Trump Ally Steve Bannon Pleads Guilty And Avoids Jail Time In Border Wall Fraud Case

Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a fraud charge related to duping donors who gave money to a private effort to build a wall along the U.S. southern border - a case the conservative strategist has decried as a "political persecution."

Bannon, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump , reached a plea agreement that spares him from jail time in the "We Build the Wall" scheme as long as he stays out of trouble.

Asked how he was feeling as he left the courtroom, Bannon said, "Like a million bucks."

The deal comes just days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Justice Department to investigate what the president called the " weaponization of prosecutorial power ."

The case had been scheduled to go to trial March 4.