A top aide to President-elect Donald Trump has been accused of soliciting bribes from potential Cabinet picks and others seeking senior posts in the next administration, The Washington Post reported Monday evening.
Boris Epshteyn served as a special assistant to Trump in his first term and has been a close adviser ever since. A lawyer by trade, he has also served as Trump's in-house counsel, at times clashing with the president-elect's other attorneys about the best line of defense in the several legal cases Trump faced before the 2024 election, Rolling Stone reported last year. In a 2022 interview, he also admitted to being "part of the process" to name fake electors following Trump's loss in 2020.
Now it appears Epshteyn is selling his access to the president-elect, to the apparent annoyance of others in Trump's inner circle. According to the Post, a review conducted by Trump's legal team concluded that Epshteyn has been soliciting monthly "consulting fees" in exchange for recommending people to serve in the next Cabinet.
In particular, Epshteyn sought a $30,000 stipend from Scott Bessent, who Trump recently named as his treasury secretary. Epshteyn requested a lunch with Bessent a day after he had met with the president-elect to discuss the position, the Post reported.
The review of Epsteyn's role on the transition team was commissioned by Trump himself, sources told the Post, "after he heard allegations that Epshteyn had been asking potential Cabinet nominees and others for money."
Some have gone on the record to complain about Epshteyn.
"Mr. Epshteyn's overall tone and behavior gave me the impression of an implicit expectation to engage in business dealings with him before he would advocate for or suggest my appointment to the President," former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens wrote in a sworn declaration submitted to Trump's transition team, CBS News reported.
In an interview with the news channel, Greitens said that he raised the alarm to "protect the president."
"Very specifically, I was concerned that there was an offer to advance a nomination in return for financial payments," Greitens said.
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