Top Trump aide asked for bribes to push people for roles in his administration: Report

Donald Trump's legal team has found evidence that a top adviser asked potential appointees for retainer fees in lieu of promoting them for jobs in the new administration, as per a New York Times report. The publication cited five people briefed on the matter and reported that the President-elect had asked his team to run a check of Boris Epshteyn after he was alerted by those close to him.

Notably, Epshteyn coordinated the legal defences in Trump’s criminal cases and is a prominent figure as the Republican gears up to take charge once again. NYT reported that Trump's close aides told him that Epshteyn was asking people interested in becoming a part of the administration for money.

David Warrington, who basically led Trump's campaign, conducted the review. NYT reported that as per the review, Epshteyn sought payment from two people, including Scott Bessent, who was recently nominated to become the Treasury secretary.

Bessent was known to be interested in the Treasury post earlier in the year. In February, Epshteyn met with Bessent and put forward a proposal asking for $30,000 to $40,000 a month to "promote" Bessent at Mar-a-Lago, as per the review.

He declined the deal. Epshteyn also asked him to invest in a three-on-three basketball league. Even though Bessent wasn't interested, he did not want to offend him since he appeared to be a powerful figure in Trump’s world, and so didn't say no.

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The review stated that Bessent called Epshteyn on Nov 14 to check whether he was criticising him to people around Trump. But he told Bessent that it was “too late” to hire him. He seemingly showed off his power as well, saying that he was “Boris Epshteyn", using an expletive between the two names. He later suggested that the hiring was for a consultation role.

The second person in the review

The review also cited a defence contractor, stating that Epshteyn sought $100,000 a month from him during the transition period, terming himself as a “do or die” hiring for his own prospects. He declined and is afraid of retaliation, the review found.

The review concluded that Epshteyn’s proximity to Trump should be “terminated.”

Responding to the report, Epshteyn said, "I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team. These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again."

An Axios report had earlier stated that Elon Musk had a "major blowup" with Epshteyn during dinner at Mar-a-Lago. According to the report, Musk was furious over Epshteyn's influence on Trump's Cabinet picks. 

 He is reportedly questioning whether Epshteyn has had too much influence in Trump's selections.