Longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon has compounded his legal problems by refusing to pay roughly half a million dollars in legal fees to one of his lawyers — something Trump himself is infamous for in the legal profession, and which has often become an obstacle to him being able to get good counsel.
But according to The Daily Beast, there is actually way more going on behind the scenes — and Bannon may have a legitimate reason to be "at war" with his attorney.
"In recent court papers, Bannon claimed that the well-connected attorney who snagged him a highly coveted presidential pardon from then-President Donald Trump for one case actually crossed a line by speaking to the feds without his permission on a totally separate matter — and continued racking up legal bills long after he’d been told to stop," reported Jose Pagliery. "If this story sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Bannon’s lawyer, Bob Costello, has already been in the news for allegedly doing the same thing — to one-time Trump lawyer Michael Cohen."
A former Goldman-Sachs banker, Bannon has become a key player on the far right, advising the Trump campaign in 2016 and briefly working as a White House adviser before being forced out over clashes with then-chief of staff John Kelly. He has since faced a number of legal problems, including both state and federal charges over allegedly pilfering money from a private fund to build Trump's border wall (Trump pardoned the federal charges, but the state charges remain) and a conviction for contempt of Congress after he stonewalled the House January 6 investigation.
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"Costello is a former federal prosecutor in New York who has remained close with the man who once led the storied U.S. Attorney’s Office for Manhattan: Rudy Giuliani. That relationship has proven to be beneficial for Costello’s clients in recent years. After all, Giuliani was Trump’s personal lawyer — and may have played a role in determining who got pardons," said the report.
His law firm is suing Bannon for $480,487 in unpaid legal bills.
However, Bannon alleges that while Bannon retained Costello for legal services over the federal We Build The Wall charges, Costello is also billing him for legal services in the state charges, the House January 6 investigation, and the subsequent charges in that case — even though Bannon had no formal agreement with him to do so. Bannon also alleges "in or about December 2021 Mr. Costello spoke with the FBI regarding the subpoena that had been served on me by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capital. I did not authorize Mr. Costello to speak with the FBI about that subpoena." Bannon even alleges he told Costello to stop working on his behalf, but he continued to do so.
On the other hand, the report noted, the evidence isn't entirely on Bannon's side either: he unsuccessfully sought to use "advice of counsel" as a defense for refusing to cooperate with the House January 6 Committee because Costello advised him against it.
