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NEW YORK — Stephen K. Bannon is expected to surrender to state prosecutors Thursday to face a new criminal charge, people familiar with the matter said, weeks after he was convicted of contempt of Congress and nearly two years after receive a federal pardon from President Donald Trump in a federal fraud case.
The precise details of the state case could not be confirmed Tuesday evening. But people familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sealed indictment, suggested the prosecution will likely mirror aspects of the federal case in which Bannon was pardoned.
In that indictment, prosecutors alleged that Bannon and several others defrauded aides out of a private $25 million. fundraising effort, called “Build the Wall,” taking funds that donors said would support the construction of a barrier along the US-Mexico border.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which handles statewide prosecutions, has been evaluating Bannon’s alleged involvement in the scheme since Trump pardoned him, The Washington Post reported in February 2021.
Presidential pardons apply only to federal charges and cannot bar state prosecutions.
Trump pardons Steve Bannon after an ugly fallout early in his presidency
Bannon, a The former Trump strategist, who was briefly a White House aide, pleaded not guilty to federal charges in August 2020, after authorities removed him from a luxury yacht and took him to court. He was accused of pocketing $1 million in the scheme.
Months later, in the final hours of his presidency, Trump included Bannon on a broad clemency list of about 140 people.
Two other men, including disabled veteran Brian Kolfage, pleaded guilty in federal court in connection with the fundraising scheme. A trial involving a third alleged participant, Timothy Shea, ended in a mistrial in June when the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The new state indictment comes less than two months after Bannon, 68, was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a House committee investigating the January 6 uprising.
The state case will be heard in New York State Supreme Court by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D). A spokesman for Bragg declined to comment when reached Tuesday evening.
But three people familiar with the matter confirmed that Bannon is expected to surrender on Thursday.
Steve Bannon was found guilty on January 6 at trial for contempt of Congress
When reached for comment, Bannon issued a statement through his spokesman that described the indictment as “false charges” and “nothing more than partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
The state effort to investigate Bannon in the border wall fraud scheme began under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr.
In addition to Bannon’s investigation, Bragg’s office also inherited a long-running investigation into Trump and his business practices. Last month, Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty in connection with a tax scheme. The Trump Organization is expected to face trial in the tax case in October.
Investigators from the New York state attorney general’s office have teamed up with district attorney attorneys to assist in both the Trump trade practices case and the Bannon case.
Bannon’s conviction in July for contempt of Congress related to the Jan. 6 investigation made him the closest Trump confidant to be criminally convicted in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The two-witness trial lasted just one week and established that Bannon ignored a congressional subpoena he was legally required to respond to.