Epstein Secrets

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

ress secretary, Sean Spicer— whose personal mantra would shortly become “You can’t make this shit up’—to argue his case in a media moment that turned Spicer, quite a buttoned-down political professional, HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019919 into a national joke, which he seemed destined to never recover from. To boot

l they couldn’t control: the Republican National Committee, which was run by Priebus, his sidekick, thirty-two-year-old Katie Walsh, and their flack, Sean Spicer. Instead of being all in, the RNC, ultimately the tool of the Republican establishment, had been hedging its bets ever since Trump won the nomination

political professional, HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019919 into a national joke, which he seemed destined to never recover from. To boot, the president blamed Spicer for not making the million phantom souls seem real. It was the first presidential instance of what the campaign regulars had learned over many month

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

was often blamed on lower minions and permanent executive branch staff, culminating in late February with an all-hands meeting of staffers called by Sean Spicer—cell phones surrendered at the door—during which the press secretary issued threats of random phone checks and admonitions about the use of encrypted

taff. Bannon was disloyal (not to mention he always looks like shit). Priebus was weak (not to mention he was short—a midget). Kushner was a suck-up. Spicer was stupid (and looks terrible too). Conway was a crybaby. Jared and Ivanka should never have come to Washington. His callers, largely because they

and the stage in his own house. He regularly berated Spicer for his ham-handed performances, often giving his full attention to them. His response to Spicer’s briefings was part of his continuing belief that nobody could work the media like he could, that somehow he had been stuck with an F-Troop communic

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

nal into a joke figure standing at the White House door. In his daily out-of-body experience, as a witness to his own humiliation and loss for words, Spicer understood after a while—although he began to understand this beginning his first day on the job when dealing with the dispute about the inaugural au

he also wanted it because again and again the response surprised him—and, as though every time was the first time, he could not modify his behavior. Sean Spicer caught the brunt of the daily drama, turning this otherwise reasonable, mild-mannered, process-oriented professional into a joke figure standing at t

e House—Jared, Ivanka, Hope Hicks, and an increasingly ambivalent Dina Powell and Gary Cohn on one side, and almost everyone else, including Priebus, Spicer, Conway, and most clearly Bannon, on the other—were most distinguished by their culpability in or distance from the Comey-Mueller calamity. It was, a

18/2017 8:09:23 PM To: Michael Wolff a Subject: Re: On Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 4:08 PM, Michael Wolff <> wrote: Just spent two hours on the phone with Bannon. I saw Spicer and Priebus his week. I'd pretty much say that nearly 100% of the non-family senior staff of the first six months now believe that Trum

3 PM To: Michael Wolff a Subject: Re: On Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 4:08 PM, Michael Wolff <> wrote: Just spent two hours on the phone with Bannon. I saw Spicer and Priebus his week. I'd pretty much say that nearly 100% of the non-family senior staff of the first six months now believe that Trump can't functi

ent: To: Subject: Michael Wolff [ 8/18/2017 8:08:31 PM jeffrey E. [[email protected]] Re: Importance: High Just spent two hours on the phone with Bannon. I saw Spicer and Priebus his week. I'd pretty much say that nearly 100% of the non-family senior staff of the first six months now believe that Trum

ct: Michael Wolff [ 8/18/2017 8:08:31 PM jeffrey E. [[email protected]] Re: Importance: High Just spent two hours on the phone with Bannon. I saw Spicer and Priebus his week. I'd pretty much say that nearly 100% of the non-family senior staff of the first six months now believe that Trump can't functi