Individual Profile β Steve Bannon
Source: Epstein World Pulse β Master Index. All claims are from internet research as of February 2026. DOJ file evidence cross-referenced 2026-02-26.
Who They Are
Steve Bannon is a political strategist, media figure, and former Executive Chairman of Breitbart News. He served as Chief White House Strategist and Senior Counselor to President Trump in 2017. He was convicted of contempt of Congress in 2022 and served a prison sentence. He had been one of the most prominent public voices calling for the release of the Epstein files prior to their release.
Connection to Epstein β Overview
Bannon exchanged extensive messages with Epstein in 2018β2019 while developing a film project about Epstein. Texts show Bannon apparently helping Epstein strategize on rebuilding his image as a philanthropist and advising him to "push back on the lies." Bannon was notably vocal in demanding the Epstein files be released before they were; after being found in the files himself, he went largely silent on the issue.
Documented Contact (Internet Research, Feb 2026)
- Exchanged many messages with Epstein in 2018β2019 while making a documentary film about Epstein.
- Texts show Bannon apparently helping Epstein strategize on "rebuilding your image as philanthropist" and telling him "first we need to push back on the lies."
- The film project placed Bannon in a position of advising and potentially assisting Epstein in a reputational rehabilitation effort at a time when Epstein was under public scrutiny.
Allegations and Claims
- Bannon appeared to be actively assisting Epstein's image rehabilitation efforts β strategizing rather than reporting or distancing from him.
- No victim has made direct allegations of criminal conduct against Bannon in connection with Epstein.
This Individual's Response
- Bannon had been one of the most vocal public advocates for releasing the Epstein files prior to the release.
- After being found in the files himself, he went largely silent on the Epstein issue β a shift widely noted by commentators.
- No formal public statement from Bannon about his Epstein correspondence has been reported in the source material.
Legal and Professional Consequences
- No Epstein-related charges or investigations against Bannon have been publicly announced.
Key Claims for DOJ Evidence Cross-Reference
- Claim A: Bannon exchanged extensive messages with Epstein in 2018β2019 while making a documentary film about Epstein.
- Claim B: Texts show Bannon advising Epstein on "rebuilding your image as philanthropist" and telling him "first we need to push back on the lies."
- Claim C: Bannon was among the most vocal advocates for releasing the Epstein files before the release; he went largely silent on the issue after being found in the files.
DOJ File Evidence
Searches conducted 2026-02-26. Queries: "Steve Bannon Epstein messages documentary film 2018 2019"; "Bannon rebuild image philanthropist push back lies"; "Bannon Epstein files release transparency demanded"; "Bannon Epstein image reputation public relations strategy."
Claim A β Bannon exchanged extensive messages with Epstein in 2018β2019 while making a documentary film
Verdict: SUPPORTS (partial)
The DOJ corpus confirms that Bannon was actively in Epstein's contact sphere during 2018 and that Epstein was tracking Bannon communications, but does not preserve the full text of their exchange.
Key documents:
- EFTA01061526 / EFTA01061522 (May 12, 2018): Two near-identical forwarded emails in which Epstein wrote himself a memo listing his active contacts and projects. "Steve bannon" appears first in the associates list, alongside Woody Allen, Noam Chomsky, Ehud Barak, James Watson, Ariane de Rothschild, Leon Black, Tom Pritzker, Larry Summers, Joi Ito, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Deepak Chopra, and others. The notes also reference "LSJ" (Little St. James), estate matters, and travel. The placement of Bannon at the top of this list in May 2018 is consistent with an active working relationship at that time.
"steve bannon woody alien. noam chomsky, miro. ehudl barak james watson. ariane rothschild.. leon black. tom pritzker larry summers. joi ito. tede. sultan, jide. jagland. anas shaher hamad gromov, deepak, lang."
- EFTA02622289 (Sep 29, 2018, 1:15 PM): Email with subject line "Alert - bannon" in which Epstein archived a Bannon communication: "September 29, 2018 9:00 AM : bannon conversation-id 326511 date-last-viewed 0 date-received 1538226893 flags 8590195713 remote-id 857412." This is an alert/archive entry for a Bannon text message or conversation, dated precisely within the 2018β2019 window.
- EFTA02622449 (Sep 29, 2018, 12:50 PM): A second "Alert - bannon" email, archiving another Bannon conversation (conversation-id 326504, remote-id 857397), sent 25 minutes before the previous alert. Two separate Bannon communications were archived by Epstein within a single hour on September 29, 2018, confirming active ongoing communication.
Note: The documentary film project is described in internet research but is not named or described in these DOJ files. The files confirm active communication during the claimed period; the documentary context comes from outside the corpus.
Claim B β Texts show Bannon advising Epstein on "rebuilding your image as philanthropist" / "push back on the lies"
Verdict: INCONCLUSIVE
The DOJ files confirm that Bannon and Epstein were in active communication and that Epstein was monitoring/archiving those conversations (see Claim A above). However, the specific quoted phrases ("rebuilding your image as philanthropist," "push back on the lies") do not appear in any DOJ document identified. The text message content itself is not present in the corpus β only Epstein's metadata archives of those conversations (conversation IDs, timestamps) were found.
A separate DOJ document β EFTA01108222 (Oct 15, 2012) β is a formal proposal from a firm called "Reputation Changer LLC" to Epstein, outlining a paid campaign to suppress negative search engine results. This document predates Bannon's involvement by six years and is unrelated to Bannon, but confirms that Epstein engaged in organized reputation management efforts over a sustained period.
The specific Bannon-to-Epstein text content remains unrecovered from the corpus as currently indexed.
Claim C β Bannon was a vocal advocate for releasing the Epstein files, then went silent after appearing in them
Verdict: NOT FOUND (outside corpus scope β expected)
This claim concerns Bannon's public media behavior in 2025β2026, after the DOJ Epstein Files were released under the EFTA. The DOJ corpus covers documents up to approximately 2019. Post-release public commentary, media appearances, and shifts in public position are by definition outside the scope of the DOJ file corpus. No relevant DOJ documents were identified. The claim cannot be assessed from this evidence base.