At retrial, jurors weigh ‘We Build The Wall’ fraud claims

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — For a second time this year, jurors get a chance to decide if a Colorado businessman helped turn an online fundraiser to build a wall along the U.S. southern border into a cash cow for its creators. Prosecutors say fraud was in the game plan from the start for Timothy Shea and three others, including ex-President Donald Trump’s onetime adviser Steve Bannon. But a lawyer for Shea told  jurors in closing arguments Thursday that his client did nothing wrong in the online appeal for money that caused thousands of donors to contribute $25 million. A prosecutor insisted that the organizers were thinking about how to line their pockets even before they began collecting money in 2019.