U.S. President Trump Pardons Former Advisor Bannon
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – U.S. President Donald J. Trump has granted clemency to his former senior advisor Stephen K. Bannon, among scores of others in his last hours in power.
Bannon, who was detained in August on a luxury yacht off the Connecticut coast faces trial on charges related to money raised to promote the wall’s construction sought by Trump.
Law enforcement authorities accuse him of siphoning money from We Build the Wall, an online fundraiser for Trump’s contentious border wall with Mexico.
Federal prosecutors allege that Bannon used a non-profit he controlled to divert “over $1 million from the … online campaign, at least some of which he used to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses”.
Officials reportedly said We Build The Wall raised more than $25 million. Bannon has denied one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and another of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The pardoning of the former editor of the rightwing Breitbart website appeared a last-minute move to protect Bannon from his fraud trial this year.
Besides Bannon, outgoing President Trump also pardoned other controversial figures, including former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is serving a 28-year prison term on corruption charges.
Others on the pardon list were rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black who were prosecuted on federal weapons offenses.
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