Steve Bannon is out on bail this morning after being arrested and charged in an alleged “online fundraising scheme” centered around building a border wall.
Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon listens during his arraignment hearing for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering inside Manhattan Federal Court in this courtroom sketch by Jane Rosenberg pic.twitter.com/7z56NMsX2S
— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins) August 20, 2020
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist was allowed to leave custody after securing a $5 million bond, $1.7 million of which was reportedly cash or property.
Law and Crime explains the conditions of his release of what they call “a lenient bail package:”
Bannon’s travel will be restricted to the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (effectively meaning Manhattan and Brooklyn)–as well as Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and certain portions of Connecticut for work.
No international travel will be allowed–and he must surrender his travel documents such as his passport.
The agreement also states that Bannon will not be allowed to use private travel services like airplanes or boats without prior approval.
Bannon appeared defiant as he left court.
A smiling Steve Bannon outside court: “This entire fiasco is to stop people who want to build the wall.” pic.twitter.com/z7FjJGgpPJ
— Bobby Cuza (@bcuza) August 20, 2020
Now there are questions about what connection Donald Trump and those in his family have to this “We Build The Wall” project. The president tried to distance himself from Bannon and the alleged scheme on Thursday, calling it “inappropriate.” But today HuffPost points out there were several instances that connect Trump or his family to the project. Here’s one meeting involving the president himself:
“(L)ast August, Amanda Shea — Timothy Shea’s wife and a member of We Build the Wall’s leadership team — said on Twitter that she had met with the president and discussed the project in detail.”
Timothy Shea is charged in the indictment along with Bannon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1pbpAFl1_I/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Here’s Brian Kolfage and his wife with Eric Trump at Mar-A-Lago. This was posted to his wife’s instragram account on Feb. 24, 2019. pic.twitter.com/df7EEotjej
— Steve Contorno (@scontorno) August 20, 2020
Donald Trump Jr. praised We Build The Wall and Brian Kolfage at a 2018 event: "This is private enterprise at its finest. Doing it better, faster, cheaper than anything else. What you guys are doing is amazing.” pic.twitter.com/hOL25JoZPI
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) August 20, 2020
Watch more from CBS This Morning above.