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Elon Musk Was Right: Steve Bannon’s Epstein Connections Under New Scrutiny, “Come Hither”

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Steve Bannon

Widely shared photo and video evidence attests to the fact that Donald Trump, before he was President, associated with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The extent and nature of that association, which Trump says ended before Epstein’s crimes came to light, continues to disrupt the preferred Trump political narrative as the full release of the so-called “Epstein files” remains a contentious and divisive issue.

It’s equally well known that other prominent wealthy people also associated, to varying degrees, with Epstein, among them Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Larry Summers, and Steve Bannon.

Bannon’s Epstein connections had been so far a minor part of the story, as the media coverage has focused on Trump. (Fox News and other outlets revealed that Bannon was among the names appearing in Epstein materials released in late September, but received scant attention.)

But the House Oversight Committee’s release this week of thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein, who died in jail in 2019, puts Bannon in the Epstein spotlight in a way he hasn’t been since Elon Musk — leaving his role as Trump’s de facto DOGE chief — publicly shouted in July that both Trump and Bannon were “in the Epstein files.”

The newly released documents shows not just that Musk was right, but that the Bannon-Epstein correspondence dealt with significant political issues (“can u get rid of Powell?”) during Trump’s first term.

Trump may have cut ties with Epstein years before, but Epstein’s exchanges with Bannon — still deeply connected in the MAGA world even after leaving his White House chief strategist job — suggest Epstein’s persistent influence.

The Epstein case has lingered — despite Trump’s attempts to characterize it as a “hoax” — because the lack of transparency is perceived by most Americans as a cover-up to protect the rich and powerful at the expense of Epstein’s victims.

Epstein’s newly revealed correspondence only strengthens the public belief that the late convicted sex offender’s relationship with the powerful demands further scrutiny and exposure.

Indeed, on hardly any issue are Americans less divided than on the conviction that the Epstein files should be released, taking down whomever is implicated in them. Most polls show that upwards of 80 percent of respondents, no matter their political affiliation, want the files released.

The President’s unmet campaign promise to deliver transparency on the Epstein files — Trump said he would “declassify” them (see below) — has only exacerbated rumblings about Trump and his relationship with Epstein, which are being voiced even by prominent MAGA loyalists.

[NOTE: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) all aligned with House Democrats to sign Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie‘s (R-KY) discharge petition to force a vote to release the files.]

Reporting on the newly released Epstein documents, The Guardian asserts that 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.”

The outlet cites “a six-day exchange between the men from 17 to 23 August” of that year. As the exchange shown above demonstrates, the two men were still corresponding in December of that year.

[NOTE: The Guardian says that though the name of Epstein’s correspondent is redacted in the specific exchanges it cites, “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.” BBC reporting draws the same conclusion on Bannon’s identity in these exchanges.]

The exchange cited in The Guardian included Epstein joking about his correspondent’s “come hitler [sic]” look — punning on what the correspondent refers to as “my ‘come hither’ look” during a TV appearance.

It also included a reference to then-American Media executive David Pecker being granted immunity for testimony about Trump’s alleged hush money payments to women. On that subject, Epstein’s correspondent predicted: “More women payoffs coming.”

“Bannon did not reply to multiple requests for comment from the Guardian,” the publication reported. The BBC also received no response from Bannon, it said.

Michael Wolff, a journalist, author and media consultant who cultivated professional relationships with Epstein and others in his circle, says below that he was present when Bannon and Epstein met after the 2016 election. Wolff says Bannon told Epstein, alluding to the potential political damage he might have caused Trump, “you were the only one I was afraid of during the campaign.”

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