new york –
Steve Bannon’s recent legal troubles: A lawsuit alleging he extorted more than $480,000 from a former lawyer.
Bannon, a conservative strategist and longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was sued last week for breach of contract by a Manhattan law firm.
Davidoff Hatcher & Citron LLP, from 2020 to 2022, has accused Bannon of refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas and defrauding donors who funded the construction of a wall on the southern border of the United States. Represented Bannon in matters such as criminal cases arising from
The company also said it helped Bannon obtain a presidential pardon shortly before Trump resigned in 2021.
Davidoff Hutcher & Citron said in the lawsuit that Bannon filed claims totaling more than $855,000, but he only paid $375,000, violating his retention agreement.
The company is seeking $480,487 plus interest and legal costs in the lawsuit against Bannon.
A message was left for Bannon requesting comment.
President Trump’s pardon in January 2021 forced federal prosecutors to keep Bannon out of criminal cases, including the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Manhattan prosecutors said he reinstated the issue in September with state-level charges, which are not eligible for a presidential pardon.
Bannon, 69, has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, fraud and other charges.
Bannon will have until next week to find a new attorney, as his current attorney, who is not affiliated with Davidoff Hatcher & Citron, said there were “irreconcilable” differences on how to proceed with the case.
Bannon says all money donated to We Build the Wall will go to building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and that the money will be used to enrich the people involved in the project. accused of making false promises. Prosecutors say Bannon transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to a third party and used them to focus payments on two other people involved in the scheme.
The Manhattan indictment did not identify these people by name, but the details match those of Brian Colphage and Andrew Badlat, who pleaded guilty to federal indictments in April. A third defendant, Timothy Shea, was convicted in October.
Bannon was found guilty of contempt in July last year for defying a subpoena from a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots in the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced to four months in prison in his October. But he remains free while appealing.
Bannon is a former U.S. Navy officer and Harvard MBA who worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and a Hollywood producer before turning to politics. One of his most notable deals left him with a share of the royalties on Seinfeld.
He acquired conservative news site Breitbart News in 2012, played a leading role in the closing stages of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign, and worked as Trump’s chief strategist at the White House for about seven months. . He currently hosts a pro-Trump podcast called “Bannon’s War Room.”
