Steve Bannon Promised to Help Epstein “Crush the Pedo/Trafficking Narrative”

In the first half of 2019, as federal investigators were preparing to arrest and indict wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein on charges of sex trafficking of minors, the infamous pedophile was apparently receiving daily consolation from a major MAGA world figure: Steve Bannon. The conservative strategist and onetime top aide to President Donald Trump had been in Epstein’s orbit for a few years, ever since he had been cut free by the Trump administration in 2017. Both men referred at times to the other as a close friend, and their collected communications found scattered throughout the 3 million-plus Epstein files released by the Department of Justice back up this impression. On the very day in July of 2019 that Epstein was ultimately arrested, in fact, he had been texting with Bannon about a “documentary film” project the two had been mulling, one that promised to rehabilitate Epstein’s image and serve as a counter to another docuseries project that ultimately became Netflix’s Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich by Lisa Bryant.

Only hours before federal agents arrested Epstein at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport, he had been discussing filming locations for the documentary, with Bannon suggesting that “If we arrange it we can film on the island,” in reference to Little St. James, Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean that is central to many of the sexual abuse and trafficking allegations. After Bannon texted again to ask about filming times (“Can we do late morning say 11 a.m.?”), Epstein replied back with a terse message: “All canceled.” News of his arrest would break later that day.

Despite this intimate association with a man who at that point had been known as a pedophile for more than a decade, following Epstein’s 2008 arrest for solicitation of a minor, Steve Bannon has somehow remained MAGA royalty to many. Although his direct relationship with Donald Trump has been famously start-and-stop, Bannon never really unhitched his wagon from Trump’s caravan, remaining an influential Trump-boosting podcast host, filmmaker and conservative kingmaker. He’s a headlining speaker at MAGA grifter conferences like CPAC and Turning Point USA, among crowds that purport to care about taking down the rich and powerful men who were theorized to appear on the long-sought Epstein “client list.” Bannon has subsequently claimed that the true purpose of his still-unreleased documentary (current ETA, “later this year”) was to be some kind of exposé of Epstein, telling The New York Times that “I am a filmmaker and TV host with decades of experience interviewing controversial figures,” and “That’s the only lens through which these private communications should be viewed—a documentary filmmaker working, over a period of time, to secure 50 hours of interviews from a reclusive subject.”

And yet, in the actual sea of Epstein files released to the public, what we see is not a professionally restrained, journalistic relationship between Bannon and Epstein, but one of mutually shared favors and a concerted effort by Bannon to help Epstein avoid the oncoming storm of retribution that was headed his way. Only three months before Epstein’s arrest, Bannon scheduled a session with videographers and recommended lawyers for “media training,” specifically telling Epstein how they could handle revived allegations of trafficking and pedophilia. As he wrote to Epstein at the time: “First we need to push back on the lies; then crush the pedo/trafficking narrative; then rebuild your image as philanthropist.”

This man, who wanted to help Jeffrey Epstein “crush the pedo/trafficking narrative,” is the voice of one of the world’s most influential conservative podcasts. THIS is the man that Turning Point USA saw fit to introduce with pyrotechnics on stage only TWO MONTHS AGO, to speak to an audience of people who claim to care about getting to the bottom of Epstein’s crimes. That audience went wild, applauding and cheering for Steve Bannon, who told Epstein he would help him “crush the pedo narrative.” Truly, if this does not get Bannon booted from the good graces of the MAGA grifter community, then there is literally nothing that possibly could result in someone’s banishment from that community.

Around the same time, according to NYT, Bannon told Epstein that “we must counter ‘rapist who traffics in female children to be raped by world’s most powerful, richest men'” as a narrative, because “that can’t be redeemed.” Does that sound like someone who doesn’t believe the allegations against Jeffrey Epstein, and wants to help an innocent man prove his innocence? Or does it sound like a hired gun, working with someone he knows full well is a monster, because their political goals align? Fun note: This is also around the same time that Bannon was sharing with Epstein his goal to “take down” Pope Francis of the Catholic Church.

Bannon’s spokespeople told NYT that all the cozy behavior was only so Bannon could get access to his interview subject for the long-planned documentary … the documentary that seemed to be, by all accounts, pro Epstein until after the financier’s suspicious death in a New York City jail in August of 2019. And Epstein, by the way, seemed to be fully aware of the potential value of Bannon’s support, and thus lavishly treated him to gifts and extended offers of favors whenever possible. He bought Apple watches for Bannon and his son. He offered the services of his private jet, and medical work-ups from his private doctors. Bannon’s spokespeople denied to NYT that Bannon ever took him up on said offers, but Epstein clearly never stopped offering his wares, right up to his arrest.

“Whatever you need, I’m in,” wrote Epstein to Bannon in 2018.

Politico published a story citing Steve Bannon as a reputable voice on antitrust reform like three days ago

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— Karl Bode (@karlbode.com) Feb 17, 2026 at 8:25 AM

And even on the topic of who and what “can’t be redeemed,” Bannon contradicts himself within the Epstein files. He shot at least 12 hours of interview footage with Epstein at different points, only a small amount of which appears in the released files. At one point in the footage, Bannon’s voice can be heard off camera telling Epstein that although others might have labeled him as irredeemable, “you are a lot of things–which we will show–but you are NOT that.”

I hesitate to use a phrase from the heart of the MAGA lexicon, but the sheer volume of the Epstein files release has at times resulted in something that actually does resemble the “witch hunt” that Trump has often invoked. There are countless names mentioned or referenced in those millions of pages, some in the midst of a passing conversation, others simply appearing in news clippings. Reporters who wrote about Epstein are “in the Epstein files” by way of association, which does not and should not imply anything negative about them. But when people say that an individual is “in the Epstein files,” it’s connections like Steve Bannon that they’re talking about. Here is a guy who, although not directly accused of any crimes related to sex trafficking, actively attempted to aid Jeffrey Epstein, the sex trafficker, in fashioning the public response to the accusations against him. In what world can you say that you’ll help “crush the pedo/trafficking narrative” to Jeffrey Epstein and be welcomed back into American society?

Even in a nest of hypocrites, Steve Bannon should be cast out and left to rot.