On August 20, Steve Bannon, a former senior strategic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was arrested by police on suspicion of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors in a border wall-related fundraising campaign, We Build the Wall.
After the incident, Trump hastily cleared his relationship with Bannon and related events. But according to the Capitol Hill newspaper (The Hill) reported on the 20th, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was involved: the name and photos appeared on the website of the "We Build Our Own Walls" campaign.
In this regard, Trump Jr.'s spokesman hastily clarified that Trump Jr. has nothing to do with the organization except for participating in an event and giving a speech, and even he himself learned after media reports that his information appeared on the website and was "endorsed" by the organizers.
Screenshot of the Capitol Hill report
Earlier, according to the US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) and other US media reports, Bannon and three other people were accused of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors through the "We Build Our Own Wall" campaign, and they were arrested by the police on the 20th.
Launched in December 2018, the "We Build Our Own Wall" campaign is to raise money to help Trump deliver on his campaign promise to build a border wall. Immediately after Bannon's arrest, Trump told reporters at the White House that he felt very bad and quickly cleared up the relationship, saying: "I haven't dealt with Bannon for a long time." ”
However, someone in the Trump family seems to have something to do with the Bannon suspected fraud case, and this person is Trump's eldest son, Trump Jr., whose information appeared on the website of the "We Build Our Own Walls" campaign.
In addition to Trump Jr., information on the site includes information on Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, chairman of the 2020 Trump campaign fundraising committee. Among them, Gilfoyle is the girlfriend of Trump Jr.
Screenshot from the homepage of the "We Build Our Own Walls" official website
According to the event website, the homepage contains the three people's views and comments on the event, which is basically positive and positive, accompanied by their names and photos. For example, Trump Jr. praised the border wall fundraising campaign as efficient and well-run, especially the participation of many grassroots, which contributed a lot to the major issue of building a border wall.
Because of this, coupled with Bannon's suspicion of using border wall fundraising activities to commit fraud, Trump Jr. was suddenly caught in the "whirlpool of public opinion".
His spokesman, Amanda Miller, responded in a statement: "More than a year ago, Don (Trump Jr.) gave a speech at an event about building a border wall, other than that, he was not involved in the organization. Trump Jr.'s comments on the "We build our own walls" campaign on the event website came from that speech.
Video screenshots
Trump Jr.'s statement also said he never allowed event sites to use their information as an endorsement or "recommendation," and he himself was unaware of the matter until the media coverage was widespread.
Spokesman Miller said: "Trump Jr. previously praised this group because he believed that the original intention of this group was to build a border wall on the southern border. If anyone else has been deceived, including Trump Jr. himself, the group should be held accountable for their actions. ”
Based on the reports of CNBC, The New York Times and other US media, investigators sued Bannon in the South District Court of New York on the 20th. Also indicted are Timothy Shea, 49, who is alleged to own a shell company, as well as Andrew Badolato, 56, and Brian Kolfage, a 38-year-old Veteran of the Iraq War.
According to the latest news, Bannon, after his arrest, has been released on bail after paying $5 million.
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