Jeffrey Epstein was accused of sex trafficking, but his friend Steve Bannon stood by him. Despite Epstein’s toxic behavior, they had a seemingly chummy relationship. They exchanged texts and emails about finance, science, politics, and the Trump White House.
In June 2019, Stephen K. Bannon sent Jeffrey Epstein excited texts, saying “Dude!!!!!” Is this real? Mr. Epstein had just texted him a headline from The Miami Herald, reporting that victims of his sexual abuse had lost a court battle to nullify a decade-old agreement that protected him from prosecution.
Bannon advised Epstein on how to handle resurrected allegations and recommended lawyers to hire. He also helped strategize a defense and recommended a crisis communications expert to “drive the narrative off” negative press. Despite Epstein’s promises of perks, such as an all-expenses-paid trip on his private jet, Bannon claimed he never took them up.
In the years leading up to Epstein’s arrest, their communication showed a level of seeming chumminess, with the two men exchanging political gossip and jokes about each other. However, after news broke that federal prosecutors were reviewing Epstein’s 2008 criminal case, their messages took on a new urgency.
Epstein peppered Bannon with questions about how to respond to the reports, and Bannon offered his own suggestions, including hiring crisis communications experts and driving the narrative off negative press. Despite these efforts, Epstein was ultimately arrested in July 2019 and died in jail in August 2019.
The relationship between Epstein and Bannon has raised eyebrows, as many had expected Bannon to distance himself from Epstein given Epstein’s accused toxic behavior. The newly released files reveal a level of seeming chumminess between the two men, with some suggesting that Epstein may have been trying to ingratiate himself with Bannon for his documentary.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/us/politics/jeffrey-epstein-steve-bannon.html