Steve Bannon Released texts show media advice given to Maga influencer

The convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently served as a behind-the-scenes adviser to the former Trump official and Maga influencer Steve Bannon during an August 2018 media campaign to defend Trump and his agenda, and to promote Bannon’s media ventures.

- Jason Wilson

Steve Bannon, who was receiving Epstein's feedback on TV appearances during the 2018 pro-Trump push

(PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVEN FERDMAN/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

Text messages released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday detail a six-day exchange between the men from 17 to 23 August, and show Epstein coaching Bannon on television appearances and political messaging.

One side of the conversation is sent from an iMessage account associated with an Epstein email address, and while the name of Epstein’s correspondent is redacted in the documents as released, contextual clues - including references to Fox News appearances, his August 2017 firing from the White House and his work on the documentary Trump @War - make it clear the other participant is Bannon.

It is not known whether the released material is excerpted from a longer conversation. Bannon did not reply to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian. When Elon Musk said this year that “Bannon is in the Epstein files”, Bannon told the Independent he wanted a special investigator to look into “all” the Epstein documents.

The exchanges offer a detailed picture of Bannon’s efforts to continue supporting Trump a year after his acrimonious departure from the White House and show Epstein’s close involvement in crafting messaging on tax cuts, immigration and even security clearance revocations.

They also show the two men’s responses to breaking scandals. When news broke on 23 August 2018 that the National Enquirer publisher, David Pecker, had received immunity in the Michael Cohen case, Epstein texted: "Pecker immunity one more drop." Bannon texted: “Huge event huge”, followed by “More women payoffs coming”.