Donald Trump's ex-strategist Steve Bannon has won dismissal of an indictment that accused him of defrauding donors who paid to fund the building of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said dismissal was 'the proper course' in light of a presidential pardon Bannon received from Trump, which he signed just hours before he left the Oval Office on January 20.
Tuesday's decision ended months of legal wrangling over how the court system should handle the pardon.
Bannon was 'thrilled' with the indictment's dismissal, his lawyer Robert Costello said after the news was announced.
'She certainly got the result right,' Costello said, referring to the judge.
Bannon, 67, was charged in August with fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to crowdfund the wall along the border with Mexico.
Donald Trump's ex-strategist Steve Bannon has won dismissal of an indictment that accused him of defrauding donors who paid to fund the building of wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He is pictured last August
More than $25 million was raised in donations for the 'We Build The Wall' campaign, yet prosecutors alleged that Bannon spent at least $1 million of that on his own expenses.
Three others were charged alongside Bannon, but were not given pardons by Trump.
It was not immediately clear how the dismissal will affect those three co-defendants, or whether they might try to steer blame toward Bannon as they defend themselves.
They are still preparing to stand trial, The Washington Post reports.
Back in February, prosecutors argued the pardon Trump gave Bannon does not eliminate probable cause of guilt or undercut evidence of his involvement in crimes.
While they conceded that he might not face prosecution, they claimed the indictment against him should remain in place. Tuesday's ruling dismisses that argument.
It is currently unclear whether the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office, which brought the case, intends to appeal Judge Torres' ruling.
Bannon, Trump's former campaign manager, seen in 2017, was pardoned by him in January
The We Build The Wall scheme raised $25million to fund part of the border wall (file image) but prosecutors claimed it was a scam. Bannon was accused of getting $1million in the alleged scheme
Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges, and insisted that he would be cleared, claiming the case was politically motivated.
His lawyer touted his innocence again on Tuesday.
'A pardon doesn't rewrite history.... But in this case, we're dealing with a person who is presumed innocent by the Constitution of the United States and whose plea was not guilty, and nothing changes that history either,' Costello stated.
Bannon was arrested aboard a superyacht owned by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui last year.
He was released on $5million bail, secured by $1.75million in assets.
Bannon became a voice of nationalist, outsider conservatism while leading the Breitbart News prior to 2016. He was then tapped to serve as chief executive officer of Trump's campaign in its critical final months.
He later served as chief strategist during the turbulent early days of Trump's administration and was at the forefront of many of its most contentious policies, including its travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries.
But Bannon, who clashed with other top advisers, especially Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, was pushed out after less than a year.
His split with Trump deepened after he was quoted in a 2018 book making critical remarks about some of Trump's adult children.
However, Bannon and Trump have managed to somewhat mend their strained relationship as evidenced by January's pardon.
Bannon now hosts a pro-Trump podcast called 'War Room'.
Bannon pleaded not guilty to the charges, and insisted that he would be cleared, claiming the case was politically motivated
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