Thursday, August 20, 2020

ANOTHER MILLION JOBLESS THIS WEEK - TRUMP SAYS KEEP THE 'CHEAP' LABOR FOREIGNERS FLOODING INTO U.S. JOBS!

 

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise Back Above One Million

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Josh Johnson / Unsplash
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of laid-off workers seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose to 1.1 million last week after two weeks of declines, evidence that many employers are still slashing jobs as the coronavirus bedevils the U.S. economy.

The latest figures suggest that more than five months after the viral outbreak erupted the economy is still weak, despite recent gains as some businesses reopen and some sectors like housing and manufacturing have rebounded. A rising number of people who have lost jobs say they consider their loss to be permanent.

The total number of people receiving unemployment aid declined last week from 15.5 million to 14.8 million, the government said Thursday. Those recipients are now receiving far less aid because a $600-a-week federal benefit has expired, which means the unemployed must now get by solely on much smaller aid from their states. The loss of the federal benefit has deepened the struggles for many, including a higher risk of eviction from their homes.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to provide $300 a week in federal unemployment aid, with money drawn from a disaster relief fund. Twenty-five states have said they will apply for the federal money, though they would need to revamp their computer systems to do so. Other states are still considering whether to take that step; two have said they won’t.

Some states may be hesitating to overhaul their unemployment systems because they expect Congress to eventually pass a new rescue package with an enhanced jobless benefit that might not require any changes.

In states that decide to pay out the $300, the government estimates it would take three weeks, on average, for the states to send the money to the unemployed. And initially only enough money is being allotted to cover three weeks of payments. Even with subsequent grants, analysts estimate that there would be enough money to last only five or six weeks.

The continuing stream of layoffs comes against the backdrop of a modest recovery from a deep recession and a virus that is still paralyzing much of the economy. Home construction and sales have bounced back. So have auto purchases. But spending on travel, entertainment and many other services remains weak. Small businesses are struggling. And unemployment, at 10.2%, remains elevated.

State Dept. OKs 100,000 Extra Green Cards for Foreign Visa-Workers in 2021
Social Security card and permanent resident on USA flag - stock photo United States of America social security and green card with US flag on the background.
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The Department of State will soon offer a huge reward of more than 100,000 extra green cards in 2021 to the Indian and Chinese visa workers who took U.S. jobs from American graduates.

Usually, 145,000 green cards are annually given to employers’ foreign workers and their family members. But, “at this time, it is estimated that the FY 2021 Employment-based limit will be at least 250,000,” the agency said. 

The extra green cards for the Fortune 500’s visa-workers will be offered in just six weeks, after September 2020. They were freed up by the coronavirus-caused decline in family migrants in 2020, said a statement to Breitbart News from the State Department.

The cards are extremely valuable because they allow the recipients to stay and work in the United States, to become citizens in five years, and to start the process of chain migration. 

The agency is also adding roughly 11,000 green cards to the 2020 quota, up to a planned total of 156,253 green cards by September 31.

The H-1BJ-1F-1, and L-1 visa workers who will get the cards are already working in the jobs needed by U.S. graduates, so there will be no immediate increase the population of foreign workers in the U.S.  But the extra green cards will immediately raise the incentive for more foreigners to sign indentured-service contracts that offer green cards in exchange for many years of underpaid work in U.S. jobs.

The department offered a cryptic legal explanation for its decision to transfer the unused 2020 green cards for family migrants into the 2021 “Employment-Based” account:

The State Department is required to make the determination of the worldwide annual numerical limitations and control the allocation of preference numbers, as outlined in Sections 201, 202, and 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

However, the agency made its policy priorities clear by saying the change “is intended to maximize number use under each year’s annual limit.”

“Do they have no self-awareness of how that looks, and what they are doing at the behest of the visa-program abusers?” responded Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies. “The employment situation is not improving very much, and especially in technology,” so the administration should preserve Americans’ access to job and wages, she said, adding:

I think that would be a good [courtroom] legal fight to have. I’m not saying the administration would win, but it is certainly a matter of debate as to whether the government has to get around to issuing the year’s quota of green cards in an unprecedented crisis.

The green-card transfer rule is included in the 1990 immigration-expansion law that was signed by GOP President George H.W. Bush, said John Miano, a lawyer with the Immigration Reform Law Institute. ‘It is another gift to America from the Bushes … We get the immigration system that the people in power lobby for, and this is what they want,” he said.

But the State Department’s decision also threatens the jobs of GOP legislators, because it will expand the political power of Indian migrants who overwhelmingly vote for the pro-diversity, anti-solidarity party. For example, in Texas’ 22nd district, Democrat Sri Preston Kulkarni is relying heavily on Indian-American voters to help win the seat now held by retiring GOP Rep. Pete Olson. “The H-1B visa issue is huge; it is the engine that powers this district,” Kulkarni told IndiaWest.com.

The current backlog of foreign employees waiting to get one of the 145,000 cards is huge and growing because of three U.S. laws and one economic reality.

The economic reality is that India’s population of 1.3 billion is so huge and poor that it produces roughly 20 million new workers each year — including millions who are willing to work in the United States for 30 years at low wages to get green cards. India’s government, U.S. investors, and the Fortune 500’s staffing companies are trying to get many of those workers into the U.S. labor market.

The first U.S. law says an unlimited number of Indians can get into the United States to work for at least three years, by first getting a technology degree at a U.S. university, or by getting slots in the uncapped H-1B, L-1 or J-1 visa-worker pipelines. Roughly 1.3 million foreign graduates are now working in U.S. jobs.

The second U.S. law says individuals from each country can only get 7 percent of the green cards each year, or about 10,000 cards. That pro-diversity “country cap” rule means the many waiting Chinese workers face a multi-year wait for cards — and that the huge number of Indian workers face a multi-decade wait for cards, while they work for their employer.

The third U.S. law says employers can convert an unlimited number of their temporary contract-workers into permanent contract-workers just by nominating them for green cards. So many Fortune 500 CEOs are nominating at least 60,000 Indians for green cards each year, knowing the migrants must work long hours at low wages for many years to get their valuable green cards.

A March report by the Congressional Research Service said the current backlog includes roughly 400,000 Indian workers, 52,000 Chinese workers, and 10,000 workers from other countries, plus a similar number of spouses and children, for a total backlog of almost 1 million. The backlog is expected to reach 2.3 million in 2030 as employers hire additional indentured workers instead of Americans.

But the huge backlog is also creating a recruiting problem for Fortune 500 companies.

The huge number of wait-and-work Indians — roughly 800,000 — have voluntarily and collectively clogged the Fortune 500’s pipeline for visa workers. The last Indian to join the line can expect to wait several decades — or more than 100 years — to get their green cards under current rules. This decades-long wait means the Indian pipeline is partially blocked because many potential Indian recruits instead seek jobs and residency in Canada and other countries.

However, nearly all GOP and Democrat legislators are working to unclog the Fortune 500’s foreign recruiting problem.

The primary fix is Sen Mike Lee’s S.386. The latest version of Lee’s bill creates a “Green Card Lite” legal status that allows visa workers full access to the U.S. labor market just two years after their employers nominate them for green cards. Lee’s bill is stalled, even though it has few public opponents and is strongly backed by the Fortune 50 companies. Lee’s bill gets minimal media coverage even though it would ensure that many U.S. graduates — including the children of today’s tech experts, reporters, scientists, editors, and political activists — will be frozen out of top-tier jobs in the leading technology companies.

But the State Department’s power to shift visas now offers an alternative fix for the clogged Indian labor pipeline — if family migration is kept low for a few years by epidemics, regulatory change, or even congressional decisions.

The extra green cards are a boon for the Fortune 500.

The State Department did not explain how the 100,000-plus extra cards would be distributed in 2021. For example, it did not explain if the green cards would also be distributed to the EB-5 category, where many Chinese and Indian investors are waiting for their so-called “Golden Visas” after lending money to U.S. real-estate developers.

The extra green cards may also be a win for hospital chains who are building their own pipelines of compliant foreign healthcare workers instead of training and hiring American doctors and nurses. The chains use the H-1B and J-1 visa programs to import doctors from many countries that already have a shortage of doctors. They also import nurses by first getting green cards for their hires, including many nurses from the Philippines. 

The United States’ labor force consists of roughly 130 million Americans, plus at least 20 million legal immigrants and at least 8 million illegal-migrant workers.

The visa programs are valuable to employers because they allow the Fortune 500 companies to suppress salaries with a workforce of roughly 1.3 million foreign white-collar temporary workers, and roughly 800,000 foreign blue-collar temporary workers.

Many of these white-collar and blue-collar contract-workers accept low wages for long hours in tough jobs because their employers promise to give them the deferred bonus of green cards, which are provided by American citizens and taxpayers. 

The green cards are hugely valuable to foreign employees because they can be converted into U.S. citizenship in just five years. The conversion allows the migrants to free themselves, their spouses and all their descendants to the end of time — plus some of their chain-migration relatives — from their home countries’ grinding poverty, pre-modern cultures and diverse application of the laws.  

The green cards are also a valuable subsidy to employers because they allow employers to get cheap foreign workers with promises of Americans’ legal rights, high-trust culture, shared wealth, and generous society. 

Advocates for American employees, however, lament the inflow of foreign workers. 

“All the big money is always on the side of issuing more visas, not less,” said Vaughan, adding that the State Department is tugged by the money to support more migration:

The State Department is not on the same team as the White House team because many people at the department think the visa programs are good for the country. … They have a lot of other priorities and have historically used visa issues a tool of policy to extract other [diplomatic, economic, and security] concessions from other countries. They’re willing to use American jobs that are lost to visas as a bargaining chip for their foreign priorities.

On August 12, the agency announced a wide list of exemptions to President Donald Trump’s June 22 Executive Order that temporarily barred the arrival of H-1B visa workers.

Trump should take action to block the 100,000 extra green cards, Vaughan said:

This is a reelection year, he ought to be looking at what he can do to show American voters that he will put their interest above the interest of the big tech titans, and so order the State Department to go slow on visa issues during this serious employment crisis.

If Trump allows the green cards to be issued, she said:

The only people he would be doing a favor for are the people who replaced Americans in the big tech companies. They won’t do him any favors. He needs to resist the temptation to pander to ethnic groups because he won’t be able to out-pander dams and he risks alienating the American voters who put him into office. More and more Americans are awakening to this [Fortune 500] business of using [Indian] staffing companies to replace people … He needs to keep this visa suspension in place long enough to do damage to this [outsourcing] business model, not just to stop a few people coming in this year. He needs to change the way companies hire, to wean them off foreign labor. He’s got to put them into cold turkey.

ANOTHER TRUMP CRONY INDICTED - STEVEN BANNON AND THE LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND INFAMOUS

 IMAGES HERE:


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8647401/Steven-Bannon-arrested-INDICTED-multi-million-wall-fraud.html

Donald Trump's former aide Steven Bannon is arrested and INDICTED over 'ripping off $25 million crowd-funded border wall to pay for his and co-founders' lavish lifestyles' - and president says it's 'SAD' and he knows 'nothing' about 'showboating' scheme

  • Steve Bannon, once Donald Trump's most trusted aide, is arrested on a 150-foot yacht off the Connecticut coast and is due in court accused of being part of massive fraud scheme
  • He is alleged to have ripped off the We Build The Wall scheme which planned to build a crowd-sourced border wall
  • They raised money claiming the idea was 'Trump approved' and took in $20 million on GoFundMe before being kicked off the platform, then $5m more
  • 'Non-profit' told hundreds of thousands of donors the people behind it were volunteers but secretly were being paid, feds say 
  • Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York say he helped run scheme which funneled donations to its co-founders 
  • Some of the cash has built sections of wall - and Donald Trump Jr. visited one of them in show of support
  • Bannon received $1 million and kept hundreds of thousands for his personal expenses
  • Massive amounts of cash went to Brian Kolfage, the triple amputee co-founder who prosecutors say spent it on his lavish lifestyle 
  •  Kolfage used the money he received on home renovations, boat payments, an SUV, a golf cart, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, tax and credit card debt
  • His wife Ashley received cash too and posted on instagram about their lifestyle

Former Donald Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday and charged with defrauding hundreds of thousands of people as part of a group which promised to use private money to build a section of border wall, a signature issue of the president.

The We Build The Wall scheme raised $25 million to fund its own barriers in Texas and New Mexico, some of which have been built. The group's online appeal for funds included a picture of President Trump and a stamp that said 'Trump Approved.' His son Don Jr. visited one section in Sunland Park, New Mexico, in July 2019.

But prosecutors say it was a scam: donors' cash was also funneled to its founder Brian Kolfage and to Bannon.

Bannon, who helped steer Trump's campaign then joined him in the White House in 2017 as chief strategist only to be forced out, is accused of getting $1 million in the alleged scheme, spending hundreds of thousands of that on 'expenses.

He was arrested on a 150-foot yacht off the coast of Westport, Connecticut, NBC News reported. 

The group's founder, Kolfage, is also accused of fraudulently pocketing funds. He claimed he did not get a cent from the scheme but instead got $100,000 up front and $20,000 a month salary, prosecutors allege, living a lavish lifestyle at Miramar Beach in the Florida panhandle.

Kolfage, an Iraq war veteran who had both legs amputated and lost his right arm in a rocket attack, was arrested at his home in Florida.

At the White House Trump denied knowing anything about the scheme and tried to distance himself from his former campaign manager.  

'I feel very badly. I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time,' he said in the Oval Office, adding: 'I haven't been dealing with him at all. It's a very sad thing by Mr. Bannon.'

'He was involved in our campaign and for a small part of our administration.' In fact Bannon was the campaign CEO for its last 88 days after the ousting of Paul Manafort - who is now a convicted felon himself -  and then was Trump's 'Chief Strategist,' with a West Wing office close to the Oval Office.  

He also tried to distance himself from the scheme despite its ties to his inner circle, saying: 'I don't like that project. I thought it was being done for showboating reasons. It was something I very much thought was inappropriate to be doing.' 

In handcuffs: Steve Bannon was arrested and was due to be taken to federal court in Manhattan to face a judge on fraud charges

In handcuffs: Steve Bannon was arrested and was due to be taken to federal court in Manhattan to face a judge on fraud charges

'Sad.' Donald Trump, who met Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi at the White House, tried to distance himself both from Bannon - saying he had not dealt with him for a long time - and the wall scheme, despite its ties to his family and inner circle

'Sad.' Donald Trump, who met Iraqi prime minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi at the White House, tried to distance himself both from Bannon - saying he had not dealt with him for a long time - and the wall scheme, despite its ties to his family and inner circle

Trump feels 'SAD' after Steve Bannon is arrested for fraud
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How it was marketed: This was the GoFundMe originally set up to 'privately fund' a border wall

How it was marketed: This was the GoFundMe originally set up to 'privately fund' a border wall

Husband and wife scam: Prosecutors say Brian Kolfage funneled cash to himself to pay for boat payments, cosmetic surgery and tax and credit card debt, with his wife Ashley, 34, getting cash which was concealed too. She is not indicted

Husband and wife scam: Prosecutors say Brian Kolfage funneled cash to himself to pay for boat payments, cosmetic surgery and tax and credit card debt, with his wife Ashley, 34, getting cash which was concealed too. She is not indicted

Trump world star: Donald Trump Jr. visited a section of the wall built by Brian Kolfage's scheme in New Mexico in July 2019

Trump world star: Donald Trump Jr. visited a section of the wall built by Brian Kolfage's scheme in New Mexico in July 2019

HOW ALLEGED FRAUD  WORKED 

In 2018, Kolfage set up the GoFundMe account in support of President Trump and to prove the nation's appetite for a border wall between the US and Mexico.

It was inundated with donations from Republicans and had collected more than $20million by December that year. GoFundMe became suspicious of where the money was going and warned Kolfage to donate it to a legitimate charity or refund everyone who'd given to it.

That is when, prosecutors say, Bannon, Timothy Shea and Andrew Badolato got involved. They used shell companies and We Build The Wall Inc, a not-for-profit formed by Bannon to launder the money back to Kolfage and keep some for themselves, it's claimed.

The fund would pay the shell companies, then they would deposit the money back into accounts held by Kolfage or his wife, marking the transactions down as for 'media', 'consulting' or 'social media', it is alleged.

Despite claiming on the GoFundMe that he'd 'never take a penny' from the donations, the indictment alleges that Kolfage took a $20,000-a-month salary from it in addition to a one-off, $100,000 payment. In total, he took $350,000, it's claimed.

Bannon allegedly took $1million from it - some of which he used to pay Kolfage, but some he allegedly kept and spent on hotels, travel and credit card debt.

The stunning indictment of a top former Trump advisor comes on Day Four of the Democratic convention, when Joe Biden is set to speak. 

'No one needed a federal indictment to know that Steve Bannon is a fraud,' said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield on a conference call with reporters.

Trump, she said, 'has consistently used his office to enrich himself, his family and his cronies, so is it really any surprise that yet another one of the grifters he surrounded himself with and placed in the highest levels of government was just indicted? Sadly, it is not.'  

The investigation did not involve the FBI - but did involve the U.S. Postal Inspectors. It was led by prosecutors from the public corruption unit of the United States Attorney's office in Southern News York - the same unit which charged Jeffrey Esptein and arrested Ghislaine Maxwell.

Prosecutors say the group promised donors it was a volunteer effort that would direct all funds toward a crash effort to construct wall without government red tape. In reality, say federal prosecutors in New York, the group's founders siphoned off funds for themselves.

'As alleged, the defendants defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction,' according to the indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York Thursday morning.

'While repeatedly assuring donors that Brian Kolfage, the founder and public face of We Build the Wall, would not be paid a cent, the defendants secretly schemed to pass hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kolfage, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle,' according to the indictment.

'In particular, to induce donors to donate to the campaign, Kolfage repeatedly and falsely assured the public that he would 'not take a penny in salary or compensation' and that '100% of the funds raised . . . will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose' because, as Bannon publicly stated, 'we're a volunteer organization.' 

The indictment states that Kolfage, 37, who lives in Miramar Beach, Florida, with his wife Ashley, 34,  'covertly took for his personal use more than $350,000 in funds that donors had given to We Build the Wall' through a non-profit he controlled.

It states that Bannon, 66, who became wealthy through film investments, consulting, and formerly running the conservative Breitbart website, 'received over $1 million from We Build the Wall, at least some of which Bannon used to cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in Bannon's personal expenses.'

Postal Inspector-in-Charge Philip R. Bartlett: 'As alleged, not only did they lie to donors, they schemed to hide their misappropriation of funds by creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth.'

The indictment says the alleged fraudsters used a non-profit and a shell company controlled by Kolfage.

They used fake invoices, sham vendors as part of the effort, keeping the system 'confidential' and 'need to know,' according to the indictment, which quotes from a Kolfage email. 

Lavish lifestyle: Brian Kolfage boasted about his private jet travel before - now prosecutors say he continued it

Lavish lifestyle: Brian Kolfage boasted about his private jet travel before - now prosecutors say he continued it 

Boats too: Florida-based Brian Kolfage boasted about his lifestyle on Instagram - now prosecutors say innocent donors paid for his way of living including payments on his $600,000 boat

Boats too: Florida-based Brian Kolfage boasted about his lifestyle on Instagram - now prosecutors say innocent donors paid for his way of living including payments on his $600,000 boat

TRUMP-WORLD FIGURES IN THE WALL SCHEME

Steve Bannon: Trump campaign CEO and chief strategist and now high-profile advocate for president is charged with fraud 

Erik Prince: Billionaire mercenary who is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is a director. Prince is close to Bannon

Kris Kobach: Former Kansas secretary of state who led probe into claims of electoral fraud which was closed before it found any is We Build The Wall's attorney

Donald Trump Jr.: Visited section of the wall in New Mexico in July 2019 and features prominently on its website 

Eric Trump: Posed with Brian Kolfage and his wife at Mar-a-Lago

Also indicted are Andrew Badolato of Florida and Timothy Shea of Colorado.

According to financial disclosures when he joined the White House staff, Bannon was worth between $10 million and $48 million in 2017, with most of the value in his consulting firm, Bannon Strategic Advisors. 

Trump fired Bannon in Agust 2017 after the adviser publicly disagreed with the administration's North Korea policy. Trump later said Bannon had 'lost his mind.'

But more recently Bannon has been an influential Trump world voice, appearing frequently on television and running a podcast where Trump aides are guests. There have been persistent reports of regular contact between the two men, but no known in person meetings.

Board members of We Build the Wall include Erik Prince, a the billionaire mercenary who is and brother of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach - another Trump-world figure who led the failed inquiry into alleged voter fraud - and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.  

Kolfage, a Purple Heart triple amputee veteran behind the effort, pushed back at critics after he was accused in public of using funds to fund a lavish lifestyle – which included flying in private jets and buying a $600,000 boat.

He says he bought the vessel a year before the $20 million GoFundMe campaign for the wall. Kolfage was wounded during the Iraq war in 2004.

Pushing back against online critics, We Build The Wall Inc. posted a video on Facebook that showed a factory producing steel bollards.

They wrote: 'Just when we thought that the fake news media couldn't get more ridiculously desperate, they're now proving how low they'll go by claiming that 'We Build The Wall' founder, Brian Kolfage, bought a yacht with the GoFundMe money

Just weeks ago, Trump tweeted out his dissatisfaction with the project after the group built a section of wall just 35 feet from the Rio Grande river on the U.S.-Mexico border, leading to concerns about erosion and flooding.

'I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads,' Trump tweeted. 'It was only done to make me look bad, and [perhaps] it now doesn't.' 

In Trump world: Brian Kolfage and his wife Ashley were guests at Mar-a-Lago in February last year where they posed with Eric Trump. Kolfage frequently tagged Donald Trump and his son Don Jr. on Instagram
Building the wall: The group have constructed some barrier. Its attorney is Kris Kobach (second right) who is close to Donald Trump and led an inquiry into allegations of voter fraud which wrapped up without finding any

In Trump world: Brian Kolfage and his wife Ashley were guests at Mar-a-Lago in February last year where they posed with Eric Trump. Kolfage frequently tagged Donald Trump and his son Don Jr. on Instagram

The group also financed wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas. The group sells tickets for private tours of this section of wall for $20

The group also financed wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas. The group sells tickets for private tours of this section of wall for $20 

'We Build the Wall' has tackled two projects, the three-mile stretch along the Rio Grande in Texas

'We Build the Wall' has tackled two projects, the three-mile stretch along the Rio Grande in Texas  

The group 'We Build the Wall' raised money for construction of this portion of the wall, promoting updates on its social media pages
The section of border wall is a roughly 3-mile fence of steel posts just 35 feet from the Rio Grande

The group 'We Build the Wall' raised money for construction of this portion of the wall, promoting updates on its social media pages 

The explosive indictment comes weeks after Trump fired the U.S. attorney for SDNY in June. It was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, who has stepped into the role after Trump failed in an effort to install his own preferred replacement.

It charges Bannon used the funds he took to secretly repay Kolfage and cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses.

The group's original documents posted publicly stated that '100 per cent' of funds would go to the government for wall construction. After Bannon joined the effort, it shifted to building private wall sections.

The group ultimately had to go back to donors to get approval for the new arrangement, and promised them that Kolfage 'will take no salary.'

Despite 'numerous public statements' that Kolfage wouldn't get paid, the men leading the group reached a 'secret agreement' where Kolfage got $100,000 'up front' and '20 [per] month.'

They 'schemed' to pass the payments 'indirectly' through third parties due to the prior pledge.

An email from Bannon stated that there would be 'no deals I don't approve' from a non-profit he set up that was used to make the payments, which then went forward at $20,000 per month.

To conceal the payments, Kolfage directed Badolato that payments 'should be made to Kolfage's spouse,' according to the indictment. The non-profit issued a 1099 form that nonprofits file with the IRS stating that it had paid Kolfage's spouse for 'media.' That was a reference to Kolfage's wife Ashley, 34.

 

The man who made Donald Trump president: How Steve Bannon led stunning 2016 victory and started shock-and-awe populist attack on the deep state - but lost his White House role in knife-fight with Javanka and now faces losing his freedom  

Steve Bannon, who was arrested on a boat in the Long Island Sound Thursday, helped conceive Donald Trump's populist campaign message – only to fall out of favor and get indicted for allegedly pocketing thousands from fervent believers in a border wall.

His fall now is criminal - but he had already crashed out of the White House after falling foul of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, with the internecine feud ending in his abrupt departure in August 2017 which left him on the outer fringes of Trump-world

Bannon, now 66, was a shadowy and influential figure in Trump's 2016 campaign, where the president systematically went after his primary opponents, clashed with Republican Party elites, inveighed against China and global trade, and framed a populist appeal to 'forgotten' Americans.

He had informally advised Trump before jumping on board from the conservative Breitbart website, which was backed by billionaire Rebekah Mercer.

After his stunning election win over Hillary Clinton, Trump brought Bannon to the White House as his chief strategist, where sketched out early Trump agenda items on a white board.

After his stunning election win over Hillary Clinton, Trump brought Bannon to the White House as his chief strategist, where sketched out early Trump agenda items on a white board.

Team of deadly rivals: Steve Bannon feuded behind the scenes with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, nicknaming them Javanka - but lost the power struggle and was forced out

Team of deadly rivals: Steve Bannon feuded behind the scenes with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, nicknaming them Javanka - but lost the power struggle and was forced out

Trump had called Bannon a 'good person' when he left the White House. Bob Woodward's Trump White House book: 'Fear: Trump in the White House,' contains an account of an angry clash between Bannon and Ivanka after an alleged end-run around Priebus

Trump had called Bannon a 'good person' when he left the White House. Bob Woodward's Trump White House book: 'Fear: Trump in the White House,' contains an account of an angry clash between Bannon and Ivanka after an alleged end-run around Priebus

Always disheveled, and often wearing two shirts at once, the recovering alcoholic, three-time married devout Catholic, and Navy veteran-turned Wall Street banker, brought intellectual heft and street-fighting instincts to first Breitbart, then the Trump campaign.

He installed himself at the center of it, as CEO, but that set up a clash which would prove fatal: the other power center was Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, who Bannon sneeringly named Javanka.

They co-operated for the 88 final days of the campaign with Bannon in charge, but the seeds of a toxic fall-out were sown because it was clear that in Trump-world, there were aides, and there was family. 

After his stunning election win over Hillary Clinton, Trump brought Bannon to the White House as his chief strategist, where sketched out early Trump agenda items on a white board.

He fought internecine battles and sometimes forged unexpected partnerships with Trump's first chief of staff, Reince Preibus, during chaotic early days of the Trump administration.

But after it was revealed he had been cooperating with Michael Wolff in his scathing Trump takedown, 'Fire and Fury,' the president fired him.

Not only had Bannon consented to on-record interviews, he took aim at Trump family members, including Donald Trump Jr.

He called the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting about dirt on Hillary Clinton that was attended by Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner 'treasonous' and 'unpatriotic.' He predicted of authorities: 'They're going to crack Don Jr. like an egg' – something which did not happen.

Wolff reported in 2018 that Bannon told investigators: 'Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad sh**, and I happen to think it's all of that, you should have called the FBI immediately.'

Trump in characteristic fashion distanced himself with Bannon after throwing him overboard.

'Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency' Trump said at the time. 'When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.'

Bannon has eclectic interests and took an unusual path to power outside of the normal channels. He served seven years in the Navy, serving aboard a destroyer. He attended Harvard business school and landed a job at Goldman Sachs.

He sometimes appears disheveled in appearances, and cultivated a rough image, appearing unshaven and sporting wrinkled jackets.

In one of his best early bets, he helped talk a firm during a purchase into taking a percentage of 'Seinfeld' earnings, earning his own percentage on reruns.

He co-founded Breitbart News, calling it 'the platform for the alt-righ,' and helped use it to blast political enemies like the Clintons while building up conservatives.

He also delved into Hollywood filmmaking and made a documentary about Ronald Reagan.

On the campaign, he had the unusual title of Chief Executive Officer, which reflected his role as a strategizer who sought to develop a candidacy based on historical currents he perceived.

After he was out at the White House, Bannon was subpoenaed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators who were probing Trump campaign contacts with Russians.

He reportedly met with them for 20 hours, speaking on multiple occasions, and his assessments are reflected in the Mueller report.

Trump minimized his contact with Bannon in comments at the White House Thursday, downplaying his time as an advisor with an office close to the Oval Office – just as he had when he fired him.

'I haven't been dealing with him for a very long period of time,' Trump told reporters, when asked about the indictments – just the latest to bring one of his key associates into a legal quagmire.     

He is quoted in Wolff's book calling first daughter Ivanka Trump 'dumb as a brick.'

He took a public shot at Ivanka during his ill-fated effort to back Judge Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race, even after Moore was accused of preying on teenage girls as an older man.

'There's a special place in hell for Republicans who should know better,' Bannon said after having left the White House and crusading for outsider candidates.

Ivana had said earlier: 'There's a special place in hell for people who prey on children' in a shot at Moore, who ultimately lost the race.

Trump had called Bannon a 'good person' when he left the White House.

Bob Woodward's Trump White House book: 'Fear: Trump in the White House,' contains an account of an angry clash between Bannon and Ivanka after an alleged end-run around Priebus.

'You're a goddamn staffer!' Bannon screamed at her, writes Woodward. 'You walk around this place and act like you're in charge, and you're not. You're on staff!'

She retorted: 'I'm not a staffer! I'll never be a staffer. I'm the first daughter.'

He also clashed with Kushner, and on CBS '60 Minutes'in 2017 called for Jared and Ivanka's views to be 'counterbalanced' by 'economic nationalists' in the administration like Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller.

He blasted the power couple in a Vanity Fair interview in late 2017. 'The railhead of all bad decisions is the same railhead: Javanka,' he said.

He sneered at Kushner: 'He doesn't know anything about the hobbits or the deplorables,' referencing terms adopted by Trump's fervent base of support. 

 

The luxury lifestyle of Iraq vet and his TikTok star wife who 'bought boats, an SUV, jewelry and plastic surgery with $350,000 that was stolen from We Build The Wall donations'

The Iraq veteran charged along with Steve Bannon and two others with stealing money from the We Build The Wall GoFundMe account spent $350,000 on boats, an SUV, plastic surgery, jewelry, home renovations and credit card debt, prosecutors claim. 

Prosecutors allege that Brian Kolfage, a triple amputee and celebrated war veteran, was the main beneficiary of the scheme.  

In 2018, Kolfage set up the GoFundMe account in support of President Trump and to prove the nation's appetite for a border wall between the US and Mexico

It was inundated with donations from Republicans and had collected more than $20million by December that year. GoFundMe became suspicious of where the money was going and warned Kolfage to donate it to a legitimate charity or refund everyone who'd given to it. 

That is when, prosecutors say, Bannon, Timothy Shea and Andrew Badolato got involved. They used shell companies and a not-for-profit formed by Bannon to  launder the money back to Kolfage and keep some for themselves, it's claimed. 

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Brian Kolfage, 38 ,and his wife Ashley, 33, were the main beneficiaries of the scheme, according to prosecutors. The pair live in Miramar Beach on Florida's panhandle. They are pictured on their boat

Brian Kolfage, 38 ,and his wife Ashley, 33, were the main beneficiaries of the scheme, according to prosecutors. The pair live in Miramar Beach on Florida's panhandle. They are pictured on their boat 

Kolfage launched the private wall effort in December 2018. He took it off GoFundMe recently because, he claimed, the company was not allowing him to fundraise for victims of assaults by BLM protesters

Kolfage launched the private wall effort in December 2018. He took it off GoFundMe recently because, he claimed, the company was not allowing him to fundraise for victims of assaults by BLM protesters

The fund would pay the shell companies, then they would deposit the money back into accounts held by Kolfage or his wife, marking the transactions down as for 'media', 'consulting' or 'social media', it is alleged. 

Despite claiming on the GoFundMe that he'd 'never take a penny' from the donations, the indictment alleges that Kolfage took a $20,000-a-month salary from it in addition to a one-off, $100,000 payment. In total, he took $350,000, it's claimed.

Bannon allegedly took $1million from it - some of which he used to pay Kolfage, but some he allegedly kept and spent on hotels, travel and credit card debt. 

While Bannon is the most recognizable name in the indictment, Kolfage, 38, and his wife Ashley, 33, spent the money most enthusiastically. 

The pair live with their two children in a $290,000 home in Miramar, on the Florida panhandle. 

Ashley is active on Instagram and TikTok, where she shows off their weekends on boats and driving the golf cart prosecutors claim was paid for with the stolen donation money. 

Kolfage with former President George Bush. He lost an arm and both his legs in 2004 in Iraq

Kolfage with former President George Bush. He lost an arm and both his legs in 2004 in Iraq

Ashley describes herself as a model and influencer. She has more than 300,000 TikTok followers and often posts from the couple's home in Miramar Beach, Florida
Ashley describes herself as a model and influencer. She has more than 300,000 TikTok followers and often posts from the couple's home in Miramar Beach, Florida

Ashley describes herself as a model and influencer. She has more than 300,000 TikTok followers and often posts from the couple's home in Miramar Beach, Florida

One of the things prosecutors claim the pair spent the stolen money on was this golf cart that Ashley is seen washing in a TikTok video
One of the things prosecutors claim the pair spent the stolen money on was this golf cart that Ashley is seen washing in a TikTok video

One of the things prosecutors claim the pair spent the stolen money on was this golf cart that Ashley is seen washing in a TikTok video

Ashley posing next to the couple's white Range Rover. An SUVis listed in the indictment as one of the things the couple allegedly bought with stolen money

Ashley posing next to the couple's white Range Rover. An SUVis listed in the indictment as one of the things the couple allegedly bought with stolen money

They are flown around the country privately by charities, and spend the majority of the time on the beach. 

It is a luxurious lifestyle that they only reached after a devastating 2004 attack in  that claimed both his legs and his arm. 

Kolfage was stationed at the Balad Air Base in Iraq when on September 11, 2004, his limbs were shattered by a 107-mm mortar shell. 

He was flown to Germany, then back to Washington, where he underwent extensive surgeries.  

Once he'd been fitted with prosthetics, he moved to Arizona which is where he reconnected with Ashley -then a waitress at Chilli's - having met her years earlier. 

The pair married in 2011 and welcomed two children years later. 

He lived quietly as a war hero until Trump entered the political world. Then, he became an activist. 

In December 2018, he launched the GoFundMe, saying at the time he'd grown sick of 'too many illegals . . . taking advantage of the United States taxpayers' and the 'political games from both parties'. 

The pair often take their boat to Trump flotillas. Above, an image Brian shared recently on social media

The pair often take their boat to Trump flotillas. Above, an image Brian shared recently on social media 

It took off on an unprecedented scale, collecting $20million. 

It propelled Kolfage into the sphere of media and politics. He frequently tweets in support of the president and against the liberal left, trashes COVID-19 as the 'biggest scam the world has ever seen' and fires back at anyone who questions the progress of his wall. 

The wall that his fund was paying for is not the same one the government is building and the president has distanced himself from Kolfage's efforts. 

It hasn't stopped him from pushing ahead with it, even as people questioned where the money was going last May, when there had been seemingly little progress. 

Kolfage came under fire for buying a $600,000 boat that he insisted he purchased before he ever launched the fundraising account. 

It's unclear if it's the same boat prosecutors referred to in their indictment, that he was making payments on.

When they aren't enjoying that boat, the pair are visiting the wall with their children, often flying privately. 

They are also flown around by Carrington, a charity that builds homes for veterans. 

On TikTok, Ashley posts frequently from their home in a bikini, for her more than 300,000 followers. 

In recent videos, she is seen dancing on a table for her husband while he sits quietly. He rarely appears in the videos. 

She did not immediately return DailyMail.com's inquiries on Thursday morning. 

All the president's men indicted and convicted of crimes

ARRESTED AND INDICTED: STEVE BANNON 

Arrested and indicted on August 20, 2020, Steve Bannon and three others are accused of ripping off donors who wanted to self-fund President Donald Trump's proposed border wall. 

Bannon and his accomplices 'orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors,' federal prosecutors alleged. 

Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, joined Trump's 2016 campaign in August of that year alongside longtime Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway.

He became the campaign's CEO and pushed Trump to pursue scorched earth tactics like bringing Bill Cilnton's #MeToo accusers to the second presidential debate to help the campaign weather the fallout from the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape. 

The political aide was named chief strategist and senior counselor when Trump moved into the White House. Bannon only lasted in that position until August 2017. 

GUILTY: ROGER STONE 

Convicted in November 2019 on seven counts including obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks. 

Stone's sentencing was controversial because the Department of Justice pushed for a lighter sentence than what the D.C. U.S. Attorney's office put forward. Trump was publicly complaining about the case. 

In February, Stone was sentenced to 40 months, though never served any jail time, as Trump commuted his sentence in July. Stone had publicly fretted about going to jail during the coronavirus crisis. Stone had been a person of interest in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe long before his January 2019 indictment, thanks in part due to his public pronouncements as well as internal emails about his contacts with WikiLeaks.

In campaign texts and emails, Stone communicated with associates about WikiLeaks following reports the organization had obtained a cache of Clinton-related emails. According to the federal indictment, Stone gave 'false and misleading' testimony about his requests for information from WikiLeaks. He then pressured a witness, comedian Randy Credico, to take the Fifth Amendment rather than testify, and pressured him in a series of emails. 

Following a prolonged dispute over testimony, he called him a 'rat' and threatened to 'take that dog away from you', in reference to Credico's therapy dog, Bianca. Stone warned him: 'Let's get it on. Prepare to die.' 

GUILTY: MICHAEL FLYNN

 In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador. The admission was part of a plea bargain etched out with Mueller investigators. 

Flynn's sentencing was then delayed several times. 

The Justice Department, under Attorney General Bill Barr, filed a motion to dismiss the Flynn case in May, but a U.S. district judge ordered a hold. The matter is still currently held up in court. 

Flynn was President Trump's former National Security Advisor . He previously served when he was a three star general as President Obama's director of the Defense Intelligence Agency but was fired. 

GUILTY: MICHAEL COHEN

Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts including fraud and two campaign finance violations in August 2018. 

Pleaded guilty to further count of lying to Congress in November 2018. He was sentenced to three years in prison and $2 million in fines and forfeitures in December 2018. 

He was released from prison and into home confinement in July due to the coronavirus pandemic.Cohen was Trump's longtime personal attorney, starting working for him and the Trump Organization in 2007. 

Cohen professed unswerving devotion to Trump - and organized payments to silence two women who alleged they had sex with the-then candidate: porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. He admitted that payments to both women were felony campaign finance violations - and admitted that he acted at the 'direction' of 'Candidate-1': Donald Trump. 

He also admitted to tax fraud by lying about his income from loans he made, money from taxi medallions he owned, and other sources of income, at a cost to the Treasury of $1.3 million.And he admitted that he lied to Congress, in a rare use of that offense. 

The judge in his case let him report for prison on March 6 and recommended he serve it in a medium-security facility close to New York City. 

Campaign role: Paul Manafort chaired Trump's campaign for four months - which included the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016, where he appeared on stage beside Trump who was preparing  to formally accept the Republican nomination

GUILTY: PAUL MANAFORT

Found guilty of eight charges of bank and tax fraud in August 2018. Sentenced to 47 months in March 2019. Pleaded guilty to two further charges - witness tampering and conspiracy against the United States.

Manafort was supposed to be jailed for seven and a half years, but, like Cohen, was released in May due to COVID-19 concerns. 

Manafort worked for Trump's 2016 bid for the White House starting in March 2016 and served as campaign chairman from June to August 2016, helping the now-president amass the needed delegates to win the nomination at the the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. 

Manafort was a well known D.C. lobbyist, but in 2015 he needed more funds and offered to work for Trump for free in order to bank new clients afterward. 

The Mueller team unwound his previous finances and discovered years of tax and bank fraud as he coined in cash from pro-Russia political parties and oligarchs in Ukraine.

Manafort pleaded not guilty to 18 charges of tax and bank fraud but was convicted of eight counts in August 2018. The jury was deadlocked on the other 10 charges. 

A second trial on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent due in September did not happen when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and witness tampering in a plea bargain.

Minutes after his second sentencing hearing in March 2019, he was indicted on 16 counts of fraud and conspiracy by the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., using evidence which included documents previously presented at his first federal trial. The president has no pardon power over charges by district and state attorneys. 

GUILTY: RICK GATES

Pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and making false statements in February 2018. 

Gates, a Trump campaign official, was Manafort's former deputy at political consulting firm DMP International. He admitted to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government on financial activity, and to lying to investigators about a meeting Manafort had with a member of Congress in 2013. As a result of his guilty plea and promise of cooperation, prosecutors vacated charges against Gates on bank fraud, bank fraud conspiracy, failure to disclose foreign bank accounts, filing false tax returns, helping prepare false tax filings, and falsely amending tax returns.

Gates was sentenced to three years of probation and 45 days in jail. In April, a judge ruled that he didn't have to report to jail during the coronavirus pandemic. 

GUILTY AND JAILED: GEORGE PAPADOPOLOUS

Pleaded guilty to making false statements in October 2017. Sentenced to 14 days in September 2018 and reported to prison in November. Papadopolous served 12 days and was released on December 7, 2018. 

Papadopoulos was a member of Trump's campaign foreign policy advisory committee. He admitted to lying to Mueller investigators about his contacts with London professor Josef Mifsud and Ivan Timofeev, the director of a Russian government-funded think tank. 

He agreed to cooperate with the special counsel investigation but has criticized it since.