Trumpâs Pardon of Bannon Could Raise Risk for 3 Co-Defendants
President Trumpâs former adviser Stephen K. Bannon may now be a witness against three other men accused in a border-wall swindle.
Stephen K. Bannon, once a close adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, was under indictment but received a pardon in the final hours of the Trump administration.Credit.Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Jan. 26, 2021
Of all the pardons former President Donald Trump granted in the hours before he left office, perhaps none was as galling to his critics, government watchdog groups and even some of his allies as the pardon of his former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon.
Synopsis
Bannon’s three co-defendants Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who lost both of his legs and one of his arms during his service in Iraq; Andrew Badolato, a venture capitalist; and Timothy Shea will be left defending themselves without the most prominent figure in the alleged scheme.
AFP
Bannon had been an architect of Trump’s 2016 general election campaign and emerged as one of the most powerful figures in the White House early in the Trump administration before stepping down in August 2017.
By Benjamin Weiser
Of all the pardons former President Donald Trump granted in the hours before he left office, perhaps none was as galling to his critics, government watchdog groups and even some of his allies than the pardon of his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon.