Steve Bannon Releases First Statement On Being Mentioned In The Epstein Files Over 1,700 Times

Former Trump adviser and now host of The War Room, Steve Bannon, has finally answered the hard questions.

After the Department of Justice released the latest batch of Epstein Files, it was revealed that Steve Bannon was mentioned over 1,700 times.

The majority of those messages were from emails where Bannon was in communication with Epstein.

In the emails, Bannon appeared to be very friendly with Epstein and called the convicted sex offender “brother” multiple times and even mocked President Trump.

Take a look:

Crazy! In this June 2018 text message, Jeffrey Epstein offers to let Steve Bannon stay on his Island, to which Bannon replies "Thanks brother". Then the conversation continues into talking about catholic school girls. pic.twitter.com/FDqDqKVRZ5

— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 30, 2026

Bannon has since responded to his emails being exposed, explaining that his correspondence with Epstein was an effort to gain access to Epstein in order to film his documentary.

The National Pulse broke the story and provided direct quotes from Bannon:

WarRoom host and former Trump White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon has addressed his appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein files and confirmed the upcoming release of a documentary on the deceased pedophile. Bannon, an America First stalwart, exchanged many texts with Epstein in the months before his death in federal custody in 2019, as he was preparing a documentary on him.

“I am a filmmaker and TV host with decades of experience interviewing controversial figures,” Bannon said of the exchanges in comments to the press. “That’s the only lens through which these private communications should be viewed—a documentary filmmaker working, over a period of time, to secure 50 hours of interviews from a reclusive subject,” he continued, adding that his documentary would be released later in 2026 and “destroy the very myths [Epstein] created.”

Documentarians spending time with subjects they intend to cover critically is not uncommon.Famously, Martin Bashir was recorded comforting Michael Jackson and telling him he was a “wonderful father” before the release of the 2003 documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which ultimately portrayed the singer in a highly negative light.

A spokesman for Bannon confirmed that his interactions with Epstein were an attempt to ingratiate himself with him for the documentary.

Notably, Bannon argued strongly for the release of the Epstein files when it appeared that Attorney General Pam Bondi was not going to disclose any meaningful new information, saying on his WarRoom show: “If DOJ can’t move off the dime, and FBI can’t move off the dime, [there] should be a special counsel to go through everything and release it all.”Bannon was one of the earliest and most steadfast supporters of President Donald J. Trump during his first run for the presidency in 2015-16, and spent four months in prison for contempt of Congress in 2024 for refusing to testify before the corrupt January 6 Committee after President Trump invoked executive privilege.

In Bannon’s defense, you aren’t going to get a good interview or any interview at all if you are hostile towards someone.

Here’s the footage of Bannon interviewing Epstein:

NEW – Jeffrey Epstein interview with Steve Bannon.pic.twitter.com/dgDFL4gHIf

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) February 1, 2026

The Independent reported Bannon and Epstein discussed “taking down” Pope Francis:

Steve Bannon discussed plans to “take down” Pope Francis with Jeffrey Epstein, according to new files shared by the Department of Justice.

“Will take down [Pope] Francis,” Bannon appears to have written in a message to the pedophile financier in June 2019. “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.”

Bannon, a former presidential advisor to Donald Trump and who reportedly identifies as a Roman Catholic, was highly critical of Francis, viewing his progressive global agenda as contrary to his own “sovereigntist” stance. In a 2018 interview with The Spectator Bannon described the Pope as “beneath contempt,” and accused him of “siding with globalist elites.”

The exchange with Epstein appears to show Bannon trying to further his plans, asking whether the financier has read In the Closet of the Vatican, a 2019 book by French journalist Frédéric Martel that included the bombshell claim that 80 percent of the clergy working in the Vatican are gay.

Bannon had previously appeared to have expressed interest in turning the book into a film, telling Epstein “you are now exec producer of ‘ITCOTV’.” It is unclear how serious that offer was.

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