Steve Bannon's trial in a border wall charity scheme case delayed until February

NEW YORK (AP) — Conservative strategist Steve Bannon won't face trial until February on state charges of conspiring to dupe donors to build a border wall, a judge said Monday as prosecutors asked for the jury to be anonymous.

Bannon was not in court but listened in virtually as Judge April Newbauer set Feb. 25 for jury selection, postponing it from next month. Bannon did not speak except to say, “yes, ma'am” when asked whether he understood he must be in court on the new date.

Bannon, a longtime ally and onetime White House adviser to former and future President Donald Trump, was recently released from a four-month federal prison stint in a contempt of Congress case.

His trial in the case surrounding the onetime charity known as WeBuildTheWall Inc. had been set to start Dec. 9. Bannon chaired the group’s advisory board.

The judge delayed the trial date after deciding to let the future jurors hear evidence that some of the wall charity's money went to pay a more than $600,000 credit card debt that a separate Bannon not-for-profit organization had racked up in 2019. Prosecutors wanted to introduce it, but defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully that it was irrelevant.

Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy and money laundering in the case. Manhattan prosecutors brought it after Trump pardoned Bannon in a similar federal prosecution that was in its early stages.

The judge has yet to rule on whether jurors' names will be kept confidential.