Prosecutors are arguing against dismissing a federal fraud and money-laundering indictment against former White House strategist Steve Bannon\u00a0\u2014 even though Donald Trump pardoned him before the president left office.<\/p>\n
The battle comes as CNN reported Wednesday that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had subpoenaed records related to the same criminal allegations against Bannon. Trump can only issue pardons for federal, not state or local, criminal cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos argued in a two-page letter Thursday to Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York that Trump\u2019s pardon eliminated punishment for Bannon in the federal case against him \u2014 but not the criminal indictment. The argument was in response to Bannon\u2019s move earlier this week to dismiss the federal case.<\/p>\n
Bannon was indicted for allegedly pocketing about $1 million from the nonprofit charity We Build the Wall. The group raised close to $25 million, mostly in small-dollar donations from Trump supporters, promising it would all be used to help construct the wall on the Mexican border.<\/p>\n
The charity\u2019s officers Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea did not get a presidential pardon and are awaiting trial on similar charges.<\/p>\n
A pardon is \u201can executive action that mitigates or sets aside\u00a0punishment<\/em>\u00a0for a crime,\u201c\u00a0Roos wrote. But the indictment should stand, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that Bannon was pardoned does not extinguish the fact that a grand jury found probable cause to believe that he committed the offenses set forth in the Indictment, nor does it undercut the evidence of his involvement therein which the Government expects to elicit as part of its presentation at trial,\u201d the letter says.<\/p>\n \u201cWere the Court to dismiss the Indictment against Bannon, it could have a broader effect than the pardon itself, among other things potentially relieving Bannon of certain consequences not covered by the pardon.\u201d<\/p>\n Presumably, the federal indictments and evidence against Bannon could be recycled in a state action, which isn\u2019t blocked by Trump\u2019s pardon.<\/p>\n But the strategy to protect the federal indictments for the time being could also end up being a trap for Bannon, who has proclaimed his innocence.<\/p>\n