Steve Bannon to go on trial in December for alleged fraud in We Build the Wall fundraiser
(WASHINGTON) — Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon will stand trial beginning Dec. 9 on charges he defrauded donors to an online effort to raise money for a wall along the U.S. southern border.
During a brief hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors said they would take three to four days to present evidence. Defense attorneys expected their case to last two days.
Bannon, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence for contempt of Congress, did not attend the hearing.
“Mr. Bannon was excused by the court,” Judge April Newbauer said.
Prosecutors sought a trial date in November, but Newbauer said that was too soon since Bannon will not be released from FCI Danbury until October.
“This trial was originally set for May. We were prepared to try it then,” Assistant District Attorney Dan Passesser said.
Bannon has pleaded not guilty and asked the court to dismiss the charges in January. Newbauer said she would rule on that request in late August.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has said Bannon defrauded donors to the nonprofit We Build the Wall by falsely promising that none of the money they donated would be used to pay the salary of the organization’s president, Brian Kolfage, while secretly funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to him by laundering it through third-party entities.
The campaign said We Build the Wall would use the money to privately construct the border wall — a central tenant of Trump’s 2016 campaign, and again on his current campaign — and prosecutors said a “central piece of the public messaging in support of this fundraising effort was that Kolfage was not taking a penny of compensation.”
Financial records show Kolfage was paid according to a secret salary arrangement — an upfront payment of $100,000 and monthly payments of approximately $20,000.
Kolfage was sentenced to 51 months in prison in April 2023 for his role in the fundraiser, which generated upward of $25 million in donations.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated an extraordinary prisoner exchange that freed several Americans wrongfully detained in Russia, calling it a “feat of diplomacy and friendship” in remarks from the White House.
Biden was surrounded by family members of Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza as he spoke about the efforts involved in the swap, which is the largest since the Cold War involving 24 people and several countries.
“This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here,” Biden said. “It’s a relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country, who’ve been praying for this day for a long time.”
Biden took a moment to describe the three American citizens and one legal permanent U.S. resident being brought back to the U.S. He said each was arrested, convicted and sentenced by Russian authorities “with absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever.”
“And now their brutal ordeal is over and they’re free,” Biden said.
Biden, who officials said was directly involved in helping negotiate the deal, had gathered the families at the White House earlier Thursday to inform them that the release was underway. Biden said he and the families were able to contact the freed Americans over the phone.
When asked what he said to them, Biden replied: “I said, ‘Welcome almost home.'”
The multipart prisoner swap is the product of months of detailed, painstaking negotiations, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The nations involved also included Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey.
A senior administration official said even the day Biden announced he was no longer seeking a second term, he was on the phone working to secure this deal.
Sullivan, who addressed reporters at the White House daily briefing, choked back tears as he emotionally talked about the extensive effort to secure the deal and said it “was vintage Joe Biden rallying American rallying American allies to save American citizens.”
Biden, in his remarks, touted his administration’s work and the power of global alliances while also seemingly criticizing his Oval Office predecessor Donald Trump.
“For anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do. They matter,” he said.
“Our work did not start just on Day 1. It started before Day 1,” Biden said. “During the transition, I instructed our national security team to dig into all the cases of hostages being wrongfully detained, which were inherently — well, we inherited them from the private — the prior administration.”
“I wanted to make sure we hit the ground running, and we did,” Biden continued. “As of today, my administration has brought home over 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained and held hostage abroad. Many since before I took office.”
Later, when asked by a reporter about Trump’s repeated claims he could’ve gotten the hostages out of Russia without concessions, Biden took a more direct jab at his former political opponent.
“Why didn’t he do it when he was president?” Biden responded.
Speaking further on Thursday’s release, Biden noted several of the 16 individuals freed on Thursday were Russian political prisoners who “stood up for democracy and human rights” and were subsequently jailed by their own leaders. He took a moment to contrast that with the work of the U.S. and its partners.
“The United States helped secure their release as well. That’s who we are in the United States,” he said. “We stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice, not only for our own people, but for others as well. And that’s why all Americans can take pride in what we’ve achieved today.”
As he closed his remarks, Biden turned back to the families gathered in the State Dining Room, saying he couldn’t imagine what they’ve endured these last few years.
He then led the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Miriam, the daughter of Kurmasheva, an American-Russian journalist who was freed on Thursday. Biden said Mariam will turn 13 on Friday and will now be able to celebrate with her mother.
“That’s what this is all about. Families able to be together again, like they should have been all along,” Biden said. “So, I want to thank you again to everyone who did their part. In just a few hours, we’ll welcome home our fellow Americans.”
The two top Republicans in Congress issued a joint statement calling the Gershkovich and Whelan release “encouraging news” but then went on to cite the “costs of hostage diplomacy.”
“Without serious action to deter further hostage-taking by Russia, Iran, and other states hostile to the United States, the costs of hostage diplomacy will continue to rise. As we renew our call for the return of all persons wrongfully detained by the Kremlin, we recognize that trading hardened Russian criminals for innocent Americans does little to discourage Putin’s reprehensible behavior,” House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ emergence as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination is a historic moment for the United States, as she seems poised to become the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.
The 2024 general election will be the first since 1976 that does not include someone named Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.
Harris quickly garnered support from influential Democrats and raised a record $81 million within 24 hours of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. From Sunday to Tuesday evening, Team Harris raised $126 million since the endorsement.
She is preparing for her most significant moment yet, as she hits the ground running and makes the case for why voters should elect her the next president.
Her story began in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a first-generation American, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who divorced when she was 6 years old.
She attended law school at UC Law San Francisco. She worked her way up the political chain, first as deputy district attorney in Oakland in the 1990s, prosecuting gang violence, drug trafficking and sexual abuse cases. In 2004, she became the first woman to serve as the district attorney in San Francisco. She later became California’s first female and person of color to be elected as attorney general before joining the U.S. Senate in 2017.
Harris gained recognition for her work on the judicial and intelligence committees. She held a strong stance on civil rights and abortion rights, which she questioned future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about during his nomination hearing.
Harris ran for president in 2019. Although she was not elected as the Democratic nominee. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in debating Harris in 2019 criticized her, for example, saying there’s no excuse for her record as a prosecutor and she owed an apology to those who suffered under her reign.
Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, according to previously unreported records, which became a point of criticism. Her critics pointed to her prosecutors appearing to convict people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor, based on city data.
After she dropped out of the race in 2019, Biden chose her as his running mate.
Five years later, she now has the opportunity to become president of the United States.
“My biggest thing is making sure that Trump doesn’t get in the White House,” David Brown, a Democratic voter, said in an AP interview. “But I would want to know what her policies are, that’s the big thing for me.”
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
And now speculation is turning to who her running mate would be – with prominent figures in battleground states rising to the top, such as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Harris’ team, they’re already talking about picking someone from a potential swing state, somebody who hails from one of these critical states that Harris would need to win the presidency,” said Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and an ABC News contributor. “They’re trying to figure out a way that she can extend her reach beyond her typical base.”
Other potential running mates for Harris are Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.
Though a source familiar tells ABC News’ Mary Bruce the pool is roughly 12 people being considered for Harris’ running mate. Harris is expected to make her announcement by Aug. 7.
Without wasting any time, Harris’ team is launching their first campaign ad hammering Republicans over their anti-abortion rights position.
As Harris steps into the spotlight, she will face criticisms of her past — from Republicans over issues like immigration and Democrats wary of her time as a prosecutor.
Biden had tasked Harris with leading diplomatic efforts in 2021 to address the root causes of migration in three Central American countries. The White House has praised her work, but Republicans have strongly criticized her on the immigration issue.
During her first overseas trip as vice president, she advised Guatemalan migrants not to come to the U.S., which drew criticism from immigration advocates.
With the Democratic convention just weeks away in Chicago, Republicans are taking aim at the likely nominee. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance made his first solo campaign appearance Monday and attacked Harris.
“If you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it,” Vance said. “You should feel a sense of gratitude and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.”
Vance took another jab at Harris and the Democratic Party at his rally in Virginia Monday evening.
“A couple of elite Democrats got a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard,” Vance said. “That is not how it works. That is a threat to democracy.”
Trump has expressed frustration over restarting his campaign now that Biden has exited the race. While Republicans and the Trump campaign used Biden’s age as a problem, with Biden out of the race Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in history.
Trump himself was once a supporter of Harris. He donated $6,000 to her campaign for reelection as California attorney general, including a $5,000 check.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a fight with only three months left before voters go to the polls.
“We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win,” Harris said Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump says he has agreed to an offer from ABC News to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10.
Trump said so during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago Club on Thursday.
“I look forward to the debates because I think we have to set the record straight,” he said.
Harris also confirmed her participation in the debate and told reporters Thursday evening that she’s looking forward to the matchup.
“Well, I’m glad that he finally agreed to a debate on Sept. 10. I’m looking forward to it and I hope he shows up,” she told reporters on a tarmac in Detroit.
Trump previously said he had been willing to go toe-to-toe with President Joe Biden and agreed to ABC’s first invitation issued in May.
However, after Biden dropped out of the race last month and Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, Trump had implied he would not debate Harris on ABC.
Harris has accused Trump of “running scared” and trying to back out of the debate.