The name Boris Epshteyn—which belongs to a top aide to Donald Trump—has appeared in not one but two jaw-droppingly scandalous headlines out of the president-elect’s camp in the past week.
Last Monday, it broke that Elon Musk had reportedly confronted Epshteyn at a Mar-a-Lago dinner table with an accusation that he had leaked potential Trump cabinet picks to the media, sparking a “massive blow-up.” But an even bigger bombshell dropped yesterday, when it emerged that Epshteyn was being investigated by the Trump transition team’s own lawyers over credible concerns that he shook down potential Trump administration candidates for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While he now appears poised for a fall from Trumpian grace, Epshteyn had until recently held a key position in Trump’s inner circle on the back of a precipitous rise.
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So here’s what to know about the man who has been one of the president-elect’s most influential advisors—from his personal ties to the Trump family, to his early days as Trump’s personal “TV attack dog,” to his emotionally explosive run-ins with the law, to his eyebrow-raising connections to Russia, to his latest headline-grabbing scandals.
Entrance Into the Trump Orbit
How did Epshteyn go from a bit player in Republican politics to holding the ear of a once and future president?
Epshteyn first entered the Trump orbit when he became college buddies with his second-eldest son, Eric Trump. The two overlapped at Georgetown University in the early 2000s, and Epshteyn attended the younger Trump’s wedding in 2014, according to The New York Times. Epshteyn said he was “proud to call [Eric Trump] a friend” after the latter gave a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Before signing on to Team Trump, Epshteyn’s political claim to fame was his brief post-law-school stint in 2008 as a communications aide for late Sen. John McCain’s unsuccessful presidential campaign. After that, he was a managing director for a small investment bank, West America Securities, whose CEO was a close friend of his uncle, per the Times. Epshteyn’s time there ended, though, after the firm—known for its run-ins with regulators—was in 2013 effectively shut down by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Although he made occasional television appearances as a Republican analyst in 2012, it was during Trump’s first presidential campaign, in 2016, that Epshteyn made a name for himself as Trump’s “TV attack dog,” as the Times dubbed him at the time. He became a recognizable character on cable news, brazenly defending Trump against scandal upon scandal in the lead-up to his first presidential win.
“Boris takes a certain amount of delight in trying to bully the interviewer,” MSNBC host Joy Reid told the Times in 2016. “He sees every night as combat and he goes in as very combative.”
“Boris is abrasive,” she added. “That is who he is both on the air and off.”
Epshteyn’s dauntless belligerence apparently impressed Trump, who named him a special assistant in his first administration.
After-Hours Legal Troubles
Epshteyn’s pugnacious personality apparently bleeds into his personal life, as well. In 2014, he faced assault charges over a bar fight in Scottsdale, Arizona, per the Times. They were dropped, however, after he agreed to take anger-management classes and perform community service.
That wasn’t the last of Epshteyn’s explosive encounters with law enforcement, however. He was arrested again in Arizona, in 2021, after repeatedly groping two women in a nightclub. Epshteyn pleaded guilty after prosecutors reduced the charges from attempted sexual assault and assault-touching to just disorderly conduct. He was ordered to pay a fine and serve probation.
The arrest was captured in police body-cam footage that emerged in August 2023, while Epshteyn was working on Trump’s second successful campaign for president.
Ties to Russia
Epshteyn, who was born and raised in Moscow, has raised eyebrows for his outlook on Russia and his efforts to influence Trump on the matter.
Broadcast news outlets were admonished by Media Matters for allowing Epshteyn to appear on behalf Trump, and sometimes offer defenses of Russian President Vladimir Putin, without disclosing his own business ties to the country. He was reportedly consulting for companies operating out of Eastern Europe and moderated a 2013 investment conference panel titled “Invest in Moscow!” that featured mostly Russian government officials.
Earlier this month, the Times reported that Epshteyn had made a bid to be a special envoy to the Russia-Ukraine war in the upcoming Trump administration despite having no foreign policy experience. On a plane flying to Washington, D.C., for Trump’s post-election meeting with Joe Biden, Epshteyn tried to convince the president-elect’s team that he was worthy of the role because he had relatives on both sides of the conflict.
Reportedly, several people on the plane were shocked and troubled by the prospect—but Trump was not among them. Although he did not promise him the position, he listened to Epshteyn’s case with apparent interest.
Efforts to Overturn 2020 Election
Epshteyn, along with Rudy Giuliani, was one of the lawyers who masterminded Trump’s efforts to prevent Joe Biden from taking office after he beat Trump in the 2020 election. He was a leading figure in the team’s Washington-based election-overturning “command center” during the days leading up the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted insurrection. He has openly admitted to working on the infamous “alternate electors” scheme, which intended to implant pro-Trump electors in key states that the former president had lost. Earlier this year, he was indicted for his efforts to flip the election outcome in Arizona.
Epshteyn also reportedly masterminded Trump’s legal strategy in the face of an array of criminal investigations over the past several years, urging Trump to delay the proceedings as much as possible, according to the Times. The aggressive strategy appears to have paid off, with Trump back in the White House and the Justice Department’s charges against him dropped. But other members of the president’s legal team have been unsparingly critical of his advice.
“I don’t know where [Epshteyn] filed his law license,” an anonymous source close to Trump told Politico. “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.”
Butting Heads With a Billionaire
Last week, Elon Musk, a relative newcomer to the Trump circle, is reported to have loudly and publicly accused Epshteyn of leaking Trump administration picks to the media. The “huge explosion” was the boiling of persisting “tensions” between the two men, according to Axios.
Epshteyn reportedly pleaded ignorance to Musk’s allegations.
Before the blow-up, Musk had questioned whether Epshteyn—who reportedly pushed for Trump’s most controversial and eventually flubbed cabinet nominee, Matt Gaetz—has had an undue level of influence on the president-elect’s picks.
Neither the transition team, Epshteyn, or Musk commented to Axios on the report.
Pay to Play
Now, Epshteyn has suffered a blow that might just knock him back out of the Trump orbit—although only time will tell.
The transition team’s own lawyers found evidence that Epshteyn had asked for thousands of dollars from officials in exchange for the aide’s efforts to have Trump name them to the new administration, according to The New York Times.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s pick for treasury secretary, was one of the people who was approached by Epshteyn about a possible deal. The men met in February, and Epshteyn asked for a monthly fee of $30,000 to $40,000 in exchange for his support. Bessent reportedly turned down the offer.
Epshteyn also solicited $100,000 from another unnamed figure, described as a defense contractor, although they too declined the offer.
Former Gov. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens also told the transition team, according to CBS News, that “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.”
“This created a sense of unease and pressure on my part,” he added, explaining that he was worried about the ethics of Ephsteyn’s implied deal.
“Very specifically, I was concerned that there was an offer to advance a nomination in return for financial payments,” Greitens said.
Epshteyn has denied the allegations against him.
“I am honored to work for President Trump and with his team,” he said in a statement to the Daily Beast. “These fake claims are false and defamatory and will not distract us from Making America Great Again.”
Trump’s transition team appeared to suggest Wednesday that the scandal was behind them.
“As is standard practice, a broad review of the campaign’s consulting agreements has been conducted and completed, including as to Boris, among others,” spokesman Steven Cheung told the Beast. “We are now moving ahead together as a team to help President Trump Make America Great Again.”
