Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon sits during his appearance at the New York Supreme Court in New York City, U.S., February 28, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/ File)
The more than 3 million Jeffrey Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday showed in detail his personal life and network of influential individuals. One such individual is Steve Bannon, the co-founder of far-right news site Breitbart News.
Documents released on Friday suggested that Bannon had a much more extensive and personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than previously known.
It showed that Bannon and Epstein exchanged hundreds of texts and that Epstein provided Bannon with luxury gifts, including Hermès Apple Watches.
The documents also showed that Bannon recorded over 15 hours of video interviews with Epstein in 2018 and 2019 for a planned five-part documentary aimed at rehabilitating Epstein’s public image.
Bannon also coached Epstein on how to appear “friendly” and “sympathetic” for a potential 60 Minutes interview.
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In March 2019, Bannon asked Epstein if he could supply his plane to pick him up in Rome.
A couple of months later, Epstein messaged to Bannon, “Now you can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends.”
The context is unclear from the documents, which were released with many redactions and little clear organization.
Another 2018 exchange focused on Trump’s threats at the time to oust Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he had named to the post just the year prior.
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Bannon, who was one of the most high-profile supporters of Trump in the run-up to the 2016 US Presidential elections, was rewarded with a position in his cabinet.
He served as the White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President from January to August 2017. He was the key architect of Trump’s America First policy and travel ban on Muslim countries.
Bannon left his White House in August 2017 after repeated infights with other key members of the first Trump administration.
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Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon sits during his appearance at the New York Supreme Court in New York City, U.S., February 28, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/ File) 
