Steve Bannon's Trial Postponed

The trial for Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon over allegations he defrauded people who donated to a campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has been postponed by several months.

Bannon, a former White House senior adviser, has pleaded not guilty to several charges of money laundering, conspiracy and scheming to defraud in connection with $15 million in donations a "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign received.

The trial at the New York Supreme Criminal Court was originally set to begin on May 27 by Judge Juan Merchan. However, the judge, who is also presiding over Trump's hush-money trial, which is expected to last several more weeks, has delayed the start of Bannon's proceedings until September, senior Courthouse News reporter Josh Russell first reported.

Bannon will next appear in court in connection to the fraud case on September 23.

In September 2022, Bannon was charged in connection with money laundering allegations that stemmed from a GoFundMe campaign to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a key 2016 campaign promise from Trump.

Bannon was previously charged in an almost identical federal investigation before being pardoned by Trump hours before the then-president left office in January 2021.

Manhattan prosecutors revived the investigation in September 2022 with state-level charges against Bannon, which are not covered by presidential pardons.

Bannon was also found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress in July 2022 after defying a subpoena issued to him by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. He has not spent any time in jail, pending the result of an appeal.

In April 2023, Brian Kolfage, a U.S. Air Force veteran and founder of the We Build the Wall organization, was sentenced to over four years in jail after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other tax- and wire-fraud charges in connection with the millions donated to the campaign, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a press release.

Andrew Badolato, a co-defendant, also pleaded guilty to wire-fraud conspiracy and was sentenced to three years.

A third defendant, Timothy Shea, was found guilty at trial of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and obstruction of justice. In July, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Shea was also ordered to forfeit $1,801,707 and pay restitution in the amount of $1,801,707.

All three men were found to have devised a scheme to move donations to the "We Build the Wall" campaign through entities and bank accounts they controlled, the office said. They then took steps to obscure or conceal the payments, including by using fake invoices and sham contracts.

Correction 05/02/24, 3:35 a.m. ET: The headline of this article has been changed and additional information added to reflect that Steve Bannon did not appear for a motion hearing on May 1.