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Mr. Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon in January 2021 before he was set to go to trial on the federal charges. Mr. Kolfage and Mr. Badolato pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud conspiracy in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Mr. Kolfage also pleaded guilty to tax-related charges.

Mr. Shea went to trial in May. Although Mr. Bannon was not on trial, his presence loomed large over the proceedings: Evidence showed him in contact with the others as they discussed media coverage of the campaign and plotted to steer funds to Mr. Kolfage, who initially had said he was not taking any compensation for his role in the wall project.

In a December 2018 text message to Mr. Bannon, Mr. Badolato wrote that the claim Mr. Kolfage, who had lost both legs and part of his right arm while serving in Iraq, “will not be paid a dime” would be “the most talked about media narrative ever.”

“But,” he added, “we gotta find an end around to get him stuff.”

In January 2019, after a Buzzfeed News article raised questions about Mr. Kolfage and We Build the Wall, Mr. Badolato suggested language for a news release asserting that Mr. Kolfage was not taking a salary, Mr. Bannon responded: “COAR can pay him,” an apparent reference to Citizens of the American Republic, a nonprofit organization Mr. Bannon set up in 2017.

Financial records cited by prosecutors showed that $380,000 was sent from the wall group to Citizens of the American Republic, which in turn sent money to Mr. Kolfage and to Mr. Bannon.

After Mr. Trump pardoned Mr. Bannon, in January 2021, the Manhattan district attorney’s office, then headed by Mr. Vance, began its own investigation.