From MSNBC:
"Steve Bannon has pleaded guilty to defrauding donors in a border wall scheme, reversing an earlier not-guilty plea after landing on an agreement with New York prosecutors that will see him avoid a prison sentence.
In a New York courtroom on Tuesday, Bannon pleaded guilty to one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree. He was sentenced to a three-year conditional discharge and waived his right to appeal as part of the plea deal.
"Under the agreement with prosecutors, Bannon cannot serve as an officer or director of a charity or not-for-profit group in New York state, nor can he hold assets for any charitable organizations.
Bannon, a longtime adviser to Donald Trump, was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in 2022 on charges of money laundering, scheming to defraud and conspiracy over his alleged role in the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Prosecutors accused Bannon and three others of pocketing donors’ money instead of using all of the funds to build a wall along the southern U.S. border as promised.
Bannon had faced up to 15 years if convicted. Like the president, he has claimed without evidence that the criminal charges against him are politically motivated.
He had also faced federal charges over his role in the scheme but was pardoned by Trump in 2021. Unlike federal charges, the president can't pardon state charges, so Trump can't pardon Bannon in the New York state case.
Bannon served four months in prison last year for being in contempt of Congress after he defied a congressional subpoena to testify in the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. He repeatedly sought to appeal his sentence in that case, and even brought his appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was ultimately rejected."
From MSNBC
I guess I have a few responses to this.
1. As much as the Left (or left-wing) in America might say they don't like our form of government, with all it's checks and balances, the devolution of power, our decentralized form of government... this is 1 reason why we have it.
When you have don't just have crooks and criminals, but crooks and criminals who have powerful political allies, (take Steve Bannon) and your allies at 1 level of government decides to either not prosecute you, or pardon you, (like with President Trump pardoning Mr. Bannon) we still have criminal accountability and liability in this country.
Because a state where your crimes were committed (in this case New York) could just decide to prosecute you with the same evidence that the Feds had. Which I think might happen with Mayor Eric Adams. But we'll see.
2. If there is any doubt left about whether MAGA stands for the "common man" in America, this should put that to rest. (Assuming there's any room left in America for reason and evidence) Glenn Kirschner was right about that. Safe bet that the people that Mr. Bannon was taking money from for his border wall scheme, were Donald Trump's own voters.
MAGA is not a "working man's" political movement. That's just their political front. They just use these blue-collar voters to gain political power and make themselves wealthy. But most of their backers, where they get most of their resources, comes from the richest people in the country, who believe they have to right to live and operate above the law. And shouldn't be held accountable by anyone. Other than perhaps their own allies.
3. I guess Glenn Kirschner doesn't like the sentence that Mr. Bannon got. But that's not for him or me to decide. He won't be able to operate in New York again, most likely and not be able to do business there again, because he is a two-time convicted felon. And is now out of the charitable business there all together.
4. And my final reaction here is: I wonder if pleading guilty to criminal charges, especially in a deep, blue state, like New York, will cost Steve Bannon any "street cred" with his MAGA Bros. I mean they advertise themselves as the toughest and strongest, of antiestablishment political warriors. And 1 of their biggest and most known players, not just admits in court that he's guilty, but pleads guilty as well.
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