Steve Bannon and Accomplices Long Capitalized Off Trump’s Rise to Power

NEW YORK, KOMPAS.com - Steve Bannon and the partners involved in the border wall fraud case have been known to cash in on President Donald Trump’s rise.

One of the partners is a triple-amputee Iraq war veteran who ran news sites publishing exaggerated stories that echoed right-wing rage.

Another one of Steve Bannon’s accomplice owns a company that markets Donald Trump-themed energy drinks.

A third person involved in the border wall fraud case is a former Breitbart columnist and an entrepreneur harboring experience in running failed businesses.

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Now, Steve Bannon and the three men are accused of skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars from a crowd-funded project to build a Mexico border wall.

Their mutual devotion to President Donald Trump and oft-checkered history of capitalizing off his political movement led to their partnership.

Prosecutors say their promises not to take even a penny from the more than $25 million in donations turned out to be lies, allowing them to make such purchases as a luxury Range Rover, a fishing boat, home renovations and cosmetic surgery.

Some court observers believe at least some of the participants believed they could get away with it because their man was in the White House.

“This cast of characters was using Bannon as a front to get the people behind them,” said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami.

“Him thinking he wasn’t going to get caught — and if he did, that he would be pardoned — may have factored a little bit into why he was involved.”

At the head of the We Build The Wall venture was 38-year-old veteran Brian Kolfage of Miramar Beach, Florida, who since losing both legs and an arm in a rocket attack in Iraq has become a conservative activist, motivational speaker and constant presence on social media, haranguing the left, praising Trump and provoking others.

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“We need to elect stone-cold killers,” he posted on Twitter last month. “We will soon have a revolution in this country.”

Hours after his arrest Thursday, he took to Facebook, portraying the case as an underhanded attempt to kill Trump’s reelection chances.