Among aides, confidants, and hangers-on of Donald Trump, there has always been an intense fight to get close to the boss, with advisers clawing over each other to win favor and influence. But little in Trumpworld compares to the efforts of Boris Epshteyn. The Washington Post reports that Epshteyn, a longtime loyalist who has served as a key legal adviser to Trump, has been asking potential candidates for monthly consulting fees in exchange for his personal recommendation to the president-elect.
Among those Epshteyn has pitched is Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, who denied Epshteyn’s offer of a $30,000 monthly retainer to promote him while visiting with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago. When that didn’t work, Epshteyn asked Bessent to give him $10 million to invest in a three-on-three basketball tournament. The Post reports that Epshteyn got on a call with Bessent to say that he should have accepted his offer sooner, referring to himself as “Boris fucking Epshteyn.” A physically imposing man who always wears a three-piece suit, Epshteyn even came up to Bessent at Mar-a-Lago in a manner that witnesses said was meant to be intimidating. Bessent got the coveted Treasury job anyway.
Even by chaotic Trump standards, this was apparently too much. The president-elect reportedly asked his legal team to look into the pay-to-play allegations after he heard rumors of Epshteyn’s scheme. Trump’s lawyers recommended that Epshteyn be fired from his role in the transition and warned of potential legal charges for him if he continued his lobbying. Epshteyn, a Russian-born lawyer who has worked for Trump on and off since 2016, is already in legal trouble, having been indicted over the Arizona fake-electors plot in April.
Epshteyn has denied the allegation, but Trump indirectly acknowledged the situation in a statement to a small conservative site on Monday. “I suppose every president has people around them who try to make money off them on the outside. It’s a shame, but it happens,” he said. “But no one working for me in any capacity should be looking to make money.” The only person making money off a Donald Trump presidency should be Donald Trump.
