Bannon Advised Epstein as Allegations Resurfaced, Texts Show

Late in June 2019, Stephen K. Bannon sent Jeffrey Epstein an excited text: “Dude!!!!! Is this real Tell me this is real.” The exchanges in newly released files show Mr. Bannon advising Mr. Epstein on how to handle renewed allegations, recommending lawyers — including his own — when to lie low and when to seize an opening, and scheduling what they called “media training.” “First we need to push back on the lies; then crush the pedo/trafficking narrative; then rebuild your image as philanthropist,” he wrote in April 2019.

The three million pages released by the Justice Department reveal Mr. Bannon’s name repeatedly in the six months before Mr. Epstein’s July 2019 arrest. The texts and emails show him helping to strategize a response and urging a counter to the “rapist who traffics in female children to be raped by worlds most powerful, richest men” narrative.

Mr.

bannon, epstein, texts, justice department, media training, lawyers, arrest, allegations, philanthropist, trafficking