In November 2018, Steve Bannon, formerly Donald Trump's chief strategist, was in the UK preparing for a speech at the Oxford Union. The event was interrupted by hundreds of protesters, and Bannon, who was due to board a flight that night, told Jeffrey Epstein in an email: Protesters slowed down speech don't think I can make the flight we r enroute to heathrow.
Epstein replied: There. Is a gulf air that leaves at 950 with a stop in Bahrain. Bannon responded: U r an amazing assistant.
The messages were published on Wednesday alongside more than 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein's estate, released by the House oversight committee in Congress.
The BBC has established Bannon's identity through context clues from redacted communications that discussed traveling arrangements for him as well as praise for his speech at Oxford. For instance, Epstein offers to charter a plane from Scotland for Bannon, with Bannon thanking him: U r pretty good asst, to which Epstein humorously replied, Massages. Not Included.
Documents also suggest a deeper connection between Epstein and Bannon beyond professional ties, sparking interest in their correspondences, particularly in the wake of the renewed media attention on Epstein's controversial relationships with powerful figures.
The back-and-forth culminated in discussions about UK politics, with Bannon indicating involvement in the Brexit discussions with famous political figures of the time. Bannon remarked that it didn’t seem likely for then-Prime Minister Theresa May to sustain her position in the wake of numerous political pressures.
Bannon, who has previously expressed intentions to release a film about Epstein, did not respond to the BBC's request for comment regarding these new revelations.
