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

t something. Everything. The billionaires had to rethink. So did everyone in the Trump orbit. The campaign staff, now suddenly in a position to snag West Wing jobs—career- and history-making jobs—had to see this odd, difficult, even ridiculous, and, on the face of it, ill-equipped person in a new light. He

he newly appointed deputy chief of staff, Katie Walsh, Reince Priebus’s deputy at the RNC, and together they had peeled off to inspect the now vacant West Wing. The carpet had been shampooed, but little else had changed. It was a warren of tiny offices in need of paint, not rigorously cleaned on a regular ba

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

as not only known by people outside the White House for the alacrity with which it returned calls and for the ease with which it seemed to accomplish West Wing tasks, it also seemed to be comprised of people who liked each other and who were dedicated to a common goal: eliminating as much friction as possibl

n Sachs, too, that in the middle of a Republican-controlled Washington and a virulent, if not anti-Semitic (at least toward liberal Jews), right-wing West Wing, the Kushner-Cohn Democrats appeared to be ascendant. Part of the credit went to Kushner, who showed an unexpected tenacity. Conflict averse—in the K

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

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

perfect . . . but we live in a world of imperfect” + Costa’s story, which was posted online later that day, described Bannon as “pitching a plan to West Wing aides and congressional allies to cripple the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to four people familiar with th

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

ct ... but we live in a world of imperfect." * * * Costa's story, which was posted online later that day, described Bannon as "pitching a plan to West Wing aides and congressional allies to cripple the federal probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to four people familiar with

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

Republican Party had now become the symbol of its civil war. On that Monday, the president’s son-in-law appeared at the microphones in front of the West Wing to preview his statement to Senate investigators about the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia. Having almost never spoken before in public, he no

l influence with the president, but important members of the staff saw them as having this juice, and hence believed that they were the true north of West Wing advancement and power. Curiously, for all their callowness, Jared and Ivanka had become quite a fearsome presence, as feared by others as the two of

" In a tweet Sunday afternoon President Trump again called for the whistleblower to come forward. Trump wrote, "Where is the Fake Whistleblower?" Bannon Says He Pushed For Alleged Whistleblower To Removed From NSC. The Daily Caller (11/17, Ross, 716K) reports former White House chief strategist Stev

nnon Says He Pushed For Alleged Whistleblower To Removed From NSC. The Daily Caller (11/17, Ross, 716K) reports former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon said in an interview with VICE published Friday 'that when he was at the White House in 2017, he was involved in an effort to remove an intelligenc

Orr, Cook, Kumar, 4.29M) says while White House aides "dismissed the landmark event as a tedious affair," the "attempt to project calm within the West Wing was belied throughout the morning by a cascade of combative email blasts, tweets and statements that flowed from Trump's outside allies and his cam