Steve Bannon’s legal troubles just got worse
When Donald Trump pardoned Steve Bannon on the federal charges he was facing for a “build the wall” fraud scheme, various legal experts pointed out that the pardon was poorly written and might not hold up in court. Palmer Report also pointed out that Bannon was likely to face state level charges in New York. Now things have taken an interesting turn.
Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue the fraud charges against Bannon, but according to the Washington Post, they’re also refusing to dismiss the existing indictment against him. No one is specifically sure why this is happening. But two scenarios come to mind, and either one would be bad news for Bannon.
The first possibility is that federal prosecutors are still building a criminal case against Steve Bannon on other charges that weren’t properly pardoned, and they plan to use this existing indictment against him as part of the legal proceedings. The second is that the federal indictment is remaining in place because it’s playing some kind of legal role in the criminal case that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is confirmed to be building against Bannon.
Either way, it’s pretty clear that Steve Bannon is going to end up being hit with criminal charges of some kind, whether they be federal or state or both. It’s also clear that prosectors have a specific strategy in mind that somehow includes the existing indictment against him. It’s looking more likely than ever that Bannon will end up in prison.
