Steve Bannon’s Former Legal Team Awarded $480,000 In Fees By Judge

New York Supreme Court Judge Arlene Bluth awarded Steve Bannon’s former legal team $480,487.87, the legal retainer that Bannon refused to pay.

Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP represented Bannon in a number of instances, including an indictment that accused him of scamming donors to the “We Bult the Wall’ GoFundMe campaign $1 million. The firm also helped Bannon secure a presidential pardon in 2020.

The firm filed its claim against the former Donald Trump White House adviser in February, stating that they were not paid for legal services from November 2020 through November 2022.

According to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, Bannon only paid $375,000 of the $850,000 that he was billed. Bannon asserted that he instructed his lawyers to stop working on his behalf in January 2022, but that the firm continued to work on matters unrelated to their retainer agreement.

In October, Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $6,500 for refusing to comply with the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection that took place on January 6, 2021.

Bannon argued that a partner of Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, Robert Costello, would be a witness in the case against him, thus he should not have to pay the firm.

In Friday’s ruling, Bluth rejected Bannon’s claims.

“Defendant’s assertion that he need not pay legal fees because an attorney for the plaintiff may be a witness in the case in the District of Columbia is also without merit,” she wrote.

Article by Ava Lombardi