Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn faces allegations of soliciting payments from Cabinet hopefuls.
- An internal investigation found Epshteyn proposed monthly payments to promote Cabinet hopefuls.
- Epshteyn denies wrongdoing, but Trump's team suggests terminating his proximity to Trump.
NEW YORK — A top adviser to president-elect Donald Trump is facing allegations he solicited payments from potential Cabinet appointees in recent months, CNN first reported Monday.
The Trump team completed an internal review of Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, and said they found Epshteyn had attempted to benefit financially from his position in Trump's orbit and his connections with top Trump transition officials.
Per CNN, Epshteyn allegedly requested payments from multiple individuals interested in positions in Trump's Cabinet, promising to advocate on their behalf. One of the individuals Epshteyn allegedly approached was Scott Bessent, Trump's nominee for Treasury secretary, but Bessent declined Epshteyn's request.
According to The New York Times, the internal investigation found that Epshteyn approached Bessent and "proposed $30,000 to $40,000 a month to 'promote' Mr. Bessent around Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's estate in Florida."
In a statement to CNN, Ephsteyn denied wrongdoing. "I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team," Bessent wrote. "These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again."
Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, acknowledged in a statement to CNN that a "broad review of the campaign's consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others. We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again."
Ephsteyn has long been a top aide in Trump's orbit. He worked closely with Trump's lawyers in the 2020 effort to overturn the results of the presidential election. He faces felony charges in the Arizona "fake elector" case for his role.
He has also been heavily involved in Trump's transition efforts. He sat in on "key meetings and candidate briefings," CNN reported, and has traveled with Trump.
Earlier this month, Politico reported that Ephsteyn was largely responsible for Trump's since-abandoned nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. While traveling together, Ephsteyn lobbied Trump to pick Gaetz, Politico reported, "while incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was in a different, adjacent room on the plane, apparently unaware."
On Monday night, Eric Trump, son of the president-elect, said on Fox News that he's known Ephsteyn "for years, and I've never known him to be anything but a good human being," he said. "That said I will tell you my father has been incredibly clear, you do not do that under any circumstance. I certainly hope the reporting is false. ... If it's true, the person will probably no longer be around."
The Times reported that the Trump team's internal investigation, led by attorney David Warrington, concluded that Ephsteyn's proximity to Trump should be "terminated."
