New Haven, Connecticut - 20 August 2020

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Schmidt, Ph. D., Associate Professor of National Security and Political Science at University of New Haven:

"What you're going to see is that Steve Bannon is going to become a football right now in the presidential election, at least for the next few weeks, unless something else pops up in the news cycle. The indictment looks really strong. You don't get weak indictments out of the Southern District of New York. And if you just look what's out there on front of – what the U.S. attorney put on the page there, it's pretty astounding."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ARCHIVE: Rome - 26 March 2019

2. Steve Bannon posing for photographers

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Haven, Connecticut - 20 August 2020

3. Matthew Schmidt, Ph. D., Associate Professor of National Security and Political Science at University of New Haven:

"So, this is not about politics, it's about fraud. If you look at the indictment, what you see is that Bannon and (co-defendant Andrew) Badolato, with this organization, promised the investors or promised the contributors to this organization that every penny would go to building a wall with Mexico. And in fact, they consistently defrauded those contributors. The head of the organization took $350,000 dollars. Bannon himself took a million dollars. They engaged in a variety of activities to cover this up."

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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Schmidt, Ph. D., Associate Professor of National Security and Political Science at University of New Haven:

"I think the president should be worried because – not that I think that Bannon is necessarily going to spill beans on the president, there are plenty of beans out there already. But I think that the arrest of Bannon is just one more instance where we look at the corruption in the Trump administration, and it's one more instance where the Democrats can simply stand up and say, 'Joe Biden is a decent guy. Look who he surrounds himself with,' right? 'Donald Trump isn't. Look who he surrounds himself with.'"

The arrest of Steven Bannon for fraud will become "a football" in the presidential election, according to a professor of National Security at the University of New Haven.

"The indictment looks really strong," Matthew Schmidt, Ph.D., said. "It's pretty astounding."

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was arrested on charges that he and three others ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme "We Build the Wall." The charges were contained in an indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

"Perhaps what's most damning is even after they found out about the existence of the investigation, they took extra efforts to cover it up," Schmidt told the Associated Press.

The defendants learned last October from a financial institution that the "We Build the Wall" campaign might be under federal criminal investigation and took additional steps to conceal the fraud, according to the indictment.

"And so, you know, it's as we say...' It's the cover up that's going to get you caught,'" said Schmidt.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Bannon and three others orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors in connection with the online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than $25 million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.

"I think the president should be worried because – not that I think that Bannon is necessarily going to spill beans on the president, there are plenty of beans out there already," Schmidt said.

"The arrest of Bannon is just one more instance where we look at the corruption in the Trump administration, and it's one more instance where the Democrats can simply stand up and say, 'Joe Biden is a decent guy. Look who he surrounds himself with,' right? 'Donald Trump isn't. Look who he surrounds himself with.'"

Bannon is among a stunning list of former Trump associates who have found themselves under indictment or in jail, including his former campaign chair Paul Manafort, his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Multiple messages were left seeking comment from a spokeswoman for Bannon and his lawyer.