A trial date has been set in the criminal case against former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who’s charged with duping donors out of money in an alleged phony project to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The case is set to go to trial May 27, 2024, following a hearing Thursday in Manhattan.
Bannon had pleaded not guilty last September to charges of money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud.
New York State prosecutors accuse him of defrauding donors who paid more than $15 million to Bannon’s “We Build the Wall” fundraising push. The prosecutors asserted in their indictment that Bannon hid his role in diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project’s chief executive.
Two other defendants in the alleged scheme, Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, pleaded guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced to prison.
A third defendant, Timothy Shea, was convicted in October of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money and falsification of documents. He’s scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Bannon’s case is being heard in the same courthouse where former President Trump is being tried on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy related to his role in hush money payments during the 2016 campaign season.
The same judge, Juan Merchan, is presiding over the cases of both Bannon and Trump.
Thursday’s hearing to set Bannon’s trial date reportedly took just four minutes, after which Bannon said, “We’ll see you back in here in May” and left the courthouse in a black SUV.
