Steve Bannon's links to Brexit: Indicted Trump aide is an ally of Nigel Farage

For almost two years, Steve Bannon had his hands on the levers of power as Donald Trump's maverick White House adviser.

But across the Atlantic, he was also wading into another political earthquake after the UK defied expectation and voted for Brexit.

A friend of Nigel Farage and a cheerleader of Boris Johnson, Bannon has championed the Leave movement in Britain and Eurosceptic parties on the march across the continent.

The extent of Bannon's involvement in the historic 2016 vote remains murky and he has long been dogged by links to consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

The now-defunct firm has been accused of harvesting Facebook data and working with Leave.EU, the non-official Out campaign bankrolled by Ukip donor and Farage ally Arron Banks.

Bannon, who has since reportedly distanced himself from the company co-founded it with billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and served as its vice president from 2014 to August 2016 when he joined the Trump campaign.

Steve Bannon has forged a relationship with Nigel Farage (pair pictured at a rally for US Senate hopeful Roy Moore in 2017)

Bannon is believed to have brought the Brexiteer into the Trump campaign in 2016, when Mr Farage spoke at a rally (picture) and provided coaching ahead of the presidential debates

For almost two years, Steve Bannon had his hands on the levers of power as Donald Trump's maverick White House adviser (pictured far right, in the Oval Office)

Email chains purport to link Leave.EU with Cambridge Analytica, but the data firm has reportedly denied wrongdoing.

Bannon, who has also reportedly denied any wrongdoing, has since continued his pro-Brexit enthusiasm, cementing alliances with like-minded figures such as Mr Farage.

He is believed to have brought the Brexiteer into the Trump campaign in 2016, when Mr Farage spoke at a rally and provided coaching ahead of the presidential debates.

The pair were filmed together for a documentary discussing the idea of a pan-European populist movement, fronted by Mr Farage.

In the 2017 clip, they both heap praise on Boris Johnson and discuss the possibility of him becoming prime minister.

When Mr Johnson finally did enter Number 10 in July last year, Bannon was quick to throw his weight behind his leadership.

Burnishing his Eurosceptic credentials in a BBC interview, he said: 'Here we are three years later on from Brexit and you're still not out.

'And now you have a hard deadline on October 31st. I think it was inevitable that someone like Boris would actually come to the forefront and become Prime Minister.

'Boris is a very savvy guy and he's thought about this for a long time.'

A friend of Nigel Farage (pictured together) and a cheerleader of Boris Johnson, Bannon has championed the Leave movement in Britain and Eurosceptic parties on the march across the continent

Bannon departs after testifying at the trial of Roger Stone, former adviser to US President Donald Trump, at the Federal District Court in Washington in November

In the same interview, he underscored his close relationship with Mr Farage, who he claimed he spoke to regularly.

Touting an alliance between the Brexit Party and the Conservatives, he said: 'People have got to remember that Nigel Farage is the only individual in political history in England who has won two national elections, with entities he kind of created himself.'

Earlier this month, Bannon lauded Mr Johnson's own Svengali aide, Dominic Cummings, who masterminded the 2016 vote.

In an interview for a new book, he said: 'A brilliant guy. I think Cummings is very smart where he puts his efforts.

'What I like about him is he has the ability to focus on the main things.'

Today, federal prosecutors alleged that Bannon and three others 'orchestrated a scheme to defraud hundreds of thousands of donors' in connection with an online crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £19million to build a wall along the southern border of the United States.

According to the indictment, Bannon promised that 100 per cent of the donated money would be used for the project, but the defendants collectively used hundreds of thousands of dollars in a manner inconsistent with the organisation's public representations.

Steve Bannon watches as US President Donald Trump greets Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, before a policy and strategy forum with executives in the State Dining Room of the White House February 3, 2017

The indictment said they faked invoices and sham 'vendor' arrangements, among other ways, to hide what was really happening.

We Build The Wall originally promoted a project for three miles of fence posts in south Texas that was ultimately built and largely funded by Fisher Industries, which has received about two billion dollars (£1.5 billion) in funding for wall contracts.

Mr Trump recently criticised that section of wall after it showed signs of erosion, saying it was 'only done to make me look bad', even though it was built by his supporters.

Bannon led the conservative Breitbart News before being chosen to serve as chief executive of Mr Trump's campaign in its critical final months, when he pushed a scorched earth strategy that included highlighting the stories of former president Bill Clinton's accusers.

After the election, he served as chief strategist during the turbulent early months of Mr Trump's administration.

The blunt-spoken, combative Bannon was the voice of a nationalistic, outsider conservatism, and he pushed Mr Trump to follow through on some of his most contentious campaign promises, including his travel ban on several majority-Muslim countries.

But Bannon also clashed with other top advisers, and his high profile sometimes irked Mr Trump.

Bannon, who served in the navy and worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before becoming a Hollywood producer, has been hosting a pro-Trump podcast called War Room that began during the president's impeachment proceedings and has continued during the pandemic.