Veteran, financier both plead guilty in ‘We Build The Wall’ fraudulent fundraiser

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Veteran, financier both plead guilty in ‘We Build The Wall’ fraudulent fundraiser
By Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
Apr 21, 07:43 PM
Construction workers build a border wall in Mission, Texas, Monday, Nov. 16, 2020.
Construction workers build a border wall in Mission, Texas, Monday, Nov. 16, 2020. (Eric Gay/AP)

NEW YORK — The co-founder of the “We Build The Wall” project aimed at raising money for a border wall pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in a case that once included former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon.

Brian Kolfage admitted to pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars while promising all donations would pay for the wall. His plea came a month before a trial in a case that began in dramatic fashion in August 2020 when Bannon was pulled from a luxury yacht off the coast of Connecticut and arrested on allegations that he and three others falsely promised donors that all donations would help build a wall on the southern border.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) 1SG Dan Capri CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD SrA John Monette SFC (Join to see) GySgt Jack Wallace SPC Michael Terrell SMSgt Anil Heendeniya CPL Patrick Rasmussen