KWRE AM

Longtime ally to President Trump, Steve Bannon, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony fraud for helping to defraud donors who were giving money to “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraiser to build a wall at the southern U.S. border. In exchange for the guilty plea in New York criminal court, Bannon, 71, was sentenced to three years conditional discharge, and waived his right to appeal.

Prosecutor Jeffrey Levinson said in a statement: “The parties have worked out a plea agreement. Mr. Bannon will plead guilty to count 5 of the indictment, which is scheme to defraud in the indictment. He will receive a conditional discharge.” The guilty plea to the felony charge represents Bannon’s second criminal conviction after he served prison time for contempt of Congress.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Bannon will not be allowed to serve as an officer or director of a charity or any charitable organization in New York state, or any fundraising or not-for-profit organization in New York state. He will not be allowed to receive or hold assets for any charitable organizations. He also cannot be arrested during that time period. If he violates the terms of the deal, he could face between 1 1/3 to 4 years behind bars.

Bannon was charged in September 2022 for his role in the We Build the Wall organization that raised millions for an effort to privately build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.  The group and Bannon were accused of defrauding donors of $15 million in donations.

Bannon spent four months in jail last year after being found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before a House select committee investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Editorial credit: John Nacion / Shutterstock.com

New York City Mayor Eric Adams broke his silence on Tuesday, thanking the Justice Department for ordering federal prosecutors to drop the federal corruption case against him, and denying that he broke the law.  Adams was scheduled to stand trial on federal corruption charges starting on April 21.

Adams previously pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that accused him of accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, persuading the fire department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.

The DOJ’s directive from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, that the charges be dismissed without prejudice, suggesting that the that the case was biased, hurt Adams’ re-election bid, and impacted his ability to help the Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration.

In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Adams said he “said from the outset, I never broke the law, and I never would.  It is worth repeating the facts, because many sensational and false claims have been made, so let me be clear: I never asked anyone to break the law on my behalf, or on behalf of my campaign. Never. And I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for any personal benefit.”

Adams thanked President Trump administration’s Justice Department “for its honesty. Now we can put this cruel episode behind us and focus entirely on the future of our city. It’s time to move forward. Despite the fact that I am no longer facing legal questions, I also understand that many New Yorkers will still question my character, and I know that I must continue to regain your trust. I’ve learned a lot over the last year, and this experience has been humbling,” concluding that it has been “the most difficult 15 months of my life.”

On Tuesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she “cleaned house and stabilized” city government after the mayor was indicted, and she will continue “working with him. The mayor needs to stay focused on the issues of the city, that has to be his laser focus. And I’m going to continue to make sure that continues to be his focus. It has to be what we are all working towards to protect New Yorkers.”

Editorial credit: Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com

President Donald Trump expanded on his statement last week about “owning” the Gaza Strip, sharing in an interview with Fox News host Brett Baier that Palestinians would have ‘no right to return’ to their homes in Gaza.

Trump did not provide details about how a purchase of Gaza would occur, or how he planned to move two million people; instead insisting that Palestinians will find new homes in Egypt and Jordan. Trump said in the interview: “We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities; could be five, six, could be two but we’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future.”

The President said that the Palestinians would have no right to return because “they’re going to have much better housing. I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it will be years before you could ever — it’s not habitable.”  Trump added that “It will be years before it could happen. I’m talking about starting to build and I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I can make a deal with Egypt. You know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, two countries that signed the Abraham Accords with Israel normalizing ties during Trump’s first administration, have joined Saudi Arabia in pushing back against the removal of Palestinians from Gaza. They also blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for supporting Trump’s idea for Gaza, after Netanyahu suggested that Saudi Arabia could be a home for a new Palestinian state.

Editorial credit: Chip Somodevilla / Shutterstock.com

A Hamas spokesperson said on Monday that it would delay the next planned round of hostage releases until further notice because of what it called ‘violations by Israel’ of the cease-fire agreement. Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire, during which Hamas has committed to releasing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’ military wing, said in a statement: “Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership has monitored the enemy’s violations and failure to fulfill its obligations under the agreement; including the delay in allowing the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, targeting them with direct shelling and gunfire in various areas across Gaza, and denying relief supplies of all kinds to enter as agreed. Meanwhile, the resistance has fully honored its commitments … Therefore, the release of the Zionist prisoners next Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to and provides compensation for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively. We reaffirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement, as long as the occupation remains committed to them” (per BBC News).

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday: “Hamas’ announcement to stop the release of Israeli hostages is a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and the hostage release deal. I have instructed the [Israeli Defense Forces] IDF to maintain the highest level of readiness for any possible scenario in Gaza and to fortify the defense of Israeli communities. We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7.”

To date, 16 of the 33 hostages set to be released in the first 42 days of the deal have been sent home with Israel releasing hundreds of prisoners and detainees in return.

Editorial credit: BERK CAN / Shutterstock.com