They heard allegations from Scott Bessent and others that Boris Epstein was allegedly. We have not confirmed this was trying to shake down people for access, for contracts, for money. My father has been incredibly clear. You do not you do not do that under any circumstance. [00:00:15] And believe me, there will be repercussions if somebody was. I certainly hope the reporting is false. And I can also tell you if it's true. You know, the person will probably no longer be around. President elect Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump, made clear while appearing on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show last night that Boris Epstein, [00:00:35] a close Trump adviser and aide, will in fact be terminated from Trump's orbit if he has in fact been shaking down possible Trump cabinet appointees all year long. Now over the weekend. Trump campaign general counsel David Warrington actually put out a review [00:00:55] into Epstein which found that he had unsuccessfully tried to shake down potential Trump administration nominees. Epstein sought money from two people, and one of those people was actually Trump's current Treasury secretary pick, Scott Bessent. [00:01:12] So according to the review, one day after Trump met with Bessent for the first time in February. So this happened in February. Epstein invited him to lunch at a hotel in Palm Beach, where he asked for a monthly retainer of at least 30,000 to $40,000 to promote his name at Mar-A-Lago [00:01:31] in case Trump won the election. So the idea is, listen, we don't know if Trump's going to win the election, but I know you want a cabinet position. If you want that cabinet position, who better than me to be in Trump's ear and encourage him to choose you? [00:01:46] Now, in order to do that, you're going to have to pay me a retainer of 30 to $40,000 a month. - I mean. - Yeah, and he did it way more than twice. The two people have come out and talked about it. Okay. So more people have come out. Interesting. Yeah. Like Paladino, who's running in New York, said, yeah, everybody told me [00:02:06] that I'm supposed to give to this guy to get into Trump's ear. And so I did. And and it was theoretically for consulting, but I don't know what I got out of it. And Trump didn't endorse me. Oh, my God, Epstein was lying to you. I could have never guessed that. - What a. - Little shyster. [00:02:21] Yeah, he is in that case. Okay, so let me give you the details, though, because Bessent allegedly declined the offer. And, he also complained about it. After declining the offer, he spoke to a Trump aide campaign aide specifically and complained about being, you know, a victim of a Epstein shakedown. [00:02:39] Later, when Epstein asked Bessent to invest $10 million in a three by three basketball league. Don't know what that means. He declined, but told associates Epstein would probably give him better access if he had taken up the offer. [00:02:56] And then finally Bessent then called Epstein fairly recently on November 14th to see whether he was criticizing Bessent to people around Trump. The review said Epstein told him that it was too late to hire him and that [00:03:11] he was Boris Epstein with an expletive. Between the two names. So Boris effing, you know Epstein. He then suggested the hiring was for consulting. And then the other person who we learned about this morning from the [00:03:28] New York Times reporting on this story, was a defense contractor who also allegedly turned down Epstein's offer to work for him on retainer. Epstein wanted $100,000 a month from this individual. - Like it's amazing. - Yeah. [00:03:45] So I like when the guy calls back Besson, who actually got the Treasury secretary job. So apparently he didn't need Epstein. He was a huge Trump donor. Yeah, yeah. And that'll usually do it. But I like that he answered the way that he did. It's too late. You don't know I'm Boris f f Epstein. [00:04:02] Okay. Are you are you? Because that leads me to the Carl Paladino quote, who again ran for Congress in New York. And he said he was highly recommended as having good relations with some people that work for Trump, he explained back in 2023. I was told that it would be in my interest if I sent money to this Boris. [00:04:19] I did, and we heard nothing from the man. He was totally useless. I mean, it sounds like you're totally useless. Like, what a sucker. Yeah. Like, really? You didn't question whether this was a good idea? Is this is this legal? No, I don't think it is. But, you know, look, I don't know what. [00:04:36] When. Hey, I will do consulting for you, whatever the hell that means. And I will. And I'll see where that ends. And a shakedown begins. So, you know, prosecuting this would be probably incredibly difficult, [00:04:52] but nobody's going to go in that direction, right? They're just either going to fire more. They're not going to fire him. And the reason why this is an open question is because Epstein has been so loyal to Trump throughout. And so Trump loves to reward that loyalty. So it's like this guy stuck with me the whole time, [00:05:09] but it turns out he's been trying to make a buck off me the whole time. On the other hand, is probably what Trump would have done if he was in Boris's position. Okay, fair. I totally do think that this is like a grift that Trump might take advantage of if the tables were turned, [00:05:24] but I don't know if Trump would take kindly to all of this stuff happening behind the scenes, which could hurt Trump because he should be the one who gets to pick, right? Like, like really, it's about manipulating Trump. Like Epstein is saying to these potential appointees, hey, pay me [00:05:43] tens of thousands of dollars a month and I can manipulate Trump in order to get you chosen for this cabinet pick. So I think this is what it's going to hinge on. And I don't know that, Epstein's smart enough to to make this defense. And I feel a little bad saying it publicly because apparently people do watch in that camp. [00:06:00] But like, the defense he should go with is. Oh, no, no, Donald. Mr. President, I was just robbing them. I was never going to influence you because that's sacrosanct. I give you real and honest advice, but these guys were suckers, and they wanted to give me money, so I took their money. [00:06:17] Trump might listen to that and be more open to that. But if Trump gets a sense that Epstein was trying to screw him over and take him for a sucker or a fool, then he's going to be super pissed and he's definitely going to fire him. And also, you see what I'm saying? So he's better off just admitting it. [00:06:34] Hey, I was grifting them, not you. Okay, but that defense only works if he hadn't been in Trump's ear. Make, like pushing for certain people to be chosen for certain cabinet positions. So I don't know what he has been talking to Trump about [00:06:50] or what he's been egging Trump to do. But what I do know is you're right. I mean, look, there are people within Trump's orbit now, people like Elon Musk, for instance, not a fan of Boris Epstein, can't understand why Trump is so loyal to him. So Elon Musk and by the way, also Tucker Carlson have both remarked to associates [00:07:10] that they did not understand why Trump placed so much trust in him in Epstein. And it also might have to do with the fact that Epstein did, in fact, help Trump through all of his legal battles this year in 2024. He assembled and oversaw the Trump legal team during the criminal investigations [00:07:25] and in the multiple criminal cases, including when Trump found it nearly impossible to find capable lawyers to represent him. Boris is always right. Trump is said to have remarked about Epstein's legal strategy. I have a conclusion. [00:07:41] So Trump is kind of like a mob boss. That's how he thinks. So the captains have to bring him in things, whether it's money or it's influence or it's power. His captains have to deliver for him. Right. And but if they don't, then they're in a lot of trouble. [00:07:56] And he's going to let him go. Right. And in the old days, you know what mob bosses do. But now it's just easier to just fire him. Right. And but what Trump does sometimes is he sends people to Siberia and then lets them earn their way back in. So he might not say Epstein's the worst. I can't stand him. [00:08:12] I can't believe he did this. He's fired. He's dead to me. No, he'll probably send him away and say, no, we're not working with him any more, but leave it at that and see if Boris can earn his way back in. Yeah, I've seen him do that on a number of occasions. And so the thing that he's going to be most mad about, and that's why I mentioned [00:08:31] the mob boss thing is you don't take money out of his pocket. Right. And this is in a sense, like, hey, that money could have gone to the boss man, right? If you if we're shaking people down. Right. You do it right. You do it for the boss. You don't do it for yourself. If your boss are looking out for themselves and not for you. [00:08:47] That's a core violation of how a mob runs. Remember, though, there was one specific agreement that Siouxsie Wiles, Trump's incoming chief of staff, needed a commitment from Trump in order to agree to that position [00:09:03] in his upcoming administration. And it was I need to limit access to you, Trump. And that includes people who were more involved in your first term. I would be shocked if Siouxsie Wiles was on Epstein's. Epstein's side, I have no idea. [00:09:20] But I'm really curious what her take is on all of this. Yeah, I mean, look, I it's complicated real quick. Siouxsie Wiles is a professional that has significant upsides. More likely to contain Trump when he's thinking of doing something wild or radical, or letting the lunatics like Michael Flynn, etc., into the white House. [00:09:39] But the downside is she's in the class of more professional robbers. She's a typical, like, corporate Democrat, right? - She's been. - Corporate Republican. I'm sorry. Republican. Republican. That's what I meant. But she's been involved in, you know, campaign strategizing and all [00:09:56] of that stuff since, like, the late 1970s. Yeah. And so her job is to push all the money towards corporate donors, right? So that's a much bigger racket than the tiny little racket that Boris Epstein is running. Exactly. But at least she's a professional about it. But one last ray of hope here on on Trump. Wait a minute. [00:10:14] Why is he allowing Siouxsie Wiles to be the gatekeeper? I thought he was a madman who was totally out of control and wouldn't listen to anyone. Yet he's giving her Concessions. The reason why he's giving her concessions is because there's another [00:10:29] potential upside of Donald Trump. Again, in a mountain of downsides. Right. But I'm trying to find the upside so that we could figure out how to make the best of this administration. And an upside here is he says, well, Siouxsie Wiles did a good job of running my campaign, got me reelected. [00:10:45] I see her value for me. So hence I'm willing to give her something back. Not just a position, but an agreement that she could be the gatekeeper. Right. So he's making a deal based on results. And that's not such a bad thing either. [00:11:02] Thanks for watching The Young Turks. Really appreciate it. Another way to show support is through YouTube memberships. You'll get to interact with us more. There's live chat emojis, badges. You've got emojis of me Anna John Jr. So those are super fun. But you also get playback of our exclusive member only shows [00:11:21] and specials right after they air. So all of that, all you got to do is click that join button right underneath the video. Thank you.