The fallout from the Department of Justice’s release of millions of documents related to its Jeffrey Epstein investigation has been intense, for some: Epstein’s private emails, texts, photos and videos have led to apologies and resignations among members of the political, business and academic elite.
Journalists, influencers and ordinary citizens combing through the documents have accessed a secret world of elites and a new understanding of their proximity to an infamous serial abuser of women and girls. The Epstein files have dominated MAGA media. But on one popular channel — former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast — there’s been hardly a mention of the story that has gripped the country for months.
Bannon’s silence might be explained by his inclusion in Epstein’s orbit. The pair maintained a personal and professional relationship, documented in hundreds of text messages and emails between 2018 and 2019 — years after the nature and extent of Epstein’s crimes were well-known.
Bannon hasn’t been accused of a crime in relation to the Epstein files. He even said he wanted the documents to be made public. In July, as Democrats and MAGA purists called for the release of the documents, Bannon took the stage at a Turning Point USA event and explained why the crowd was so electrified over the issue.
“Number one, it’s the crimes against children,” Bannon said. “But number two, it’s what that trafficking was used for.”
The latest release, which included millions of heavily redacted documents and photos, suggests Bannon knew all about Epstein’s convictions and the more recent allegations against him, and agreed to help rehabilitate his image anyway. Bannon pitched a film that would change the narrative around Epstein, from convicted sexual predator to brilliant philanthropist. In light of those revelations, some in MAGA world are demanding an explanation.
On Monday, Elon Musk shared a post on his social media website, X, that called for Bannon to be investigated over his ties to Epstein. It read in part: “Steve Bannon wasn’t just connected to Epstein — he was one of his closest friends. Hundreds of texts. Personal interviews for a sympathetic documentary.” Atop another, similar post, Musk wrote, “Bannon is evil.”
Musk also appeared in the newest release: documents reveal that he and Epstein emailed several times between 2012 and 2013. In one exchange, they discussed plans for Musk to visit Epstein’s island.
Musk and Bannon have been publicly fighting for years. (Bannon has called Musk a “parasitic illegal immigrant” who should be deported.) Conservative operatives Dinesh D’Souza and Roger Stone, who have their own contentious histories with Bannon, have joined the social media dogpile on him.
Conspiracist influencers — who built alliances within the MAGA movement during the pandemic — have also shifted their focus to Bannon.
“These guys knew each other,” Jason Bermas, a producer of the 9/11 truther film “Loose Change,” said on his podcast last week. “Epstein liked him enough that he wanted to bring him in on a documentary project that was supposed to rehabilitate his image.”
On message boards and forums sympathetic to President Donald Trump, users expressed similar sentiments.
“If you knew someone was a sex trafficking pedo would you keep being their friend, hanging out with them, taking selfies, texting them? Bannon did. Chew on it for a minute,” a user in one forum wrote.
What Bannon wanted or gained from his relationship with Epstein — and exactly what that relationship was — is still an open question. Bannon has been quiet about his appearances in the documents and did not respond to texts requesting comment from MS NOW. But reading through the files offers some clues.
According to texts and emails, Epstein and Bannon were communicating in 2018, roughly a decade after Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges that included solicitation of prostitution from a minor, in a secret deal with federal officials that allowed him a cushy, part-time stay in a Palm Beach, Florida, jail instead of prison.
They texted often, sharing jokes and banter and selfies in halting, typo-riddled messages. They spoke about art, women, U.S. and global politics, TV appearances, the Mueller investigation, the Me Too movement, the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings and cryptocurrency, among other topics. In texts, Epstein referred to himself as Bannon’s “cornerman,” a boxing term for a ringside trainer who advises and encourages their fighter after each round. Bannon called Epstein “brilliant” and a “genius.”
In one of hundreds of affectionate text exchanges, Epstein urged Bannon to see his doctor for a full physical, linking his health to the future of a political movement. “I need you alive and healthy for the long game,” Epstein texted Bannon, “no you no movement.”
Many of the texts were invitations to call. “I don’t like texting,” Epstein explained in one.
“You up???” Bannon texted in September 2018. “Can u call me.”
Bannon and Epstein shared breakfasts and lunches and dinners and snacks, and took early morning, afternoon and evening meetings. Bannon advised Epstein on his image. Epstein connected Bannon to European and Middle Eastern political elites and advised on media appearances. They scheduled meetings in New York and Paris and on Epstein’s island.
“U r pretty good asst,” Bannon texted Epstein, joking that the financier had acted as his assistant by arranging his flight from Scotland to France.
“Massages. Not included,” Epstein quipped back.
Texts show Bannon counseling Epstein in December 2018 on how to navigate fallout from an explosive exposé in the Miami Herald detailing Epstein’s history of abusing girls, and a public re-examination of the so-called sweetheart deal that allowed him to evade more serious consequences.
“Besides curing breast cancer what about establishing THE major center for human trafficking; teenage prostitution; etc etc etc,” Bannon offered. “You can’t buy your way out — unbuyable — can work your way out.”
In February 2019, with New York investigators on his heels, Epstein seemed anxious to get started on sanitizing his image.
“Do you think I can do my own video interview and upload it on you tube,” Epstein asked Bannon.
“Woody said he would help edit. not sure how to stage, what points to make. but better than trying to do an interview that i have no experience doing,” Epstein wrote. “Goal to himanize the monster.”
In April, Bannon laid out a plan: “first we need to push back on the lies; then crush the pedo/trafficking narrative; then rebuild your image as philanthropist.”
Over the next couple of months, the two discussed interviews, plans and payments for the production of a film that would do just that. Bannon and Epstein shot interviews, Epstein suggested that Woody Allen would consult, and when Epstein worried about his presence on camera, Bannon consoled him: “You got nervous and tried to be funny — we can work thru that easy — u r natural.”
A small portion of the project — a two-hour interview that seems to have been filmed in Epstein’s New York City home — was made public last week, too. It concludes with Bannon asking Esptein, “Do you think you’re the devil himself?”
The film wouldn’t be completed. In their final texts, on the day of Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges in New York, Bannon arranged a filming on Epstein’s island for the next week. Late that same evening, a text from Epstein’s number came: “All canceled.”
Epstein died by suicide in jail the next month, as he awaited trial in Manhattan.
Until last week, the only time “War Room” had covered Epstein in the previous six months had been when a guest host sat in Bannon’s chair. But on Jan. 30, Bannon broke the streak, returning from his toss to a live Justice Department press conference where Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the imminent release of the files.
“I’m sure this is going to be highly controversial,” Bannon said of the new releases, offering nothing about his own relationship with the convicted sex offender. “And you’ll see how that plays out.”
Brandy Zadrozny is a senior enterprise reporter for MS NOW. She was a previously a senior enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York.