Federal prosecutors on Thursday indicted four men, including 2016 Trump campaign architect Stephen Bannon, accusing them of conspiring to illegally skim donations to a crowdfunding drive organized by “We Build the Wall.”' The investigation began with a series of complaints that prompted a probe by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

• What is "We Build the Wall'?
  • It's an organization founded in late 2018 by Brian Kolfage, a veteran who supports President Trump's efforts to build a wall along the southern border of the United Stattes. Until Thursday, We Build the Wall had been registered with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services as a charitable organization. Kolfage, who lives in Miramar Beach, was arrested Thursday along with Bannon, Timothy Shea, and another Florida man, Andrew Badolato.
• What exactly does the indictment allege?
  • The document contends the four men conspired to divert more than $350,000 of the $25 million raised through the crowdfunding drive to Kolfage "to fund his lavish lifestyle." Prosecutors say fake invoices were drawn up and a shell company was used in an attempt to hide the money trail.
• How were prosecutors tipped off?
  • During the first half of 2019, a handful of complaints were sent to Floirida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican. Because consumer complaints are handled by Fried's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, they were forwarded to her office, which opened an investigation. ​In a press release Thursday, Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, thanked U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe, who is based in Tallahassee. Last year, Keefe touted the opening of an anticorruption unit within his office he said would rely on intelligence from officials at every level of government. Fried's investigation may have been picked up on by Keefe's unit.
• What did the complaints say?
  • They all cast Kolfage in an unflattering light and suggested his actions in administering the crowdfunding campaign rose to a level of criminality. One complaint alleged Kolfage "has and continues to deceive and mislead the general public to receive donations." Another called for We Build the Wall "to be shut down and audited immediately."
• How did Kolfage respond?
  • With contempt, particularly for Fried, Florida's only statewide elected Democrat and, as such, the party's current standard-bearer in America's preeminent swing state. "None are donors, one cites fake news, and all are democratic (sic) voters according to records. HAVE FUN!" Kolfage tweeted of the complainants ​a year ago.