Post reported it would resemble a federal case accusing him and others of defrauding contributors in a $25 million fundraising effort to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

Trump, as his presidency drew to a close, pardoned Bannon in that case.

Bannon, in a statement Tuesday, blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing what he called "phony charges" two months before the midterm elections.

“The (Southern District of New York) did the exact same thing in August 2020 to try to take me out of the election,” Bannon said in the statement.

Federal prosecutors had argued Bannon pilfered $1 million from a "We Build the Wall" project that promised to privately fulfill Trump's goal of building a barrier on the nation's southern border.

Bannon's arrest raised eyebrows when federal agents took him into custody from a luxury yacht off the Connecticut coast.

He pleaded not guilty and escaped prosecution after Trump's pardon. Two of his co-defendants, however, pleaded guilty. A third's trial ended with a hung jury.

Trump's — and all presidents' — pardon power only extended to federal cases. The reported state indictment can go forward without risking double jeopardy because Bannon's federal case was scuttled in its early stages.

Bannon faces up to two years in prison during an October sentencing hearing on a contempt of Congress conviction related to a probe into the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.