Bannon

[Visbek]

Well it's just astounding someone could be that arrogantly idiotic. I mean doesn't he know how many people HATE him? Doesn't he know every thing he did would be noticed?

Yes, he is astoundingly arrogant; he didn't think he would get caught. That's true of pretty much any white collar criminal.

And again, the evidence is not limited to just text messages. Bannon controlled "Non-Profit 1," which diverted the money from We Built the Wall to Bannon, Kolfage and others. Prosecutors know about a wire transfer of $370,000 from Non-Profit 1 to Kolfage. They have the false 1099 filings which claim that Non-Profit 1 paid Kolfage's wife for "media."

I.e. in order for this to be a setup, someone would have to have faked text messages to a half-dozen people, that none of those recipients saw; they'd have to fake incorporation documents with Bannon's information and signature, without him knowing it; they'd have to let Kolfage pay for home renovations, a yacht, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, taxes and so on, without any of the other alleged co-conspirators noticing; they'd have to put hundreds of thousands of dollars into Bannon's bank accounts without him questioning any of it; that Bannon spent the stolen money without somehow knowing where it came from.

Plus, the defendants found out from a financial institution in October 2019 that they might be under federal criminal investigation -- and that's when they started trying to hide their actions. Bannon and Badolato started using encrypted communications; they removed any mention from the We Built the Wall's website that all donations would go to building a wall; they added that Kolfage would start receiving compensation, and so on.

And that's just what they knew before arresting him. Now that they have arrested Bannon and seized all his computers and paperwork, there is no question they'll find the rest of the paper trail, and who knows what else.

The idea that Bannon was somehow framed is NOT CREDIBLE. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't explain his role in the non-profit. It doesn't explain why he received funds. It doesn't explain why he and Badolato switched to encrypted messaging after discovering they were possibly under investigation.

So yes, Bannon was arrogant and stupid. He thought they wouldn't get caught. He thought funneling the cash through a non-profit was sufficient to hide their criminal behavior. Claiming that "Bannon was framed!" is nothing more than a desperate attempt to exculpate a former ally of Trump.