Steve Bannon, Federal Attorneys Spar Over Pardon

Steve Bannon has asked a judge to dismiss a New York fraud indictment because he was pardoned, starting an unusual legal battle with federal prosecutors in Manhattan who say leniency does not extend to grand jury determination that the former White House strategist committed a crime.

Former President Donald Trump in January pardoned Mr Bannon, who was indicted in August but not convicted of an alleged scheme to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars from a crowdfunding campaign to build a wall along from the southern border of the United States to the southern border of the United States on Mr. Trumps’ signature pledges. . Mr Bannon pleaded not guilty and was released after accepting $ 5 million bail while awaiting trial.

Although pardon was formally filed in the Manhattan federal court case, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres did not dismiss the indictment against Mr. Bannon.

Robert Costello, an attorney for Mr Bannon, asked Judge Torres to dismiss the indictment and end his bail obligations in a letter he sent the judge privately in the month last, but only publicly filed in court on Tuesday.

Manhattan federal prosecutors responded in a letter that they were not opposed to Judge Torres terminating Mr. Bannon from the case or his bail obligations. But they said pardon was not a basis for dismissing the pending indictment.

The fact that Bannon was pardoned does not extinguish the fact that a grand jury found probable grounds to believe that he committed the offenses set out in the indictment, nor does it call into question the evidence of his indictment. involvement in it that the government expects to obtain as part of its presentation at trial, prosecutors wrote.

Mr. Costello and a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment.

Mr Bannon had three co-defendants who were not pardoned and could still stand trial this year. If Mr. Bannon remains charged, prosecutors could more easily use the evidence related to him in those trials, said Daniel Noble, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

Federal courts have rules against using hearsay or second-hand statements as evidence, but one of the exceptions to this rule includes statements made by co-conspirators. If Bannon is still charged, prosecutors could use the emails he wrote or statements he made to potential donors as evidence against the other defendants, Mr Noble said.

With the indictment remaining in place, the grand jury has still determined that there are probable reasons to believe Bannon is part of the conspiracy, said Mr Noble, now a partner at Finn Dixon & Herling.

Judge Torres said on Tuesday she would try to schedule a trial for the other defendants in the Mr Bannons case in the third quarter of 2021.

Leniency attorney Sam Morison said he was unaware that this kind of question of whether an indictment should be dismissed for a pre-sentencing pardon had ever been brought before a court in recent history.

They are asking for a symbolic and moral statement from the court that Bannon did something wrong, said Mr Morison, who worked from 1997 to 2010 at the Justice Department of the Department of Pardon, which assists the president. to grant clemency. This is not the purpose of the criminal justice system, he said.

Former U.S. pardon attorney Margaret Love said there were unresolved legal questions regarding the effect of Mr. Trump’s pardon on Mr. Bannon, which she said was unusual because he didn’t had not been convicted. It doesn’t surprise me that prosecutors want to keep their options open, she added.

Judge Torres has asked both sides to submit written arguments, saying she will not rule on the issue until at least next month.

Mr Bannon still faces a separate investigation by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office into the same alleged border wall project, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Trump’s forgiveness does not extend to state-level charges.

Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com

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