Will a Presidential Pardon be Enough for Steve Bannon? Maybe Not.A Presidential Pardon May Not Be Enough For Steve Bannon

A Presidential Pardon May Not Be Enough For Steve Bannon

It appears a presidential reprieve is not going to get Steve Bannon out of hot water. Reports from CNN say that New York state prosecutors are also investigating Bannon for his role in a scam to crowdfund a border wall.

Prosecutors have told U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres that they’re not ready to let the defendant go just yet irrespective of his presidential pardon.

In a letter to the court yesterday and reported in AbovetheLaw, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York argued that Bannon’s 11th hour reprieve may eliminate the punishment, but doesn’t magic away the indictment or the evidence against him. Particularly since he didn’t bother to secure a pardon for his alleged co-conspirators and may be called to testify in the case against them.

“The fact that Bannon was pardoned does not extinguish the fact that a grand jury found probable cause to believe that he committed the offenses set forth in the Indictment, nor does it undercut the evidence of his involvement therein which the Government expects to elicit as part of its presentation at trial,” the government writes. “Were the Court to dismiss the Indictment against Bannon, it could have a broader effect than the pardon itself, among other things potentially relieving Bannon of certain consequences not covered by the pardon.”