A New York judge refused Tuesday to immediately postpone the Dec. 9 trial of Steve Bannon, who is accused of defrauding supporters of President-elect Donald Trump who donated to an online campaign to fund the construction of a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico.

Bannon, who was a White House strategist during Trump’s first term, pleaded not guilty in 2022 for defrauding donors to “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraising effort aimed at raising money for Trump’s signature policy.

The defense had sought to move the case until January.

Judge April Newbauer left open the possibility of moving the trial date, but only after a hearing Monday on some of the evidence prosecutors want to use — which prosecutors said would not lengthen the trial week.

“We don’t think it has any impact on the length of the trial from the people’s perspective,” Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Jeffrey Levinson said. “The idea that this is a shock or a surprise is, in my opinion, misplaced.”

Prosecutors said they wanted to use certain evidence to establish Bannon’s motive for allegedly defrauding campaign donors. Bannon’s lawyers said they would now need more time to respond.

“We may now have to present testimony and/or evidence contradicting the assertion that Mr. Bannon was motivated by personal gain,” defense attorney John Carman said. He hinted that Bannon’s co-defendants in a related federal case could be called to testify.

Bannon never faced federal charges because he was pardoned by then-President Trump on Trump’s final night in office during his first term. The pardon only applied to the federal case and did not prevent state charges.

Bannon had told donors to the We Build the Wall campaign that their money would go 100 percent toward building a wall along the U.S. southern border, while prosecutors say some of the $15 million dollars in donations had been secretly given to himself and to campaign chairman Brian Kolfage. .

Bannon’s attorney said Bannon was adequately reimbursed for his legitimate expenses.

“The money he was taking was money he had the right to take,” Carman said.

Bannon recently finished serving a four-month prison sentence for charges of contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a subpoena to appear before the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

As he left the court on Tuesday, Bannon arrested several members of the police.

“The people rendered their verdict on this legal battle last Tuesday,” Bannon said, referring to Trump’s re-election. “The hunted are about to become the hunters.”

Bannon named U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Special Counsel Jack Smith and New York Attorney General Letitia James in his remarks.

He did not call Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who filed charges against Bannon over We Build the Wall.