Embattled 'We Build the Wall' group admits they can't pay lawyer after raising millions: report

Tom Boggioni
August 27, 2021

Fox News screenshot/wall construction screenshot via "We Build the Wall" YouTube Video

According to a report from Fox News 8, the people behind the crowdsourced "We Build the Wall" group who claim on their website that they have pledges for $25 million to build part of Donald Trump's ill-fated border wall along the Texas border are now pleading poverty and claiming they can't pay their attorneys.

The group, whose advisory board includes former Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Kris Kobach, as well as wealthy Blackwater founder Eric Prince, has reportedly been stiffing their legal representation, leading McAllen, Texas lawyer David Oliveira to request withdrawing as one of their attorneys.

According to the report, "We Build the Wall" general counsel Kobach made the admission during a Zoom call on Thursday.

"The essence of it is that We Build The Wall has very limited funds right now to bring the ledger up to balance or close to balance," Kobach told U.S. District Judge Randy Crane with regard to Oliveria representing them in a case filed by the " ... North American Butterfly Association against We Build The Wall and other organizations that built 3.5 miles of border wall on private land along the banks of the Rio Grande south of Mission, Texas, adjacent to the National Butterfly Center," Fox8 is reporting.

According to "We Build the Wall" website, their goal had been to build 100 miles of the wall by using private funds while claiming they have an even 500,000 donors.

With the judge granting Oliveria's request and telling Kobach he needs to find new lawyers, the former Trump adviser told the judge, "It might be expensive and few of us have the assets right now to cover a retainer. So we are willing to let counsel step aside but we would like a fairly generous bit of time to find local counsel and also perhaps have a picture of what it involves," only to have Judge Crane admonish him by stating, "This case just keeps getting delayed and delayed; 90 days seems like a long time."

"Finding a lawyer I don't think is a big problem. I think finding a lawyer who is willing to risk not getting paid is probably the issue here."

The latest legal challenge for the group comes on the heels of founder Brian Kolfage, of Miramar Beach, Florida, facing the possibility of 20 years in prison if convicted on two counts of filing a false tax return and one count of wire fraud related to the electronic filing of his 2019 state tax return, as well as an investigation alleging fraud and money laundering-related offenses by New York investigators.

You can watch a video promoting the group's efforts -- accompanied by Muse's "Uprising," which contains the chorus "We will be victorious" -- below:

Brian Kolfage We Build The Wall VICTORYyoutu.be