WH Distances Itself From Bannon Amid His Indictment on Border Wall Fundraising Fraud

The White House has offered its response to former Chief Strategist Steve Bannon being indicted on charges of defrauding thousands of donors who offered financial contributions to the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign.

In a statement released on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany made it clear that President Donald Trump has had no involvement with Bannon since his first presidential campaign and the beginning of his presidency.

"President Trump has not been involved with Steve Bannon since the campaign and the early part of the Administration and he does not know the people involved with this project," the statement read.

According to the statement, the president also had no involvement in the fundraising campaign Bannon is being charged in connection with.

The statement also reiterated Trump's disagreement of a small portion of the wall being built and his criticism of the private group that raised funds for the construction of it.

“I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads," Trump said in July, according to the statement. "It was only done to make me look bad, and perhaps it now doesn’t even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles.”

Although funds were raised for a certain portion of the wall, the White House insisted the president has always viewed the border wall project as solely a government project "far too big and complex to be handled privately" as it credited the Army Corps of Engineers for the work that has been completed.

The statement continued, "President Trump has always felt the Wall must be a government project and that it is far too big and complex to be handled privately." The Trump Administration has already built over 300 miles of Border Wall, thanks to the great work of our Army Corps of Engineers, and will have almost 500 miles completed by the end of the year. Our southern border is more secure than it has ever been."

The White House's response comes just hours after Bannon, Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato, and Timothy Shea were indicted on crowdfunding fraud charges for their involvement in the border wall fundraising campaign.