Steve Bannon wants more aggressive lawyers to represent him when he goes on trial defrauded donors to an online campaign To finance the US-Mexico border wall, he argued in court on Wednesday.
“A political prosecution, harassment, I’ve had for years and going to trial I need people who are more aggressive and will use all the tools to fight it,” said Bannon.
Bannon, a White House strategist during President Donald Trump’s first term, He pleaded not guilty In 2022, he was charged with defrauding donors to the online fundraising effort “We Build the Wall.”
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives for a pretrial conference in a fraud case stemming from a fundraising effort to build a border wall in New York Criminal Court in Manhattan, January 22, 2025.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Prosecutors saw Bannon’s request Wednesday as a bid to delay the trial.
“If there is a request for adjournment because of new lawyers coming in, we would oppose their entry,” said prosecutor Jeffrey Levinson.
Judge April Newbauer did not immediately remove Bannon’s previous attorneys, but she did agree to delay the hearing for a week — until March 4 — to give Bannon’s new attorney, Arthur Aidala, time to get up to speed.
“This doesn’t seem to upset anyone’s apple cart,” Newbauer said. “It gives new advisors a little more time to prepare.”
Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives for a pretrial conference in a fraud case stemming from a fundraising effort to build a border wall in Manhattan, New York, on January 22, 2025.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Aidala promised that he will be ready for the trial by the set date.
“We will roll up our sleeves and get it done,” said Aidala.
The trial is expected to last about three weeks.
Bannon is accused of defrauding New York donors in an online fundraising campaign to build a wall on the southern US border.
Bannon was initially charged with federal crimes, but was pardoned at the end of Trump’s first term.
He is due back in court on February 11.
