Epstein Secrets

his own staff. This first phase of the most abnor- mal White House in American history ended in August 2017. with the departure of chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and the appointment of retired general John Kelly as chief of staff. This new account begins in February 2018 at the outset of Trump's second year

nd, attorney, and tough-guy mentor, and Robert Kennedy. John F. Kennedy's brother. "He was always on my ass about Roy Cohn and Bobby Kennedy," said Steve Bannon, the political strategist who, perhaps more than anyone else, was responsible for Trump's victory. "'Roy Cohn and Bobby Kennedy; he would say. 'Whe

e and said, "going to do you a big favor. Give me your a card. Don't ask me why, just give it to me. You'll be thanking me for rest of your life:" Bannon opened his wallet and gave Priebus his American ExI card. Priebus shortly returned, handed the card back, and said, "You have legal insurance Over

affel, who, like Kushn was a Democrat, had worked for Hiltzik Strategies, the New York Pub relations firm that represented ivanka's clothing line. Hope Hicks, who had also worked for the Hiltzik firm—perhaps b known for having long represented the film producer Harvey Weinste caught, in the fall of 2017,

rown.co.uk HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019877 For Victoria and Louise, mother and daughter HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019878 CONTENTS AUTHOR’S NOTE PROLOGUE: AILES AND BANNON 1. ELECTION DAY 2. TRUMP TOWER 3. DAY ONE 4. BANNON 5. JARVANKA 6. AT HOME 7. RUSSIA 8. ORG CHART 9. CPAC 10. GOLDMAN 11. WIRETAP 12. REPEAL AND REPL

act of Trump’s presidency only with the appointment of retired general John Kelly as the chief of staff in late July and the exit of chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon three weeks later. The events I’ve described in these pages are based on conversations that took place over a period of eighteen months with the pre

Capitol Hill in a row house known as the Breitbart Embassy that doubled as the Breitbart office—the life of a messy party. No sane person would hire Steven Bannon for a job that included making the trains run on time. OOK Ok Hence, Reince Priebus. For the Hill, he was the only reasonable chief among the cont

r Stone, was noisily ousted by Lewandowski, and then Trump exponentially increased the public dirty-clothes-washing by suing Nunberg. Lewandowski and Hope Hicks, the PR aide put on the campaign by Ivanka Trump, had an affair that ended in a public fight on the street—an incident cited by Nunberg in his respon

any moment, and it pleased him that Bannon’s pronouncements and views would consistently be fully formed and ever available, a bracing, unified-field narrative. As well, he could turn him off,

his White House, it was Steve Bannon. Maligning Bannon was Trump’s idea of fun. When it came to Bannon, Trump rose to something like high analysis: “Steve Bannon’s problem is PR. He doesn’t understand it. Everybody hates him. Because ... look at him. His bad PR rubs off on other people.” The real question, of c

Wing, along with State Department and National Security staff, was on board for the trip: Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Reince Priebus, Stephen Bannon, Gary Cohn, Dina Powell, Hope Hicks, Sean Spicer, Stephen Miller, Joe Hagin, Rex Tillerson, and Michael Anton. Also included were Sarah Huckabee Sand

d. It was a turning point. Until now, Trump’s inner circle had been mostly game to defend him. But after the wiretap tweets, everybody, save perhaps Hope Hicks, moved into a state of queasy sheepishness, if not constant incredulity. Sean Spicer, for one, kept repeating his daily, if not hourly, mantra: “You

ad already chosen. ... Fisher has worked with some Trump allies — including former Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach and ex-White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon — to build border fencing on private land using private donations. ... Trump has pledged to complete 450 to 500 miles of new border barriers by the

ris Kobach and ex-White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon — to build border fencing on private land using

will never get out? During two interviews with FBI agents and members of Bob Mueller's team last year, former White House communications director Hope Hicks recounted the president's reaction to the discovery of damning emails about the meeting his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and camp

t whatsoever of actually winning the election—was open to any and all entreaties and offers, because it had nothing to lose. Dopey Don Jr. (Fredo, as Steve Bannon would dub him, in one of his frequent Godfather borrowings) was simply trying to prove he was a player and a go-to guy. ¢ The meeting included the c

ive. “The chance that Don Jr. did not walk these jumos up to his father’s office on the twenty-sixth floor is zero,” said an astonished and derisive Bannon, not long after the meeting was revealed. “The three senior guys in the campaign,” an incredulous Bannon went on, “thought it was a good idea to mee

gton, Sean Spicer and everybody else from the communications office was relegated to the back of the plane and excluded from the panicky discussions. Hope Hicks became the senior communications strategist, with the president, as always, her singular client. In the days following, that highest political state

n his own staff. This first phase of the most abnor- mal White House in American history ended in August 2017, with the departure of chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and the appointment of retired general John Kelly as chief of staff. This new account begins in February 2018 at the outset of Trumps second year in

who was anywhere near it. + + + The ultimate keeper of the secrets from the campaign, the transition, through the first year in the White House was Hope Hicks, the W House communications director. She had witnessed most everyth HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_021126 --- PAGE BREAK --- 6 MICHAEL WOLFF She saw what the p

according to four people familiar with the discussions.” But however many people SIEGE 37 Costa had spoken to about the background machinations of Steve Ban- non, what mattered was that he had spoken directly and at length to Bannon himself, who was using the Washington Post to pitch a plan to the president.

, what mattered was that he had spoken directly and at length to Bannon himself, who was using the Washington Post to pitch a plan to the president. Bannonss three-part plan for Trump instantly made its way to the Oval Office. And the next morning, the president offered Kushner his view that he should fire