An election lie that became fraud resulted in two guilty pleas, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato pleaded guilty for defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors with an online crowdfunding scheme with Steve Bannon known as "We Build the Wall."
The effort raised more than $25 million for the wall after Mexico refused to pay for it, as Trump constantly promised during his 2016 campaign for president.
The Department of Justice says the two men "orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors."
"Kolfage, 39, and Badolato, 57, both residents of Florida, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. In the same proceeding, KOLFAGE also pled guilty to tax and wire fraud charges filed by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida," the department announced.
Bannon was also charged in the scheme, but was pardoned by Trump in one of his final acts in office.
The scheme was roundly mocked on Twitter. Here's some of what people were saying:
It's one thing to defraud your opposition. Another level of loathsome to defraud your supporters.https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1517272632902750209\u00a0\u2026— rabia O'chaudry (@rabia O'chaudry) 1650581309
The thing about right-wing grift is that it gets dangerous if you go too big. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1517272632902750209\u00a0\u2026— Respectable Lawyer (@Respectable Lawyer) 1650585556
We Build the Wall leveraged Fox media coverage and pro-Trump figures to boost their fundraising.\n\nDonald Trump Jr. praised We Build The Wall and Brian Kolfage at a 2018 event saying, \u201cWhat you guys are doing is amazing.\u201d\n\npic.twitter.com/hOL25JoZPI https://twitter.com/sdnynews/status/1517272632902750209\u00a0\u2026— andrew kaczynski (@andrew kaczynski) 1650583569
Oh, so the folks hoping to privately fund the border wall were actually just grifting fraudsters? I'm shocked I tell you. Shocked!https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1517272632902750209\u00a0\u2026— Cliff Walker (@Cliff Walker) 1650581318
Looks like they are going to get to see if walls realy work.https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1517272632902750209\u00a0\u2026— Crustyone (@Crustyone) 1650581889
In August 2020, Trump advisor Steve Bannon was charged with defrauding gullible Trump supporters out of millions of dollars.\n\nTrump pardoned Bannon in Jan 2021, but not the other dudes.\n\n2 of the 3 co-defendants charged with Bannon are now pleading guilty:https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/nyregion/trump-bannon-border-wall.html\u00a0\u2026— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@Rachel Maddow MSNBC) 1650576344
And here\u2019s a TBT of Brian Kolfage and Steve Bannon chatting about @BuzzFeedNews coverage of We Build The Wall during a live-streamed fundraiser in June 2019.\nKolfage pleaded guilty to fraud and taking more than $350,000 from the org. Bannon was accused of taking $1 millionpic.twitter.com/cqKEy76DsL— Salvador Hernandez (@Salvador Hernandez) 1650585495
If you contributed to "We Build The Wall", you paid for a a boat, various luxury vehicles, plastic surgery & salaries for people who said they'd take no salaries because they were "patriots".\n\n... also, a segment of wall that is in danger of falling down.https://www.reuters.com/world/us/leader-push-fund-trumps-border-wall-pleads-guilty-fraud-charge-2022-04-21/\u00a0\u2026— Fr. Robert R. Ballecer, SJ (@Fr. Robert R. Ballecer, SJ) 1650584743
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