We Build the Wall began as a GoFundMe campaign. Its goal was to raise funds to build the “Trump Wall” along the U.S./Mexico border. Eventually, it evolved into a 501(c)(4) nonprofit—We Build the Wall, Inc.—which is now worth $25 million. Mr. Bannon serves as chairman of the group’s advisory board, and supposedly allocated $350,000 to We Build the Wall’s founder and president, Brian Kolfage. Mr. Kolfage (along with two other officers, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea) is also being charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
You might be asking, “How does any of this constitute fraud?” According to prosecutors, We Build the Wall promised donors that “100% of the funds raised… will be used in the execution of our mission and purpose,” and that its organizers “do not take a penny in salary or compensation.”
Yet the federal attorney’s accusations appear to be totally groundless. According to a 2018 report from The Hill, The assurance that all proceeds would go to building the wall was made on the long-defunct GoFundMe page, not by the existing nonprofit.
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