Steve Bannon will turn himself in to New York prosecutors on Thursday as part of a new criminal investigation, The Washington Post reported Tuesday night.
Bannon, a longtime strategist for former President Donald Trump, will reportedly be indicted on charges related to his role in a $25 million fundraising scheme called We Build the Wall. In a previous federal case, prosecutors said Bannon, alongside others, defrauded donors and received more than $1 million from the Mexican border wall campaign despite pledging he would not take any compensation.
Bannon was pardoned in a related federal investigation by Trump. Presidential pardons do not apply to state prosecutions.
The Post notes Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating Bannon and his associates over the We Build the Wall fundraiser since last year, after his pardon.
Bannon decried the investigation in a statement Tuesday night, calling it “nothing more than a partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
“The Soros-backed DA has now decided to pursue phony charges against me 60 days before the midterm election because WarRoom is the major source of the MAGA grassroots movement,” Bannon said, according to NBC News, referencing Democratic donor George Soros and his political website. “The SDNY did the exact same thing in August 2020 to try to take me out of the election. It didn’t work then, it certainly won’t work now.”
“This is nothing more than a partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system,” he added. “I am proud to be a leading voice on protecting our borders and building a wall to keep our country safe from drugs and violent criminals.”
The report comes just a few months after Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas related to the House select committee that is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.