Brian Kolfage

Brian Kolfage is an American far-right political activist, former United States Air Force airman, and convicted felon, currently serving a prison sentence at FMC Rochester.

He co-founded We Build the Wall, a private organization that purportedly aimed to construct a privately funded barrier on the Mexico–United States border; he pleaded guilty in 2022 to federal fraud and tax crimes for defrauding donors to the group.

Kolfage is a triple amputee who suffered injuries during the Iraq War while serving with the U.S. Air Force. He later became a right-wing political activist who established a ring of conspiracy theory-promoting clickbait websites. In December 2018, Kolfage initiated a fundraising campaign ostensibly to build U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed U.S.–Mexico border barrier extension for a nonprofit organization called "We Build the Wall, Inc.," which ultimately raised $25 million, mostly from GoFundMe and other online crowdfunding. The organization constructed a fence near El Paso, Texas on private land adjoining the border using $6–8 million of the donated funds. It claimed that it planned to construct further barriers on private lands adjoining the border with Mexico in Texas and California, but never did so.

In August 2020, Kolfage was indicted, along with Steve Bannon and two other co-defendants, on federal charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of We Build the Wall donors by diverting money that was raised to personal use. Federal prosecutors said that the defendants, despite telling donors that Kolfage would not be paid, schemed to divert $350,000 to Kolfage, "which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle." He graduated in 1999 from Kaimuki High School in Honolulu. He joined the U.S. Air Force and, in 2001, was assigned to the 17th squadron of the Air Force Security Forces, stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

Kolfage was injured in Balad on September 11, 2004, after a missile exploded three feet away from him after he left his quarters. He lost both legs and his right hand, and received a Purple Heart for his injuries. He was hospitalized for nearly a year at Walter Reed Medical Center, After his discharge from Walter Reed, he took a civilian job at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base until enrolling in college.

During his time at Goodfellow, he met his second wife, Ashley (née Goetz), whom he married in 2011. where they settled in Miramar Beach.

Business ventures

Fake news websites and social media activity By 2013, Kolfage began to spread conspiracy theories on social media.

He ramped up his online presence in 2015. Sites that Kolfage either owned or was closely associated with included Freedom Daily; Keep America First; Right Wing News; Trump Republic; and VeteranAF. They were heavily promoted on Facebook.

In October 2018, all of Kolfage's Facebook news pages – as well as his "Military Grade Coffee" page – were taken down as part of Facebook's purge of spam and "inauthentic activity" sites. Facebook cited Kolfage's creation of multiple fake accounts and posting of "ad farms" links. Other social media targets of Kolfage included the National Butterfly Center, which is located adjacent to a border fence constructed in the Rio Grande Valley. Kolfage's social media rants prompted federal prosecutors to complain that Kolfage's statements had "the potential to taint a future jury pool."

America First Medical In February 2020, Kolfage started a medical-equipment company America First Medical amid growing alarm about COVID-19-related personal-protective-equipment (PPE) shortages. He told Reuters that he planned for the company to acquire N95 respirators from stockpiles he had found around the world, broker large-volume sales of them, and collect up to 3% of every total sale. He did not explain where the alleged stockpiles were located, nor how he found them.

The deal was not successfully concluded. MAMS' CEO said before the company received payment, Kolfage disputed the transaction with his bank and reported the company as fraudulent to Dubai police. Kolfage also asked his bank to place the $750,000 in his personal account instead of the AFM account. started an attempt to raise $1 billion via GoFundMe for the construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Kolfage said the target figure was achievable, adding "This won't be easy, but it's our duty as citizens." In an email to the Washington Post, Kolfage stated that he began the fundraiser as "political games from both parties" have been holding back funding for the wall. Within three days, over $9 million had been raised.

Kolfage was one of four co-founders of the group. Kolfage served as the public face of the group. and Curt Schilling. Funding was passed through an LLC operated by Shea.

In May 2019, the organization constructed a "weathered steel" bollard fence near El Paso, Texas on private land adjoining the border using $6–8 million of the donated funds. The group claimed that it planned to construct further barriers on private lands adjoining the border with Mexico in Texas and California, but never did so.

The group was praised by Donald Trump Jr., who was a "special guest" at a July 2019 event hosted by the group; Trump Jr. praised the effort, saying: "This is what capitalism is all about. This is private enterprise at its finest. Doing it better, faster, cheaper than anything else. What you guys are doing is amazing."

Kris Kobach, the Republican former Kansas Secretary of State and now its Attorney General, was also involved. In 2019, during his campaign for the U.S. Senate, he sent out a campaign fundraiser using both the corporate name and email list of "Wall" donors. His involvement with "We Build the Wall," as 501(c)(4) organization, and use of the fundraising and campaign mailing lists it was accumulating, raised concerns, as 501(c)(4)s are legally prohibited from coordinating with federal campaigns.

Investigation and indictment On August 20, 2020, Kolfage was indicted and arrested along with Steve Bannon and two other co-defendants (Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea) on charges of defrauding donors to build a border wall along the Mexico–U.S. border and funneling the money for their own personal use; the case is pending in New York federal court. While Donald Trump issued a pardon to Bannon in the final hours of his presidency (before the case could come to trial), Trump did not pardon Kolfage or the other two indicted defendants. The indictment charged Kolfage with knowingly underreporting his income to the IRS—specifically, by claiming an income of $63,000 in his 2019 tax return while failing to report more than $350,000 deposited into his personal bank account from "We Build the Wall" contributors and other sources." Shea had earlier been convicted, in an October 2021 trial.

Pleading guilty, Kolfage acknowledged that he induced donors to contribute to the group "in part through the misrepresentation that I would not profit from We Build the Wall or take a salary or compensation", and that he "knowingly and willingly conspired to receive money from the donations." During the sentencing hearing, Kolfage expressed contrition, saying he was "disgusted, humiliated ... deeply sorry for" his crimes. at FMC Rochester (a Federal Medical Center Prison) in Rochester, Minnesota. Without any reduction in sentence or early release, he would have been released on January 25, 2027, however according to the Bureau of Prisons inmate lookup, he was no longer in custody as of March 6, 2026, with no reason for the earlier release (dates have changed at least six times since incarceration based on look BOP inmate lookup). Upon release, Kolfage will serve an additional three years of supervised release per his sentencing.