FILE — In this Jan. 14, 2016 photo, retired U.S. Air Force Sr. Airman Brian Kolfage speaks to the media during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new home he and his family were receiving through the Gary Sinise Foundation’s RISE program at Sandestin, Fla. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was arrested Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, on charges that he and three others, including Kolfage, ripped off donors to an online fundraising scheme “We Build The Wall.” (Devon Ravine/Northwest Florida Daily News via AP, File)
Correction: This column has been changed to correctly identify who “Foreman Mike” works for.
For months I’ve been receiving alarming emails from Brian Kolfage and We Build The Wall, a group raising money to build border barriers on private land along the U.S.-Mexico line.
On May 29, he wrote: “You think you’ve heard the last of the migrant caravans that tried to invade America? Think again. There’s a Surge coming like we’ve never seen before, and it will ride on the back of the reopening of North America after the Chinese coronavirus lockdowns.”
“That’s why We Build The Wall is raising $500,000 over the next 30 days to Stop the Surge, and we need your support today.”
That surge didn’t come, but the emails did, week after week, month after month — always with the same message: Something terrible will happen at the border if you don’t donate now!
People have responded enthusiastically, donating more than $25 million to the effort, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
What was really going on with the constant border-wall fundraising efforts? It should come as no surprise that, if the indictment proves correct, private profiteering was part of the motive for the project led by Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump, and Kolfage.
