A New York judge has tidy Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon will pay nearly $500,000 to lawyers who allege he defrauded them after they helped him win a pardon from his former boss.
The law firm of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron filed a lawsuit against Bannon in February, alleging that the «War Room» podcaster owed them $480,487.87 in unpaid fees for their work on numerous legal matters, including two federal criminal cases and a court subpoena. House committee that was investigating the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol.
The firm began representing Bannon in November 2020, after he was indicted in New York federal court for allegedly participating in a scheme to defraud donors who wanted to build a wall along the US southern border. USA
Bannon’s co-defendants were convicted, but he was never tried in that case because Trump pardoned him in the waning hours of his presidency.
The presidential pardon «was secured thanks to the help of DHC,» the firm said in its lawsuit.
Bannon has since been indicted on charges related to fraud allegations by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He is scheduled to stand trial in May of next year.
The firm also represented Bannon when he rejected a January 6 committee subpoena, which eventually led to his conviction for criminal contempt of Congress. He was sentenced to four months behind bars, but the sentence has been suspended while he appeals the conviction.
The firm said it did legal work for Bannon through November 2022, only paying about $375,000 of the more than $850,000 it had been billed.
Bannon said he told the firm to «stop working on his behalf in January 2022,» a claim the firm denied.
in a decision On Friday, Judge Arlene Bluth sided with the law firm, saying she had shown that Bannon «was actively seeking» his legal representation «long after the time (January 2022) that the defendant allegedly told the plaintiff that stop providing legal services,» and that Bannon never objected to any of his bills.
Bannon’s current attorney, Harlan Protass, told NBC News: «The judge’s decision was clearly wrong and we intend to appeal immediately.»
An attorney for Davidoff Hutcher & Citron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.