Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon has reportedly faced defeat in a legal dispute in which he was trying to get out of making further payments to former legal representatives of his.
The dispute was in state court in New York, and according to the website RadarOnline.com, Judge Arlene Bluth has ruled that Bannon must pay over $480,000, which would cover both some of the original expenses that were disputed and costs associated with the lawyers bringing this follow-up matter to try and recoup their costs. The firm that had challenged Bannon in hopes of bringing in those payments was Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, where Robert Costello — a past lawyer for the former Trump adviser — has worked.
The legal representation the firm provided included dealing with Bannon’s earlier federal indictment over a sham fundraising operation that had been marketed as collecting money in support of the southern border wall that Trump wanted. In reality, Bannon and associates of his in that operation stood accused of taking large amounts of the money for themselves. After a presidential pardon from then-White House occupant Donald Trump that covered the federal case, Bannon was charged over the matter again in New York. He was also hit with an entirely new federal case that originated after Trump left office and covered Bannon’s lack of compliance with subpoena demands from the House panel that investigated the Capitol riot. Bannon was found guilty, but the case is moving through appeals.
Among other arguments, Bannon claimed that because of Costello’s prospective involvement as a witness against him, legal fees were no longer in order. Bluth failed to see how Bannon’s argument was relevant. “Nor did the defendant adequately explain how the fact that an attorney might be called as a witness is a valid defense to not paying legal bills,” the judge said, per that same website.
Elsewhere, Trump himself seems likely to face more criminal charges potentially at the state and federal levels that deal with his attempts after the 2020 presidential election to remain president.
