# Steve Bannon arrested in alleged fraud scam linked to border wall **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 20, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585 "2020-08-20T14:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/61 "2020-08-20T18:57:04Z")
From the Washington Post: In January, Kobach [told the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/us/politics/kris-kobach-wall-funding.html) that he had described the organization to Trump in a personal phone call and that the president had given it his blessing. “I talked with the president, and the “We Build the Wall Effort’’ came up,” Kobach said. “The president said ‘the project has my blessing, and you can tell the media that.’” I guess that blows the whole “I never had anything to do with it” excuse out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/62 "2020-08-20T19:45:54Z")
According to CBC news the arrest and charges are by NY State. So no pardons in the offing. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/63 "2020-08-20T20:27:30Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Just a bit of schadenfreude thinking about these meatheads stealing from Trump supporters. OK, a lot of schadenfreude. 🤣 Honestly, I feel like starting a fund-raising organization targeted to Trump supporters saying I need money to do Trump stuff to support Trump. I could maybe pick up a few quick bucks? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/64 "2020-08-20T20:37:16Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > According to CBC news the arrest and charges are by NY State. So no pardons in the offing. Are we sure? The indictment is filed by SDNY and signed by Audrey Strauss, the Acting US Attorney of SDNY. There _is_ a lot to keep track of all at once, though, with Trump’s tax returns again in the news with Cy Vance’s Manhattan DA’s Office. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/65 "2020-08-20T21:04:49Z")
No, I am not sure. That’s why I hedged it by saying that CBC reported it. If it is SDNY, then it is certainly federal. So Barr will quash it, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/66 "2020-08-20T21:17:58Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > No, I am not sure. That’s why I hedged it by saying that CBC reported it. If it is SDNY, then it is certainly federal. It sounds like the CBC got it wrong. As per [the Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/stephen-bannon-arrested-charged/2020/08/20/6d46847c-e2ea-11ea-b69b-64f7b0477ed4_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_bannon-1010am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans): > [@](#): > > 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. > [@](#): > > The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and charged in court by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan. Also, and this is just an interesting detail: > [@](#): > > Bannon, a law enforcement official said, was taken into custody off the coast of Westbrook, Conn., while aboard a 150-foot yacht called the Lady May owned by a friend and business associate, Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui — a vocal, online critic of the Chinese government who was once close with that country’s intelligence service but is now wanted by authorities in Beijing on charges of fraud, blackmail and bribery. This official, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an active investigation. > > A Coast Guard boat approached the yacht and disembarked a team to sweep it before federal agents boarded to make the arrest, said Chief Warrant Officer Mariana O’Leary, a Coast Guard spokesperson. Another law enforcement official said that Attorney General William P. Barr was briefed about the matter in advance. Bannon told others he had been cruising aboard the ship for months. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/67 "2020-08-20T21:47:56Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > No, I am not sure. That’s why I hedged it by saying that CBC reported it. If it is SDNY, then it is certainly federal. So Barr will quash it, maybe? I agree with @kenobi_65. CBC got it wrong. Barr may try to quash it, but he’ll have to have to expend some significant amount of “unbiased” capital to do it. He can’t kibosh Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss, thanks to Lindsey Graham. Graham is blocking any hearings to confirm a permanent SDNY US Attorney replacement. That’s what made Geoffrey Berman’s move so brilliant. He stepped down only after he picked his own replacement and was assured she could not be fired by Barr. I kind of hate to rely on Graham as the linchpin pin that safeguards this prosecution, but at the moment, it’s what we’ve got. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/68 "2020-08-20T22:09:42Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I hate that greasy fatfuck. Hope he serves the maximum. For some reason, in almost every picture, Bannon looks like a homeless bum who has not had a bath in about two months. I always expect that in real life one would see flies buzzing around him, attracted from a considerable distance. Who sez that looks can be deceiving? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/69 "2020-08-20T22:26:04Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > My first thought was all the iterations of White Knight in white supremacist groups: Loyal White Knights of the KKK, Dixie White Knights of the KKK, etc. The possible double-meaning could very well be intentional. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/70 "2020-08-20T23:39:04Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Now they should be able to use the [Chewbacca defense](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense) in the court! That’s actually _a thing_ now?? Science help us! Interesting how Lindsey Graham seems to be the bulwark against Barr being able to quash this. Could it be that, in spite of years of having his nose seemingly parked up Orange Julius Caesar’s butt, that he has wanted to bring Trump down and decided to play Iago to Trump’s Othello? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/71 "2020-08-21T00:20:23Z")
Barr probably already tried to quash it when he fired the previous prosecutor and tried to install a crony. Whether that means he’ll be very motivated to quash it or will wash his hands of it, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/72 "2020-08-21T00:40:29Z")
The Daily Beast [reports](https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-we-build-the-wall-huckster-is-accused-of-duping-donors-turns-out-he-planned-to-sell-their-data-too) that Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage planned to use the email addresses they collected from the build-the-wall group to start a Republican consulting and fundraising firm. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/73 "2020-08-21T00:40:34Z")
“Knights” is a not so silent KKK reference dogwhistle that is used by outlaw MCs. “White” in addition is a nice touch. Coincidence, surely. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/74 "2020-08-21T13:53:19Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > …For some reason, in almost every picture, Bannon looks like a homeless bum who has not had a bath in about two months. I always expect that in real life one would see flies buzzing around him, attracted from a considerable distance. Who sez that looks can be deceiving? I think it was Jon Stewart who called him “the best-looking guy at the liquor store.” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/75 "2020-08-21T14:06:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I think it was Jon Stewart who called him “the best-looking guy at the liquor store.” Yeah. I think though it was “The best-looking guy at the liquor store at midnight.” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/76 "2020-08-21T14:13:48Z")
One of the places these scammers were building a wall is next to the [National Butterfly Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Butterfly_Center), which is near Mission, Texas. The [twitter account for the butterfly center](https://twitter.com/NatButterflies) has some amusing posts in the past couple of days, such as, “WE TOLD YOU SO!!! From the beginning, we said this was a Bannon scheme to raise dark money for the administration & help [@FisherSandG](https://twitter.com/FisherSandG) defraud the government. We are sure there will be more coming out…Just wait!!! Oh, and SUCK IT, [@BrianKolfage](https://twitter.com/BrianKolfage)” ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/77 "2020-08-21T14:18:35Z")
Since this was a somewhat local story with a lot of the scheme originating here in Colorado the [local news had an amusing take on it last night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf2-1Mdr7Fg). It seems that it keeps getting dumber as you dig into it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/78 "2020-08-21T14:23:08Z")
That could be said for most of the Trump Presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/79 "2020-08-21T15:30:27Z")
I love the phrase “I wish them well in their cavity searches”. The National Butterfly Center is currently generating enough schadenfreude to light a small town, and I can’t say I blame them. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585/80 "2020-08-21T15:55:17Z")
Please tell me there is a non-zero possibility for Bannon and his group to end-up in a Mexican prison on the other side of the wall. Maybe thru some sort of prisoner exchange deal? Or maybe we just pay Mexico to take them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/steve-bannon-arrested-in-alleged-fraud-scam-linked-to-border-wall/918585.md?page=5)