Texts reveal Trump’s right-hand man promised protection for Epstein: ‘Don’t have to worry’

Steve Bannon, MAGA influencer and former White House chief of staff to President Donald Trump, promised to shield Jeffrey Epstein from prosecution just months before his death in prison, newly unearthed text messages suggested Monday.

The text messages – highlighted by author and academic Karen Piper Monday – were part of a document dump of 20,000 pages of files from Epstein’s estate that were released by the House Oversight Committee last week.

“If either one of us, in different investigations will need to testify publicly, it would be preferred to do it with two nostrils instead of one,” wrote Epstein in a text dated Dec. 5, 2018 to a person who, while their name was redacted, is believed to be Bannon based on “contextual clues,” The Guardian and other media outlets have reported.

“You don’t have to worry personally because I’m sending u somewhere beyond extradition,” wrote back the responder believed to be Bannon less than two minutes later.

When the aforementioned text messages were exchanged, it had been less than four months since Bannon was forced out of Trump’s administration, largely over his frequent clashes with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, as well as suspicion that he had been the source of several damaging leaks.

In a separate text message exchange dated June 28, 2019, just 43 days before Epstein died in prison, the disgraced financier texted the individual believed to be Bannon about their friendship, and how he believed it struck fear in Trump.

“Now you can understand why trump wakes up in the middle of the night sweating when he hears you and I are friends,” Epstein wrote.

Bannon and Epstein had maintained a long relationship over the years, with the recent document release revealing more details about their friendship, including the fact that Bannon had advised Epstein on how to rehabilitate his image in the wake of his 2007 criminal conviction for child prostitution.

Bannon had also shot hours of interview material with Epstein that he teased in 2019, but ultimately never released. A photograph of Bannon was also discovered to have been prominently displayed in Epstein’s New York home in August.