Boris Epshteyn rises in Trump land

“Once you get President Trump’s confidence and he trusts your judgment, there’s other things he needs done,” said Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who frequently has Epshteyn as a guest on his “War Room” podcast. “Trump’s on offense across the board on legal strategy, and I think that’s because of Boris.”

But Epshteyn’s main skill may be survival. Former White House attorney Eric Herschmann has called him an “idiot” and some others are, privately, just as unsparing in their assessments. He is increasingly tied to the legal drama surrounding Trump’s decision to store top secret government documents at his Mar-a-Lago home. And half-a-dozen current and former Trump confidantes accuse him of feeding the ex-president’s worst political instincts, among them to vociferously challenge the results of the 2020 election.

This has created no shortage of tensions within Trump’s legal team, where Ephsteyn is described as having an almost preternatural disposition to aggressively push back against any probe or critic. Among others, two people familiar with the matter say he’s butted heads with Trump’s newest lawyer, Florida attorney Chris Kise, who has urged a more accommodating posture to the prosecution.

“Folks in the president’s old legal team were able to prevail on some legal strategies that he didn’t agree with but that doesn’t mean he’s out or sidelined. Boris is one of the people Chris has to deal with,” said a person close to Trump’s legal team, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about tensions on the team. “I don’t know where [Ephsteyn] filed his law license. They must be selling them at 7-11. I don’t think it serves the president well to be taking legal advice from Boris and hopefully he will see that sometime soon.”

And yet, for all the arrows directed at him, Ephsteyn — perhaps more than any other Trump aide — has persisted. Another person close to the legal operation says he’s smoothed things over with Kise, and the two work together regularly. More generally, he is described now as one of Trump’s closest aides, someone well positioned for a critical campaign job should the ex-president make another run at the White House. Kise did not return a request for comment.

For now, those close to him claim he is not angling for any other roles with the president’s team. In 2022, Trump’s leadership PAC Save America spent $120,000 on strategy consulting services from Georgetown Advisory, Epshteyn’s firm, according to FEC filings.

Perhaps more importantly, those close to Trump say the former president has grown to value his input, seeing in him the type of pugilistic approach he cherishes. But it is yet to be seen if Epshteyn’s strategy will work out for Trump, who faces multiple investigations. One attorney on Trump’s current legal team compared him to fellow Georgetown Law graduate Edward Bennett Williams, who in addition to starting the powerhouse firm Williams & Connolly, represented, among others, Frank Sinatra, John Hinckley, Jr., former Texas Governor John Connally and mob boss Frank Costello.

“The war waged by the enemies of President Donald J. Trump has many fronts and is covered in real-time by an abetting press corps,” the lawyer added. “Only someone with the highest level of confidence, and a heart-felt understanding of human nature, would be up to the job. Boris fits the bill.”

Born in Moscow to Russian Jewish parents, Epshyten grew up in New Jersey before heading to Washington, D.C. for college at Georgetown University. After college, he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center from which he pursued a career in law, working for white shoe law firm Milbank LLP and investment firms.

His entry into national politics began in 2008, when he did rapid response and worked with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during Republican John McCain’s failed presidential run. But his entry into Trump world began well before that.

Epshteyn met Eric Trump when they both attended Georgetown. The two remained friends, with Epshteyn attending Trump’s 2014 Mar-a-Lago wedding. When Trump’s father launched his 2016 campaign, Epshteyn took on the role of emissary to traditional media.

He found himself in front of the camera daily. With his large frame and signature three piece suits, he played the role of attack dog for Trump on MSNBC, HBO’s Bill Maher or other unsympathetic shows. His eagerness to jump in front of the TV camera to defend Trump when no one else wanted to, earned him the support of the family. A former campaign official said former first lady Melania Trump personally wanted Epshteyn to join the White House because she liked the way he went head-to-head with naysayers on TV.

And join the White House he did. After a stint as a communications director on Trump’s inaugural team, Epshteyn was named to the White House communications office. But his time ended abruptly in the early months of the administration. To this day, there is speculation within Trump world as to why, though everyone agrees that he had his share of detractors inside the building. A person close to Epshteyn said he considered other posts in the administration before he left to pursue media opportunities.

Epshteyn declined to comment for the story.

Once he left the White House, Epshteyn made sure to remain in Trump’s larger orbit. He joined Sinclair Broadcast Group, known for its conservative bent, as a chief political commentator and host of one of the broadcast networks, “Bottom Line with Boris.” The segments were deemed “must-run” commentary shows by management, prompting a wide range of criticism that the conglomerate was forcing local news stations to run Trump talking points. Ephsteyn did little to quiet those critiques with the content he produced, though a former official said the White House appreciated his work. But he didn’t return to the building.

And while he worked as a strategic adviser for the Trump campaign in 2020, those close to Trump say the door back into the inner sanctum opened for Ephsteyn shortly after election night in 2020. In the days after the election, he crisscrossed the country as the campaign filed lawsuits contesting the results, spending long stretches in Arizona, a state that Trump intensely focused on.

“After the 2020 election, when essentially everyone dropped off the face of the earth after Election Day, he was still there,” said a former Trump campaign official. “He was still there, he was still working, he was still trying to do what Trump wanted in spite of everyone leaving.”

Ephsteyn appeared beside fellow Trump-lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and others, at the Republican National Committee as they made claims about voting machines and election fraud that were widely debunked. He coordinated with Bannon, Bernie Kerik, and others on efforts to challenge the election on Jan. 6. In a Dec. 23 email, John Eastman, an architect of Trump’s last-ditch bid to subvert the 2020 election, wrote to Epshteyn that Vice President Mike Pence should be prepared on Jan. 6 to “act boldly and be challenged.” Epshteyn’s name was redacted in the email, but POLITICO has confirmed his identity based on earlier court filings.

Through it all, Ephsteyn has managed to position himself, perhaps strategically, just off the center of the spotlight. At the infamous RNC press conference, for example, he stood behind Giuliani and didn’t speak. In his most recent role as a member of Trump’s larger legal circle tackling a variety of probes, he has not signed his names on any critical documents.

Those who have worked with Ephsteyn don’t believe this is a coincidence. They concede his ability to persevere, though they don’t think the formula is all that sophisticated.

“He always sought to be close to Trump,” said a second former Trump campaign official. “He tells the president what he always wants to hear.”

But that desire to be close to Trump has come with a cost. Epshteyn has become tied to a host of legal headaches ranging from the Jan. 6 committee’s probe to the Fulton County grand jury investigation. He appeared in an email unearthed by the Jan. 6 select committee — which also subpoenaed him in January — about the appointment of false electors to help Trump remain in power.

He has been summoned to testify before the Atlanta-area grand jury investigating Trump’s effort to overturn the election in the state. He was among the dozens of Trump allies whose phones were seized or who received grand jury subpoenas as part of a federal probe related to the effort to overturn the election.

Throughout it all he has continued to defend Trump, most frequently on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, where he calls himself part of the “War Room posse,” promotes his own email newsletter “Breakfast with Boris,” and appears on news shows. It is the role that suits him well and may just serve him well too, the detractors be damned.

“In Trumpworld, the backbiting and the shots you get from our side of the football is worse than you’ll get on the opposition,” Bannon said. “The reason I know he’s getting things done is I see the backbiting. When people start sniping he’s doing something right.”