Steve Bannon

Steve Bannon — Breitbart executive, 2016 Trump campaign CEO, and White House chief strategist in 2017 — developed a direct working relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after leaving government, blending political back-channeling with reputational crisis-management for a convicted sex offender. Released message threads show Bannon advising Epstein for months on how to blunt scrutiny and reframe his public image, repeatedly characterizing renewed attention to Epstein's crimes as a coordinated "op" and workshopping responses to press coverage, elected officials, and legal risk.¹

By 2019, their relationship had expanded into a proposed "redemption" media project: Bannon filmed extensive on-camera interviews with Epstein and discussed packaging the result as a prestige documentary series.

In a June 2019 text exchange, Epstein asked Bannon, "Did you get the film we shot??" and Bannon described the project as "a Hagiography" requiring "serious people," adding, "Most likely it's a Netflix series." Epstein also stated he had sent "the only copy" of a piece of filmed material to his brother Mark and urged Bannon to forward it to directors — one of several datapoints complicating later public speculation about who controls the footage.²

While Bannon has claimed the interviews were for an investigative expose, multiple contemporaneous accounts and the released texts portray a sustained effort to rehabilitate Epstein's reputation in the final year before his 2019 arrest and death, with the documentary concept functioning as both narrative control and leverage inside elite media and political networks.³

  Snapshot

  Professional Background

Bannon built a career across the U.S. Navy, investment banking, conservative media, and populist political strategy, rising to national prominence as executive chair of Breitbart News and then as CEO of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. After serving in the White House in 2017, he returned to political media and movement-building, operating in a hybrid space of broadcast appearances, donor politics, and narrative warfare — precisely the skill set reflected in his later private advising of Epstein on how to counter reputational and legal threats.¹⁵

  Epstein Timeline

  The "Rehabilitation" Strategy in the Texts

The released messages portray Bannon as a hands-on adviser responding in near-real time to Epstein-related news cycles. Rather than treating Epstein's exposure as a settled consequence of his 2008 conviction, Bannon framed the renewed scrutiny as an organized political/media operation and coached Epstein on how engagement could amplify damage. Threads described in reporting include debates over whether an op-ed would "drive" the story, whether direct outreach to critics would help, and how to route public messaging through aligned intermediaries — illustrating a classic reputational containment playbook adapted to a figure facing uniquely severe allegations.¹

The same messages also show a reciprocal dynamic: Epstein advising Bannon's political communications during a pro-Trump media campaign in 2018, including how to handle criticisms and shape television presentation. That interplay matters because it situates Epstein not merely as a subject of Bannon's camera but as an active participant in right-wing media strategy conversations during a period of heightened national political conflict.⁵

  Documentary Project and On-Camera Footage

Multiple accounts converge on a 2019 filming effort in which Bannon recorded lengthy sit-down interviews with Epstein. Reporting tied to Michael Wolff's book describes Bannon coaching Epstein in preparation for a prospective CBS "60 Minutes" interview that never materialized, while Bannon publicly asserted the filming was for a long-form documentary meant to explore Epstein's behavior and elite connections.⁶

The most concrete window into how the project was conceived appears in the June 28, 2019 texts released in congressional document packets. In that exchange, Bannon describes the piece as "a Hagiography" requiring high-caliber directors and suggests a streaming-series pathway; Epstein presses on whether Bannon received "the film we shot" and states he sent "the only copy" of one filmed component to his brother Mark, urging that it be shared with directors. The texts anchor the project in the language of prestige narrative-making — less an adversarial interrogation than a production designed to make Epstein appear acceptable, even compelling, to an elite audience.²

Separate reporting based on interviews with people around Epstein and Bannon describes the taping as part of a reputational "rehabilitation" push, especially after renewed investigative coverage in 2018; Mark Epstein has said his brother sent him some of the recorded material, reinforcing that Epstein himself retained and distributed copies while alive.⁴

  Meetings and "Paper Trail" Evidence

Congressional investigators have released daily schedules from Epstein's calendar materials, obtained from Epstein's estate in response to subpoena, showing planned meetings with Bannon among many other high-profile figures. Reuters emphasizes that calendar entries do not confirm meetings occurred, but the inclusion of Bannon in these records supports the broader depiction of Epstein's sustained outreach to political-media operators after his conviction and before his 2019 arrest.³

The texts, by contrast, are direct evidence of communication and collaboration. They document granular tactical discussions, including media targeting, sequencing, and the architecture of a reputational counteroffensive — culminating in the documentary concept and filmed material.¹²

  Custody of the Footage and the USVI Estate

Public claims about who "has the tapes" remain contested because no complete custody chain has been made public. What can be stated with documentary support is narrower but significant. First, Epstein's own text message asserts he sent "the only copy" of at least one filmed segment to his brother Mark — evidence that Epstein retained control of some recorded material while alive and did not treat Bannon as the sole custodian.² Second, Mark Epstein has separately said his brother sent him footage of some of Bannon's interview, aligning with the idea that copies existed outside Bannon's direct possession.⁴

Third, Epstein's estate is legally domiciled in the U.S. Virgin Islands and has been the source of large document productions to both the USVI government and Congress. USVI's attorney general announced a settlement in its civil trafficking case against the estate that included cooperation and document provision to assist ongoing investigations, and Virgin Islands litigation materials describe the estate as domiciled in the territory — context for why major Epstein record releases are frequently described as coming "from the estate."⁷⁹ In 2025, investigators publicly stated that released schedules and related materials were produced by Epstein's estate in response to subpoena.³

What is not established in the public record, as of the cited releases, is whether the full Bannon interview archive is exclusively in estate custody or distributed across multiple holders. The documented evidence shows Epstein retained and distributed at least some copies while alive, meaning those materials would have passed to estate control upon his death; Bannon also recorded the raw interviews and may retain copies, though if Epstein commissioned and paid for the production, the legal rights would likely be held by the estate; and investigators have signaled interest in compelling production from any private holder of unreleased footage.²⁸

  Current Status

Bannon has not publicly released the full interview archive. Congressional investigators have continued to publish Epstein estate materials, and lawmakers have indicated that subpoena efforts may extend to people believed to hold unreleased video footage, including Bannon. Meanwhile, the USVI estate framework and prior settlements continue to shape where records surface and how disclosure is negotiated — leaving the Bannon–Epstein filming project as one of the most consequential unreleased artifacts in the broader Epstein evidentiary landscape.³⁷⁸

  References

  Footnotes

1. Steve Bannon advised Jeffrey Epstein for years on how to rehab his reputation, texts show, The Guardian ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. House Oversight Committee document packet (includes June 2019 Bannon–Epstein text exchange) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

3. US House Democrats release Epstein schedules showing plans to meet Musk, Thiel, Reuters ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Steve Bannon filmed Jeffrey Epstein for 15 hours. Where’s the footage?, Business Insider ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

5. Jeffrey Epstein advised Steve Bannon during 2018 pro-Trump media campaign, The Guardian ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. Steve Bannon prepped Jeffrey Epstein for CBS interview, Michael Wolff claims, The Guardian ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

7. U.S. Virgin Islands Attorney General settles sex trafficking case against estate of Jeffrey Epstein for over $105 million, USVI DOJ ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. The Daily Beast summary repost: Top Dem addresses going after Bannon’s secret Epstein tapes, Rep. Robert Garcia site ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Great St. Jim, LLC v. The Estate of Jeffrey E. Epstein et al. (Virgin Islands filing describing estate domicile), PDF ↩