BREAKING: Steve Bannon avoids jail time in plea deal

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon will plead guilty in his border wall fraud case in New York in exchange for no prison time, according to Law 360.

Bannon faced charges stemming from allegations that he promised donors that contributions to the "We Build the Wall" campaign would be used exclusively for constructing a border wall. Launched in 2018, the campaign raised over $20 million and financed the private construction of several miles of fencing along the southern border. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office, led by Alvin Bragg, claimed that Bannon defrauded donors. Bannon denied the allegations.

"It is anticipated that Mr. Bannon will plead guilty tomorrow under an agreement with the district attorney and the court that he will not receive a sentence that includes any jail time," Bannon's defense attorney, John F. Carman, said.

In January, it was announced that Bannon’s trial would be moved to March 4, following a delay that originally had it scheduled for February 25. The court date was pushed back after approval by Judge April Neubauer, following Bannon’s decision to switch legal representation. 

“I’ve been smeared by a political prosecution — persecution — for years, and I need someone who’s a little more aggressive,” Bannon stated during the hearing, according to the Associated Press. “I need every tool in the toolbox.”

Bannon made the decision to change his legal representation after Newbauer’s ruling last November to allow certain evidence to be presented to jurors. The evidence brought by prosecutors includes an email in which Bannon allegedly expressed concerns about the campaign being “a scam,” according to the Associated Press.

Bannon had previously spent four months in prison in Connecticut, having been released in October of last year. 

Bannon told viewers during his return to his show War Room regarding the coming 2024 election, "I can tell you, in coming from and being a political prisoner in a federal prison, that the young men in this country that are African American and Hispanic detest, detest Kamala Harris. They detest her." 

"You know, Nancy Pelosi sent me to a federal prison," he later added. "She sent me to a federal prison as a political prisoner to do two things to make sure that she tried to tamp down the power of this show, right, tamp down the power of the show, and also to break me. Nancy Pelosi, take out your number two pencil and write this down. This show has never been more powerful. The voices behind it have never been more powerful. The audience has never been more powerful, and we're going to deliver a knockout blow to your progressive insanity on 5 November, and then we're going to secure the deal after that."

"And number two, the four months in federal prison, not only didn't break me, it empowered me," Bannon said. "I am more energized and more focused than I've ever been in my entire life, and I can see clearly just like in 2016 and in 2020 exactly what's going on here and what we have to do to defeat it.”

This is a breaking news story. Refresh for updates.