Steve Bannon

Former White House Chief Strategist (2017) and political consultant. EFTA documents reveal an extensive personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein spanning April 2018 through July 2019, documented in hundreds of iMessage texts (DS9) and emails. Bannon served as Epstein's de facto media strategist, drafting talking points to minimize Epstein's sex crimes, coaching him on press response ("Have you lost your fucking mind— the moment you say ANYTHING this is global story #1" — EFTA01616057), and coordinating counter-narrative efforts against the Netflix "Perversion of Justice" documentary ("We need to get surrogates in there big league— we must fuck this film up" — EFTA01615708). Bannon explicitly strategized shifting Epstein's public image "from pedophile/trafficker to prostitution" (EFTA01620907). Also brokered meetings with high-profile figures including Noam Chomsky, Ehud Barak, and Sebastian Kurz, and attended dinners at Epstein's 9 East 71st Street residence with Barak and UN General Assembly President Lajcak (EFTA00814522, EFTA02240105).

Classification basis: Tier 4 (Associated): Extensive documented personal contact with Epstein Apr 2018-Jul 2019 via hundreds of iMessage texts. Served as de facto media strategist coaching Epstein on press response, drafting talking points, coordinating counter-narratives against Netflix documentary and Miami Herald reporting. Strategized shifting narrative from pedophile/trafficker to prostitution. Attended dinners at 9 E 71st with Barak, Chomsky, Lajcak. No evidence of awareness of or participation in trafficking. Relationship is transactional — media/legal strategy for geopolitical access.