There's a direct line connecting Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex trafficker with Russian intelligence ties, to Steve Bannon, the MAGA strategist who coordinated Europe's right resurgence, to Alexander Dugin, the Russian fascist philosopher banned from entering the United States. That line runs through secret meetings in luxury hotels, offshore money flows, intelligence operations, and ideological coordination and it produced the most dangerous mutation we can call "MAGA Communism."
This is the story of how Russian fascist ideology, financed by a pedophile's intelligence network and coordinated by America's most influential right-wing operative, created a movement that pretends to be patriotic while serving foreign adversaries. Every claim in this article is documented in the three million pages of DOJ files released in January 2026, Benjamin Teitelbaum's 2020 book War for Eternity, direct quotes from the principals, text messages, emails, video footage, and on-the-record interviews.
The thesis is straightforward but disturbing: The "woke right" (the anti-Israel, pro-Russia, antisemitic faction claiming to represent MAGA) didn't emerge organically from grassroots conservatism. It was manufactured through a coordinated operation involving Jeffrey Epstein's money and intelligence network, Steve Bannon's strategic coordination of European right parties, and Alexander Dugin's ideological framework of Russian fascism repackaged as "Traditionalism." The result is a Trojan Horse movement using MAGA aesthetics to advance Russian geopolitical interests while mainstreaming antisemitism as "anti-globalism.
PART I: THE EPSTEIN-BANNON RELATIONSHIP
The 15 Hours of Secret Footage
In early 2019, just months before his arrest and death, Jeffrey Epstein sat for fifteen hours of video interviews with Steve Bannon. The sessions were filmed at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse which was the same location tied to his sex trafficking crimes. Professional lighting illuminated the scene. A small crew operated cameras. Bannon played the prosecutorial interviewer. Epstein, a registered sex offender who had served time for soliciting prostitution from a minor, sought rehabilitation of his public image. And he paid for it himself.
Mark Epstein, Jeffrey's brother, described the arrangement to investigators. "He told me he has like 15 or 16 hours of videotape of Jeff," Mark said of Bannon. "He was trying to help Jeff rehabilitate his reputation. They spent a lot of time together." Journalist Michael Wolff, who was present for some of the filming, confirmed it was "expressly about media training," funded by Epstein to prepare him for a redemption interview with 60 Minutes. Bannon himself acknowledged the footage exists when pressed about it in July 2025, claiming he's saving it for a documentary.
What Bannon refuses to do is release it. Democrats have demanded it. Ben Shapiro has called for it. The public interest is obvious because what did a convicted sex offender and the chief strategist of American populism discuss for fifteen hours? But Bannon maintains control of the footage, using it as leverage, narrative control, or insurance. The videos remain locked away, their contents known only to those who were in the room.
What we do know from the limited clips that have surfaced: Epstein refused to take responsibility for his crimes, discussed the ethics of "dirty money," and sought to position himself as a misunderstood intellectual. And Bannon helped him craft that narrative.
Hundreds of Text Messages: The "Under Cover of Darkness" Meetings
The January 2026 DOJ document dump revealed what Bannon and Epstein tried to hide: hundreds of friendly text messages exchanged between 2018 and 2019, documenting a relationship far deeper than a filmmaker interviewing a subject.
In August 2018, Epstein texted Bannon: "Btw Im in New York tonite thru sat, if you want to visit under the cover of darkness or breakfast tomorrow if you like." The phrasing is revealing—"under cover of darkness" suggests secrecy, shame, the awareness that their association would damage both men if discovered. Bannon responded by asking about "access that's not the front door," citing the "24/7 surveillance" on Epstein. They weren't just meeting. They were actively hiding their meetings from public view.
The messages reveal an advisory relationship that went far beyond documentary filmmaking. In one exchange, Epstein wrote: "I gave you money to study English. You gambled it! Im not angry at all. bust have no idea what you want now and if i can trust you." Bannon's response: "I want to study and want to be useful for you, while I was in Hawaii, I had a dream, I want to make it my goal and tell you about it."
This is the language of patronage, of a younger man seeking guidance and resources from an older, wealthier mentor. It's also evidence that Epstein gave Bannon money for what purpose, the messages don't fully explain, but they confirm a financial relationship alongside the intellectual one.
The texts also document negotiations over how much time they would spend together. Bannon initially suggested cramming Epstein's "smarts" into "2 days a month." The final agreement, according to the messages, was five days a month. Five days every month that Steve Bannon, one of the most influential political operatives in America, spent with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender with documented ties to Russian intelligence.
What were they discussing during those monthly meetings? The messages provide some clues.
May 2019: The Border Wall Coordination
On May 25, 2019, Bannon texted Epstein about a major political operation: "My wall dude – New Mexico – right outside El Paso – in total secret – we go on fox and friends on Monday to release." He added: "can't seem like I'm running trumps nose in his own incompetence."
The "wall" was the "We Build the Wall" project, a private fundraising effort that claimed to build border barriers where the federal government wouldn't. Bannon was using Epstein as a confidant for the rollout strategy, telling him about the project "in total secret" before the public announcement. The project would later collapse in scandal when federal prosecutors charged Bannon with defrauding donors—charges from which Trump pardoned him in his final hours as president.
But in May 2019, Bannon was using Epstein as a sounding board for major political operations, trusting him with sensitive information and strategic planning. This wasn't a documentary filmmaker interviewing a controversial figure. This was a political operative consulting with an advisor.
The European Right Fundraising
The most damning text came on March 5, 2019, just weeks before the European Parliament elections. Bannon wrote to Epstein: "I am focused on raising money for Le Pen and Salvini so they can actually run full slates."
The context of this text is crucial. Bannon and Epstein had been in regular contact throughout 2018 and early 2019. They were meeting monthly. Epstein had given Bannon money. And now, on the eve of critical European elections, Bannon was explicitly discussing fundraising for right parties with a man who had extensive ties to Russian intelligence, access to billions in dark money, and a network of offshore companies perfect for laundering foreign political contributions.
The DOJ files show constant Bannon-Epstein communication about European political operations. They discussed Salvini's strategy in Italy. They messaged about Germany's AfD. They referenced Viktor Orbán in Hungary. And when Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia's Foreign Minister, was exposed in the Epstein files and resigned in disgrace in January 2026, the pattern became clearer: Epstein was providing access, connections, and potentially money to fuel Bannon's European right project.
This wasn't just two men texting. This was a coordinated political operation using Epstein's network to fund a transnational movement.
PART II: THE EPSTEIN-RUSSIA INTELLIGENCE CONNECTION
Sergei Belyakov: The FSB Officer
In the three million pages released in January 2026, one name appears with disturbing frequency: Sergei Belyakov. His background tells you everything you need to know about who Jeffrey Epstein really worked for.
Belyakov graduated from the FSB Academy in 1998, the same institution that trains Russian intelligence officers. He immediately went to work as an FSB border guard. By 2012, he had risen to Deputy Minister of Economic Development in the Russian government. By 2014, he was heading the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a major venue for Russian economic and political influence. This is not the resume of a simple businessman. This is the career trajectory of a Russian intelligence operative with high-level government connections.
The documented relationship between Epstein and Belyakov spans years and involves exactly the kind of activities intelligence assets perform for each other. In 2011, Epstein's Russian visa application listed "Vympel"—an FSB veterans organization—as his host. Four years later, in July 2015, Epstein asked Belyakov for help with a Russian woman named Guzel Ganieva who was "attempting to blackmail a group of powerful biznessman in New York."
Within seventy-two hours, Belyakov provided a detailed intelligence profile on Ganieva—her earnings, her methods, her vulnerabilities. When asked how he obtained this information so quickly, Belyakov claimed he consulted "friends in FSB." This is textbook intelligence work: an American asset requests information on a Russian national, and within days, an FSB-connected official provides a complete dossier. The operational relationship is unmistakable.
But the cooperation went deeper. Epstein advised Belyakov on evading U.S. sanctions through cryptocurrency. They discussed creating a BRIC cryptocurrency together. In 2016, Belyakov asked Epstein to arrange a meeting with hacker Vincenzo Iozzo, and Epstein responded: "I will do anything that is helpful to you." This is the language of an asset serving a handler, not a businessman chatting with an acquaintance.
In a 2015 email introducing Belyakov to Peter Thiel, Epstein called him "my very good friend." The intimacy of that phrase, combined with the documented cooperation on intelligence matters, sanctions evasion, and hacker introductions, paints a clear picture: Epstein and Belyakov had an operational relationship that served Russian intelligence interests.
The FBI Assessment
The clearest statement of Epstein's role came from an unlikely source: a 2017 SECRET FBI report that assessed Epstein "was President Vladimir Putin's wealth manager."
Let that sink in. The FBI, in a classified assessment, concluded that Jeffrey Epstein managed Vladimir Putin's personal wealth. Not that he knew Putin, not that they had met, but that he actively managed the Russian president's money. The DOJ files mention Putin 1,055 times. They mention Russia 9,629 times. This wasn't a peripheral relationship. Russian intelligence was central to Epstein's operation.
The Maxwell-KGB Connection
To understand Epstein's Russian ties, you have to understand how he came to his position. The evidence suggests he didn't build his network from scratch—he inherited it from Robert Maxwell, the British media mogul and father of Ghislaine Maxwell.
KGB Colonel Stanislav Lekarev testified about Maxwell's role in Soviet intelligence operations: "Maxwell cooperated... He helped socialist countries found joint enterprises abroad... Two billion dollars, secretly issued by the Bulgarian government for laundering money from narcotics trafficking, disappeared in Western banks." Maxwell wasn't just a businessman with Soviet contacts. He was an active participant in KGB money laundering operations.
The timing of what happened next is too perfect to be coincidental. Between 1989 and 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed, the KGB transferred more than fifty billion dollars in state assets to the West. According to intelligence analysts, "the focal point of that transfer activity in the west was Maxwell." He had direct contact with KGB Chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, multiple KGB generals, and Soviet leadership at the highest levels.
Then, in rapid succession, the key players died or disappeared. On August 26, 1991, Nikolai Kruchina, the Communist Party fund manager, fell from a window. On November 5, 1991, Robert Maxwell died under mysterious circumstances on his yacht. During the summer and fall of 1991, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell connected. On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union officially dissolved.
Christopher Steele, the former MI6 Russia desk officer, connected the dots in his testimony: "When Maxwell was involved in getting Jewish people out of the Soviet Union in return effectively for laundering Soviet Communist Party hard currency and investing it in the West, I suspect that's where quite a lot of Epstein's investment money came from."
The theory is straightforward: Epstein replaced Maxwell in the KGB money laundering operation. Maxwell died in November 1991. Epstein and Ghislaine connected around the same time. Epstein's wealth exploded in the 1990s with no clear legitimate source. The operational continuity from Soviet intelligence to Russian intelligence, from Maxwell to Epstein, is documented in the files.
What Bannon Wanted From Epstein's Intelligence Network
What Epstein had was access to multiple intelligence services and their networks. He had FSB connections through Belyakov and others. He had Israeli intelligence connections through Ehud Barak, the former Israeli Prime Minister who remained close to Epstein even after his conviction. He had Saudi connections—Epstein traveled to Saudi Arabia frequently, and in 2018, the Saudis were still willing to pay him for advice. He had offshore money laundering infrastructure through shell companies across multiple jurisdictions. He had kompromat materials from his trafficking operation. And he had elite access globally through his decades of cultivating the rich and powerful.
PART III: THE BANNON-DUGIN ALLIANCE
March 2018: Cultivating Interest
The first documented connection between Bannon and Dugin came in March 2018. That month, Bannon sent Epstein an interview with Alexander Dugin. Epstein responded, referencing a dinner he'd had the previous night with Leon Black—the billionaire who had paid Epstein $170 million between 2012 and 2017 for unknown "financial advice."
Why was Bannon sending Epstein materials on Dugin? Why was Epstein responding by mentioning Leon Black? The text messages don't provide explicit answers, but the timing suggests Bannon was cultivating Epstein's interest in Dugin's ideas, perhaps seeking funding or connections for what would come next.
November 2018: Eight Hours in Rome
Seven months later, in November 2018, Steve Bannon and Alexander Dugin met face-to-face in Rome for eight hours.
This meeting was a closely guarded secret. Bannon rarely spoke about it publicly. When he did, he emphasized that it was "totally innocent"—which is precisely what someone would say about a meeting that wasn't innocent at all. The details of what they discussed remained hidden until Benjamin Teitelbaum's 2020 book War for Eternity revealed the extent of Bannon's Traditionalist beliefs and his admiration for Dugin's work.
In February 2025, Bannon finally explained the meeting's purpose in an interview: "The reason I met Dugin in Rome in '18 was exactly this: we have to have some sort of partnership or strategic understanding [with Russia]. Ukraine is a sideshow, the entire industrial might of the West is never gonna be able to support what Ukraine needs. This has been my obsession."
A partnership with Russia. That's what Bannon sought in his eight-hour meeting with Dugin. Not an academic discussion of philosophy, but a "strategic understanding" that would align American and Russian interests by abandoning Ukraine. This meeting took place in November 2018—four years before Russia's full-scale invasion, but five years after Russia had already invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Teitelbaum's Documentation
In War for Eternity, Teitelbaum documented over twenty hours of interviews with Bannon over the course of a year. What emerged was a portrait of someone deeply committed to Traditionalist philosophy, particularly as articulated by Dugin and his intellectual predecessor, Julius Evola.
When Teitelbaum asked Bannon about Dugin, Bannon replied: "I'm such a fan of his writing." This is not a casual statement. This is an admission that Bannon reads, studies, and admires the work of a Russian ideologue who openly calls for Russia to destroy American global influence, break up NATO, and establish a Eurasian empire.
Bannon described his worldview to Teitelbaum in stark terms: "Modernity, to me, has been a disaster, right? Culturally, it has been a disaster." This is pure Traditionalism—the belief that modern society represents catastrophic decline from a mythical traditional order. It's the same framework Dugin uses to justify Russian imperialism as a war against Western modernity.
Most importantly, when pressed to choose between Evola's cyclical view of history (the belief that civilizations rise and fall in endless cycles, with catastrophic collapse leading to rebirth) and Christianity's linear-progressive view (that history moves toward a divine purpose), Bannon chose Evola. This preference reveals where his ultimate loyalties lie—not with Christian theology, but with the pagan Traditionalism that underlies Dugin's anti-Western philosophy.
Who Is Alexander Dugin?
To understand the significance of Bannon's relationship with Dugin, you need to understand who Dugin is and what he represents.
Alexander Dugin is a Russian ultranationalist philosopher, often called "Putin's Rasputin" or "Putin's brain." The U.S. government banned him from entering the country for his role in inspiring the insurgency in Ukraine. His ideology, often called "Duginism" or "Neo-Eurasianism," combines Russian imperialism with mystical philosophy, creating a comprehensive worldview that positions Russia as the leader of a new civilizational order opposed to the West.
Dugin's geopolitical vision is explicitly anti-American. He calls for Russia to annex Ukraine, destroy the European Union, foment racial and social conflicts within the United States, create a "Russo-Islamic" strategic pact, and establish a "Eurasian Empire" stretching from Dublin to Vladivostok. He sees liberal democracy, individual rights, and Western institutions as diseases that must be eradicated.
His philosophical framework draws heavily from Julius Evola, the Italian philosopher who was too extreme even for Mussolini. Dugin translated Evola's works into Russian in 1981, making them foundational texts for the Russian far-right. From Evola, Dugin adopted the concept of "Tradition"—an eternal, hierarchical, anti-modern order that once governed human societies and must be violently restored.
Dugin describes Western civilization as trapped in the "Kali Yuga"—the Hindu concept of a dark age characterized by materialism, democracy, egalitarianism, and moral decay. In this framework, catastrophic destruction of the current order isn't just acceptable—it's necessary for rebirth into a new golden age. War becomes spiritual purification. Imperialism becomes the restoration of sacred hierarchy. Authoritarianism becomes the defense of Tradition against modernity's corrupting influence.
This is the thinker Steve Bannon called "such a fan of his writing." This is the man Bannon met with for eight hours to discuss a "strategic understanding" between America and Russia.
Why Dugin Matters
Dugin's importance to Putin's regime cannot be overstated. While Western analysts debate the extent of his direct influence on Kremlin policy, there's no question that Dugin has provided the intellectual framework that justifies Russian aggression as a civilizational mission.
His book Foundations of Geopolitics, published in 1997, is required reading at Russia's General Staff Academy. It explicitly calls for Russia to destabilize the United States through racial conflicts and political polarization while bringing Europe under Russian influence by exploiting divisions between European nations. It advocates for isolating Britain from Europe, absorbing Ukraine into Russia, and creating a Eurasian empire that challenges American hegemony.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, Dugin was ecstatic. He called for genocide: "Kill, kill, kill" the Ukrainians. When Russia failed to conquer Ukraine quickly, he criticized Putin for not being aggressive enough. And when Russian forces committed atrocities in Bucha and elsewhere, Dugin framed them as necessary acts of civilizational warfare against Western corruption.
Dugin sees his mission as creating a global anti-American alliance. He travels extensively, meeting with leaders in Europe, cultivating relationships with American influencers, and spreading his Traditionalist philosophy through books, lectures, and social media. The goal is to weaken the West from within by promoting division, conspiracy theories, and anti-establishment movements that ultimately serve Russian interests.
This is the network Bannon inserted himself into through that eight-hour meeting in Rome.
PART III-B: THE INTELLECTUAL FOUNDATION—JULIUS EVOLA AND TRADITIONALISM
To understand what truly binds Bannon and Dugin together, you must understand Julius Evola, the Italian fascist philosopher whose ideas provide the ideological framework for their entire worldview.
Who Was Julius Evola?
Julius Evola (1898-1974) was an Italian philosopher who became the leading ideologue of spiritual fascism—a form of fascism so extreme that even Benito Mussolini found him excessive. Born Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola in Rome, he rebelled against his Catholic upbringing, fought in World War I, briefly participated in the Dada art movement, then abandoned art entirely to develop a comprehensive philosophy of anti-modern reaction.
Evola's resume reads like a catalog of twentieth-century extremism. He advocated for Italian racial laws and became Italy's leading "racial philosopher," developing theories of spiritual and biological hierarchy. Autobiographical evidence suggests he worked for the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party. When the Italian fascist regime fell in 1943, he fled to Nazi Germany. He returned to Rome under Mussolini's German puppet state to organize a radical-right group. In 1945, a Soviet shell permanently paralyzed him from the waist down while he was in Vienna.
In 1951, Evola stood trial for glorifying fascism. His defense was remarkable: he denied being a fascist, instead declaring himself "superfascista"—superfascist. The term's meaning remains debated—was he claiming to be above fascism or beyond it? Either way, the judges, themselves fascist-era appointees, acquitted him. Thirteen of his co-defendants went to prison. Evola walked free.
His philosophy has been characterized as "one of the most consistently anti-egalitarian, anti-liberal, anti-democratic, and anti-popular systems in the twentieth century." His writings contain extensive misogyny, racism, antisemitism, and attacks on Christianity and the Catholic Church.
But Evola's influence extends far beyond Italy. The Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn includes his works on its suggested reading list. White nationalist Richard Spencer calls him "one of the most fascinating men of the 20th century." And in 1981, a young Alexander Dugin translated Evola's Heidnischer Imperialismus (Pagan Imperialism) into Russian as his first published work.
Evola's Core Philosophy
Evola's worldview rests on several interconnected beliefs that form what scholars call "Traditionalism":
The Kali Yuga and Cyclical Decline: Evola believed humanity is living in the Kali Yuga—the final age of the Hindu cosmic cycle, characterized by unleashed materialistic appetites, spiritual darkness, and the triumph of inferior forces over higher truths. Modern democracy, egalitarianism, science, and progress are all symptoms of this dark age. Human history doesn't progress; it declines through cycles from a mythical Golden Age to our current catastrophic state.
The Caste System as Cosmic Law: Drawing from Hinduism and ancient Indo-European society, Evola envisioned human society as naturally organized into four castes: first, the priest-kings with "pure spiritual authority"; second, the warrior nobility; third, the merchant/bourgeois class; fourth, the slave/worker caste. This hierarchy isn't just social organization—it reflects metaphysical reality. Egalitarianism isn't merely wrong; it's a cosmic crime against the natural order.
Tradition as Eternal Supernatural Knowledge: For Evola, "Tradition" (always capitalized) didn't mean Christianity or any particular religion. Instead, it represented eternal supernatural knowledge with absolute values of authority, hierarchy, order, discipline, and obedience. This Tradition once governed human societies through sacred regality—divine kings who embodied both spiritual and temporal power. Modernity represents the complete inversion of this order.
War as Spiritual Purification: Evola wrote extensively on the "metaphysics of war," arguing that heroic combat represents the highest form of human activity. "The moment the individual succeeds in living as a hero, even if it is the final moment of his earthly life, weighs infinitely more on the scale of values than a protracted existence spent consuming monotonously among the trivialities of cities." War awakens people to the "more-than-life" and reveals the relativity of material existence.
Hatred of Christianity: Unlike many reactionaries who defend Christian civilization, Evola saw Christianity as a corrupting Levantine force that undermined aristocratic European values and introduced embryonic egalitarianism. He promoted a return to pre-Christian Indo-European paganism while showing sympathy for Islam and Buddhism. This anti-Christianity resonated with both Nazi ideology and contemporary neo-pagan movements.
Catastrophe as Rebirth: Evola's later work, Ride the Tiger (1961), argued that the modern world had fallen too far into the Kali Yuga for any political solution to restore Tradition. Instead, the existing order must be allowed to collapse completely. Only through catastrophic destruction can the cosmic cycle reset and a new Golden Age begin. This philosophy justifies accelerationism—actively promoting chaos to hasten the collapse.
Evola's Influence on Dugin
Dugin has openly acknowledged Evola's fundamental influence on his thinking. "I was deeply inspired by Guénon's and Evola's Traditionalism" in his youth, Dugin has said, referring to René Guénon (Evola's French contemporary and fellow Traditionalist) and Evola. His 1981 translation of Evola's Heidnischer Imperialismus marked the beginning of his intellectual career.
From Evola, Dugin adopted several key concepts that he adapted for Russian imperialism:
Eurasianism as Anti-Western Tradition: Evola's concept of competing civilizations in cosmic conflict became Dugin's "Multipolarity"—the idea that the world should be organized into distinct civilizational blocs (Eurasian, Chinese, Islamic, Western) rather than dominated by American hegemony. Where Evola spoke of defending Tradition against modernity, Dugin speaks of defending Eurasian civilization against Atlanticism.
War as Metaphysical Struggle: Evola's celebration of heroic combat as spiritual transcendence directly informs Dugin's framing of Russia's wars in Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine. These aren't merely territorial conflicts—they're metaphysical battles between Tradition and modernity, sacred authority and secular corruption, organic civilization and artificial globalism.
The Kali Yuga Applied to America: Dugin views the United States as the global center of the Kali Yuga—the most advanced stage of spiritual and cultural decay. American liberal democracy, individual rights, consumerism, and multiculturalism represent everything Traditionalists oppose. Destroying American hegemony becomes a sacred mission to accelerate the cosmic cycle toward rebirth.
Accelerationism Through Chaos: Following Evola's later pessimism about reforming the existing order, Dugin promotes destabilizing Western democracies through propaganda, conspiracy theories, support for extremist movements, and polarization. If the West cannot be conquered militarily, it can be made to destroy itself from within.
Bannon's Evola Connection
Bannon's public acknowledgment of Evola came during his 2014 speech to the Dignitatis Humanae Institute conference at the Vatican. While discussing Vladimir Putin, Bannon mentioned "Julius Evola and different writers of the early 20th century who are really the supporters of what's called the Traditionalist movement, which really eventually metastasized into Italian fascism."
The word choice—"metastasized"—suggests Bannon sees fascism as a cancer that grew from Traditionalist ideas. Yet he then added: "We, the Judeo-Christian West, really have to look at what he's talking about as far as Traditionalism goes—particularly the sense of where it supports the underpinnings of nationalism."
Mark Sedgwick, a leading scholar of Traditionalism at Denmark's Aarhus University, noted the significance: "The fact that Bannon even knows Evola is significant." Evola is deliberately obscure—referenced more than read, studied in private more than discussed in public. That Bannon mentioned him at all reveals extensive engagement with Traditionalist literature.
In his 2014 Vatican speech, Bannon used the word "metastasized" six times and repeatedly invoked apocalyptic language: "hundreds of years from now when they look back... This will be looked at almost as a new Dark Age"; "we are at the very beginning stages of a global conflict"; "a very brutal and bloody conflict." The New York Times described him as viewing history "in cycles of cataclysmic and order-obliterating change"—pure Evolian cosmology.
Richard Spencer, the white nationalist leader, noted the importance of Bannon's Evola awareness: "It means a tremendous amount that Bannon was aware of Evola and other Traditionalist thinkers. Even if he hasn't fully imbibed them and been changed by them, he is at least open to them."
The British-Catholic Institutional Network
Bannon didn't access Evola's ideas in isolation. He became embedded in a network of ultra-conservative Catholic institutions that provided both ideological reinforcement and political infrastructure.
The key organization is the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI), founded in 2008 by Benjamin Harnwell, a British Conservative Party member who had worked as chief of staff to Conservative MEP Nirj Deva. The organization's stated mission was to "protect and promote human dignity based on the anthropological truth that man is born in the image and likeness of God."
In practice, DHI became a nexus for far-right Catholic opposition to Pope Francis. Cardinal Raymond Burke, an American cardinal engaged in what sources called "open warfare" with Pope Francis, served as honorary president. Ten additional cardinals sat on the advisory board. Luca Volonté, an Italian politician later convicted of money laundering and bribery in the Azerbaijani Laundromat scandal, served as chairman.
In 2014, DHI invited Bannon to speak at a conference on poverty held at the Vatican. This was the speech where Bannon publicly referenced Evola while calling for the "Judeo-Christian West" to learn from Traditionalism. The platform DHI provided allowed Bannon to position his radical ideology within the context of Catholic social teaching.
By 2017, Bannon had become a patron of DHI. In September 2018, he told Reuters he looked forward to working with Harnwell and Burke "to promote a number of projects that should make a decisive contribution to the defense of what used to be called Christendom."
The phrase "what used to be called Christendom" is telling. Bannon wasn't defending contemporary Christianity or the actual teachings of Jesus. He was defending a mythical medieval social order—the hierarchical, warrior-ruled, religiously unified society that Traditionalists idealize. In Traditionalist thinking, "Christendom" served a useful historical function as a vehicle for preserving Indo-European warrior values, but Christianity itself is seen as ultimately inferior to pre-Christian paganism.
In February 2017, shortly after Bannon's image began appearing on DHI's website, Italian politician Matteo Salvini—head of the League party—held his first meeting with Burke. By early 2018, Salvini, whose party had previously been secular, was appearing in public clutching a rosary and calling for crucifixes in public buildings. The Bannon-Burke-Salvini axis represented a direct pipeline from Traditionalist philosophy to European political action.
The Monastery "Gladiator School" and Russian Money
In 2018, DHI won a 19-year lease on the Abbey of Trisulti, a 13th-century Carthusian monastery in the mountains south of Rome. The plan was to create what Bannon called "Academy for the Judeo-Christian West"—a training facility for future leaders of Europe's nationalist movements. Bannon pledged $1 million to the project. The curriculum would focus on theology, philosophy, and politics—training what Bannon called "gladiators for cultural warriors."
But where was the rest of the money coming from?
The answer involves Luca Volonté, DHI's chairman, and one of the most significant money laundering schemes in European history.
Between 2012 and 2014, Volonté received €2.39 million from the "Azerbaijani Laundromat"—a $2.9 billion scheme that used British and offshore shell companies to launder money from Azerbaijan and Russia for political influence operations throughout Europe. The money flowed through companies like Faberlex LP (based in Scotland) and Jetfield Networks Ltd (based in New Zealand), which transferred a combined $274 million through the laundromat system.
The ultimate source was Baktelekom MMC, a company linked to Azerbaijan's President Aliyev's family, which transferred $1.45 billion. The money was used to bribe members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to defend Azerbaijan's human rights record, undermine reports on political prisoners, and block criticism of the regime.
Volonté, as chairman of PACE's European People's Party group from 2010-2013, played a crucial role. In email exchanges with Azerbaijani parliamentarian Elkhan Suleymanov, Volonté expressed "clear expectation of reward" after PACE voted 125-79 to reject a critical report on Azerbaijan's political prisoners in January 2013. Suleymanov replied affirmatively.
After Volonté received his millions, he distributed funds through his Novae Terrae Foundation to anti-abortion and anti-LGBT organizations across Europe—. Benjamin Harnwell, DHI's founder, was "among the recipients of Volonté's largesse," according to accounts examined by investigative journalists. DHI itself directly received money from the laundered funds.
The network had explicit Russian connections. Alexey Komov, a Russian campaigner gave the opening address when DHI launched its Rome office in 2012. Both Volonté and Komov serve as trustees of the World Congress of Families and directors of CitizenGo, ultra-conservative campaign groups with international reach.
In January 2021, a Milan court sentenced Volonté to four years in prison for bribery and money laundering. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded that companies involved in the Azerbaijani Laundromat transferred money "via various banks, including in Latvia and Estonia, to Mr. Volonté's foundation."
The Italian Culture Ministry revoked DHI's lease on the Trisulti monastery in 2019, citing false statements in the bid, breach of contract, and failure to pay €200,000 in rent. Burke resigned as DHI's honorary president in June 2019 when Bannon's continued involvement became a scandal. In 2021, Italian courts evicted DHI from the monastery.
In 2024, Harnwell was acquitted of criminal charges. Bannon immediately vowed: "I want that monastery. I think it would make for great headquarters of the Academy of the Judeo-Christian West."
The pattern is unmistakable: Russian and Azerbaijani money, laundered through offshore companies, flowing to a network that included DHI, Bannon's gladiator school project, and European far-right political operations. The same network that connected Epstein to Bannon to European parties also connected Russian money to the institutional infrastructure Bannon was building.
Why Evola Matters
Understanding Evola is essential to understanding what Bannon and Dugin are actually doing. Evola provides the intellectual framework that allows fascism to present itself as something more sophisticated than naked authoritarianism.
By couching their politics in mystical philosophy, cosmic cycles, and spiritual warfare, Traditionalists can claim they're not promoting fascism—they're defending eternal truths against modern corruption. They're not advocating genocide—they're accelerating the necessary collapse that will reset the cosmic cycle. They're not serving foreign powers—they're fighting the global Kali Yuga represented by American hegemony.
This is fascism with footnotes, imperialism with a reading list, genocide justified as metaphysical necessity.
And it's the shared intellectual foundation that allowed Bannon, an American political operative, and Dugin, a Russian geopolitical strategist, to find common ground in their eight-hour meeting in Rome. They both worship at the altar of Evola's anti-modern, anti-democratic, anti-egalitarian philosophy. They both see catastrophic conflict as necessary and even desirable. They both view liberal democracy as a disease to be eradicated.
When Bannon said in 2025 that his meeting with Dugin was about achieving "some sort of partnership or strategic understanding" with Russia, he wasn't talking about tactical political cooperation. He was talking about a shared civilizational project to destroy the post-Enlightenment order and replace it with hierarchical, authoritarian, traditionalist societies ruled by spiritual warrior elites.
That's what Evola promised. That's what Dugin fights for. And that's what Bannon is working to build.
PART IV: THE BIRTH OF "MAGA COMMUNISM"
From Dugin's Multipolarity to American "Patriotism"
Dugin's core geopolitical concept is "Multipolarity"—the idea that the world should be organized into competing civilizational blocs rather than dominated by a single hegemon. In his vision, a Russian/Eurasian civilization, Chinese civilization, Islamic civilization, and Western civilization would each exercise sovereignty over their respective spheres, ending American "unipolarity."
This is fundamentally anti-American in the traditional sense. It explicitly seeks to end American global leadership and break apart the alliance structures (NATO, US-Japan, US-Korea, etc.) that have defined the post-World War II order.
But Multipolarity can be repackaged for American audiences. Instead of "ending American hegemony," you say you're opposing "globalism." Instead of "breaking American alliances," you say you're supporting "national sovereignty." Instead of "subordinating America to competing civilizational blocs," you say you're resisting "international elites."
Add populist cultural signifiers (anti-woke rhetoric, pro-Christian messaging, America First branding), mix in socialist/communist economic critique (anti-corporate language, pro-worker rhetoric), layer on antisemitic conspiracy theories, and declare support for Russia, China, and Iran as countries "resisting imperialism."
The result is "MAGA Communism"—Dugin's anti-American framework dressed in American flags.
The Face of MAGA Communism: Jackson Hinkle
Jackson Hinkle was born on September 15, 1999, in San Clemente, California. In 2018 and 2019, he was a Bernie Sanders supporter, environmental activist, and climate justice advocate. He campaigned for water reclamation, fought against plastic pollution, spoke to Congress about nuclear waste, and ran for San Clemente City Council at age twenty with the Democratic Socialists of America's endorsement. Teen Vogue and Reader's Digest featured him as one of the "kids saving the planet."
Then something happened.
Between 2020 and 2022, Hinkle underwent a radical ideological transformation. He abandoned environmentalism, which he now calls "anti-human" and "green fascism." He abandoned democratic socialism. He abandoned Bernie Sanders. In their place, he embraced identities that seem contradictory until you understand the Dugin framework: "American Conservative Marxist-Leninist," "MAGA Communist," "Christian Communist American Patriot."
He also embraced new geopolitical alignments. He became pro-Russia, pro-China, pro-Iran. He became pro-fossil fuels after years of environmental activism. He became a vocal supporter of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. He became viciously anti-Israel and increasingly antisemitic in his rhetoric.
Today, Hinkle has 2.6 million followers on X/Twitter, a number that surged from 417,000 after October 7, 2023. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2025 that his podcast is the third most-listened-to in America, reaching approximately forty million people per month.
And he lives in Moscow, Russia.
He was engaged to Miss Russia 2022, Anna Linnikova, though they reportedly separated in late 2023. He's platformed by Russian state media including RT and Sputnik. He was named an official representative to the "Russophile Congress," an international organization established to garner support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He spreads Pakistani ISI propaganda. He coordinates with Hezbollah and Hamas. And he calls for the United States to abandon its allies.
This is the face of "MAGA Communism" in America today.
What "MAGA Communism" Actually Means
Haz Al-Din, who co-founded the American Communist Party with Hinkle in 2024, explained the ideology: "Communism and Marxism historically have been Conservative. It's a new era in the West that made it adhere to liberal-leftist values. This is not true Marxism. It's Marxism funded by George Soros."
Hinkle puts it more simply: "Globalism is the root of all evil, not communism."
In practice, the ideology combines cultural conservatism (anti-woke, anti-trans, anti-feminist, pro-family, pro-Christian, pro-gun, pro-fossil fuels, traditional gender roles) with geopolitical alignment with America's adversaries (pro-Russia, pro-China, pro-Iran, pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah, anti-Ukraine, anti-Israel, anti-NATO, anti-EU, supportive of "multipolarity"). It layers on economic populism with socialist/communist framing while being funded by foreign states and billionaires. And it promotes conspiracy theories about George Soros controlling everything, the "Zionist lobby" controlling the US government, "globalist elites" rigging the system, COVID being a hoax, and October 7 being exaggerated or faked.
This is Dugin's framework—Multipolarity, Traditionalism, anti-American hegemony—packaged with populist aesthetics for American consumption.
The Dugin Connection
Hinkle openly admires Dugin. Analysts describe him as having "expressed admiration for Aleksandr Dugin." KeyWiki states flatly: "Aleksandr Dugin is popular within the MAGA Communism movement."
The ideology directly implements Dugin's geopolitical vision. It promotes Multipolarity. It opposes American global influence. It supports the Russia-China-Iran axis. It attacks Western institutions. It cultivates anti-establishment sentiment in the West to weaken democratic governance.
A March 2024 report from Spider & the Fly described the movement this way: "An insidious attempt to infiltrate American conservatism... Josef Stalin enthusiast and master propagandist Aleksandr Dugin is the indisputable thought leader of the campaign."
The policy outcomes of "MAGA Communism" serve Russian interests with mathematical precision. It weakens US support for Ukraine by framing the country as a "puppet state." It weakens US support for Israel by framing Israeli self-defense as "Zionist genocide." It attacks NATO as an "imperialist war machine." It promotes Russia as a victim "resisting Western imperialism." It promotes China as a model with "better infrastructure, no homelessness." It divides American society through conspiracism and antisemitism. And it recruits Americans to serve as propagandists for foreign powers—Hinkle is regularly platformed by Russian, Iranian, and Chinese state media.
This is exactly what a Russian intelligence operation would design. And the evidence suggests that's precisely what it is.
PART V: THE ANTI-ISRAEL TURN AND THE MAINSTREAMING OF ANTISEMITISM
October 7, 2023: The Catalyst
Before October 7, 2023, Jackson Hinkle was primarily known for spreading pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine content. He had built an audience, but he hadn't yet achieved the mainstream reach he would soon command. Then Hamas attacked Israel, and everything changed for the "MAGA Communist" movement.
In the six months following October 7, Hinkle's X/Twitter following exploded from 417,000 to 2.5 million. The Wall Street Journal would later report that his podcast became the third most-listened-to in America. What drove this exponential growth? His anti-Israel content went massively, virally, explosively popular.
The Denial of October 7 Atrocities
Hinkle became one of the primary promoters of the narrative that the October 7 atrocities didn't happen as reported. In a post that received over five million views, he announced that Israel had lied about the events. He claimed only 900 people died, not the 1,200+ confirmed by investigators. He said half of those killed were Israeli soldiers, which is false. He claimed babies were never beheaded, contradicting photographic evidence and eyewitness testimony. He said Hamas took Israeli soldiers "respectfully" to morgues.
For these claims, he cited Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper. Haaretz immediately issued a denial: "This post contains blatant lies about the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7." None of Hinkle's allegations were supported by the paper's reporting. He had fabricated the attribution.
But by the time Haaretz denied it, the damage was done. Five million people had seen Hinkle's post. The narrative that October 7 was exaggerated or fabricated had been planted in the discourse. And Hinkle's follower count kept rising.
Overt Support for Terrorism
Hinkle didn't stop at denying atrocities. He expressed overt support for Hamas, calling them "armed resistance" and framing their attacks as legitimate opposition to occupation. He interviewed members of Hamas's Political Bureau in Doha, Qatar, giving them an American platform to spread their messaging. He celebrated Iran's April 2024 drone and missile attack on Israel, framing it as justified retaliation.
In Lebanon, he attended funerals for Hezbollah leaders killed by Israel, participating in a conference designed to "coordinate messages" among pro-Hezbollah influencers from around the world. While looking at the Israeli side of the border, he delivered a statement to camera calling Israelis "genocidal satanic anti-human scum, subhuman rats on the face of the earth."
This is not political commentary. This is dehumanization in service of violence. It's the language of genocide preparation, broadcast to forty million people per month.
The Antisemitic Escalation
As Hinkle's anti-Israel content grew more extreme, the antisemitism became less coded and more explicit. He claims the "Zionist lobby" controls the US government and military, determining American foreign policy. He uses "they" in conspiracy contexts about COVID, the Iraq War, and other events where antisemitic discourse traditionally blames Jews.
He claims US foreign policy is controlled by "Jewish financiers," reviving the antisemitic conspiracy theories of the early 20th century. He obsessively focuses on "Zionist" influence in American institutions, using "Zionist" as many antisemites do—as a supposedly acceptable substitute for "Jew."
The line from legitimate criticism of Israeli policy to antisemitic conspiracy theory isn't subtle here. Hinkle crossed it deliberately and repeatedly.
The "Woke Right" Echo Chamber
Hinkle isn't operating alone. He's part of a network of influencers who cross-promote each other's content, share sources, and coordinate messaging. Together, they've created an ecosystem that normalizes antisemitism as "anti-establishment" politics.
Candace Owens, who also commands forty million monthly listeners with the third most popular podcast in America, has increasingly flirted with antisemitic conspiracy theories. She's developed an obsession with "Frankism," an obscure 18th-century religious cult that she claims is behind contemporary "globalist agendas." She questions and minimizes the Holocaust. She engages in "Jewish influence" commentary that echoes classic antisemitic tropes. Her husband is personally close with Andrew Tate, who appears regularly on her show to spread anti-Israel and conspiracist content.
Tucker Carlson, widely described as influential in conservative media, platformed Darryl Cooper, a Holocaust denier, as the "best and most honest historian in America." He's promoted Moscow in propaganda-style videos. He's become increasingly anti-Israel and willing to question Holocaust narratives that were settled historical facts for decades.
Together, these influencers reach more than one hundred million Americans per month. They've normalized questioning the Holocaust. They've mainstreamed conspiracy theories about Jewish control of media, finance, and government. They've made antisemitism socially acceptable in certain conservative circles by framing it as opposition to "globalism" or "Zionism."
And every single one of their positions serves Russian strategic interests.
How Anti-Israel Content Serves Russia
The obsessive focus on Israel and "Zionism" isn't random. It serves multiple Russian geopolitical objectives:
Weakening the US-Israel Alliance: By turning American conservatives against Israel, the anti-Israel turn undermines one of America's most important strategic partnerships in the Middle East. A weaker US-Israel relationship benefits Russia, which has cultivated relationships with Iran, Syria, and other Israeli adversaries.
Strengthening Russia-Iran Axis: Russia and Iran are strategic partners. Iran supplies drones for Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia provides political cover for Iran at the UN. Promoting pro-Iran, anti-Israel narratives in America strengthens this axis while undermining American influence in the region.
Dividing NATO: Several NATO members, particularly Turkey, have complicated relationships with Israel. American conservatives turning against Israel creates additional friction within the alliance, which Russia seeks to break apart.
Mainstreaming Antisemitism: Normalizing antisemitic conspiracy theories makes it easier to promote other Russian propaganda narratives. If "Jewish bankers" control the world, then maybe Russia is just fighting back against global elites. If "Zionists" dictate American foreign policy, then maybe supporting Ukraine is just serving hidden interests.
Recruiting Propagandists: Hinkle's journey from environmentalist to Russian propagandist shows how anti-Israel content serves as a recruitment pipeline. Once someone accepts that October 7 was faked or exaggerated, they're primed to accept that Russian war crimes in Ukraine are also fabricated. Once they believe "Zionists" control America, they're ready to believe America is the real villain in global conflicts.
The anti-Israel turn isn't peripheral to the "MAGA Communist" project. It's central to it. It's the wedge issue that allows Russian ideology to penetrate American conservatism while claiming to defend American sovereignty.
PART VI: HOW THE PIECES CONNECT
Let's trace the entire network from beginning to end, showing how each element depends on the others.
1991-2019: The Money — As the Soviet Union collapsed, KGB operatives transferred fifty billion dollars in state assets to the West, using Robert Maxwell as a focal point. When Maxwell died mysteriously in November 1991, Jeffrey Epstein inherited the network through his relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell. This network, built on stolen Soviet assets and maintained through Russian intelligence connections (Sergei Belyakov and others), became Epstein's financial infrastructure. The FBI assessed in 2017 that Epstein "was President Vladimir Putin's wealth manager."
2014-2018: The Ideological Framework — Steve Bannon, having studied Traditionalist philosophy (particularly Julius Evola and Alexander Dugin), positioned himself at the intersection of American populist politics and European far-right movements. He spoke at the Vatican in 2014, openly discussing Evola and Traditionalism. He became a patron of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, which connected him to Cardinal Burke and other anti-Francis Catholics.
2018-2019: The Coordination — Bannon and Epstein began intensive contact. They met monthly—five days every month according to text messages. Epstein gave Bannon money. They discussed European political operations. In March 2019, Bannon texted Epstein that he was "focused on raising money for Le Pen and Salvini so they can actually run full slates." In May 2019, both parties made significant gains in European Parliament elections. Epstein's network provided the money, connections, and access. Bannon provided the strategy and coordination.
November 2018: The Russian Alliance — In Rome, Bannon met with Dugin for eight hours. Bannon later explained this meeting was about achieving "some sort of partnership or strategic understanding" with Russia. The two men bonded over shared Traditionalist philosophy, shared hatred of liberal modernity, and shared desire to weaken American global influence. Bannon told Teitelbaum: "I'm such a fan of his writing."
2020-2024: The Product — "MAGA Communism" emerged as a fully formed ideology combining Dugin's Multipolarity with populist aesthetics. Jackson Hinkle, who had been a Sanders-supporting environmentalist, transformed into a pro-Russia, pro-China, pro-Iran propagandist who lives in Moscow and reaches forty million Americans monthly. The movement promotes every Russian foreign policy objective while claiming to represent American patriotism.
October 7, 2023-Present: The Mainstreaming — Hamas's attack on Israel became the catalyst for explosive growth. Hinkle's following surged from 417,000 to 2.6 million in six months by denying October 7 atrocities and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and others joined in questioning the Holocaust, promoting "Jewish influence" narratives, and attacking Israel. Together they reach over one hundred million Americans monthly with content that serves Russian strategic interests while claiming to defend American sovereignty.
Each element enables the others. Epstein's money finances European operations. European operations provide proof of concept for American operations. Dugin's ideology provides intellectual framework. Bannon's coordination ties it together. The anti-Israel turn provides the wedge issue that penetrates American conservatism. And the resulting movement promotes Russian geopolitical objectives while pretending to be American patriotism.
This isn't conspiracy theory. This is documented coordination.
PART VII: WHY "MAGA COMMUNISM" SERVES RUSSIAN INTERESTS
Consider what "MAGA Communism" promotes and ask yourself: who benefits?
Ukraine: The movement obsessively opposes American aid to Ukraine, frames Ukraine as a "corrupt puppet state," claims the war is a "globalist money laundering operation," and calls for immediate abandonment of Ukrainian defense. This is precisely what Russia needs to win its war of conquest.
Israel: The movement promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, denies October 7 atrocities, supports Hamas and Hezbollah, calls for ending US-Israel alliance, and frames Israeli self-defense as "genocide." This weakens a key American strategic partnership and strengthens the Russia-Iran axis.
NATO: The movement calls NATO an "imperialist war machine," promotes narratives about NATO expansion "provoking" Russia, calls for US withdrawal from the alliance, and attacks European members as "globalist puppets." Breaking NATO is Russia's primary geopolitical objective.
China: The movement praises China's infrastructure, governance, and economic model, frames US-China competition as "globalist fearmongering," opposes technological decoupling, and promotes Chinese propaganda about Taiwan. This serves both Russian and Chinese interests in weakening American alliances in Asia.
Iran: The movement celebrates Iranian drone attacks on Israel, frames Iran as "resisting imperialism," opposes sanctions and pressure, and promotes Iranian propaganda about regional conflicts. Iran is Russia's key strategic partner.
American Society: The movement promotes divisive conspiracy theories, mainstreams antisemitism, attacks democratic institutions, spreads disinformation about elections and COVID, and cultivates cynicism about American governance. Social division and institutional distrust weaken American power more effectively than any external attack.
Every single position serves Russian strategic objectives. This mathematical precision isn't coincidental. It's the signature of a coordinated operation designed to advance foreign interests using American voices.
PART VIII: THE ROLE OF COORDINATION
Some might argue that American influencers independently arriving at pro-Russia positions proves there's no coordination—just genuine grassroots sentiment. But this argument ignores how ideological movements actually work.
Bannon's role wasn't to control every influencer directly. It was to create the infrastructure—the intellectual framework, the funding networks, the institutional support, the coordination mechanisms—that allows the movement to grow organically while serving predetermined objectives.
He provided Evola and Dugin's Traditionalist philosophy as intellectual legitimacy. He cultivated relationships with European far-right parties to prove the concept works. He coordinated with Epstein's network to provide funding and access. He met with Dugin to establish strategic alignment. He built institutional infrastructure through groups like DHI. And he mainstreamed the ideas through his own media platforms and political influence.
Once this infrastructure exists, individual influencers can plug into it without direct coordination. Jackson Hinkle didn't need Bannon to tell him to move to Moscow and start promoting Russian propaganda. The ideological framework, the financial incentives, the audience demand, and the institutional support were already in place. He just had to follow the path that had been cleared for him.
This is how sophisticated influence operations work. You don't micromanage every voice. You create the conditions where voices naturally emerge saying what you want them to say. You provide the intellectual framework, the funding, the platforms, the legitimacy, and the coordination—then you let the operation run itself.
CONCLUSION: THE FIFTEEN HOURS
Everything comes back to those fifteen hours of video footage.
Steve Bannon, one of the most influential political operatives in America, sat across from Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender with Russian intelligence ties, for fifteen hours of professionally filmed interviews in early 2019. This was months after intensive coordination on European far-right fundraising, months after Bannon sent Epstein materials on Alexander Dugin.
What did they discuss for fifteen hours?
Bannon claims it was just media training for a 60 Minutes interview. But media training doesn't require fifteen hours. It doesn't require monthly meetings. It doesn't require hundreds of text messages about political operations. It doesn't require coordination on European fundraising. It doesn't require discussions conducted "under cover of darkness."
Those fifteen hours almost certainly contain:
Details of funding sources for European operations
Discussions of Epstein's intelligence connections
Strategic planning for American political operations
Coordination mechanisms with Russian networks
Evidence of Bannon's awareness of Epstein's Russian ties
Proof of the operational nature of their relationship
The footage exists. Bannon controls it. And he refuses to release it.
Until those fifteen hours become public, we're seeing only part of the network. We have the texts showing coordination. We have the FBI assessment of Epstein as Putin's wealth manager. We have documentation of Epstein's FSB connections. We have proof of Bannon's eight-hour meeting with Dugin. We have evidence of money flowing from the Azerbaijani Laundromat to DHI. We have the European election results following Bannon-Epstein coordination. We have the emergence of "MAGA Communism" promoting Russian objectives.
This isn't conspiracy theory. This is documented fact.
At least people are finally talking about it now.
