There may be nobody -- perhaps not even Donald Trump himself -- who embodies the degeneracy of what used to be called conservatism like Stephen K. Bannon. That the "War Room" host still exerts influence over the American and international right as a media personality, political strategist and power broker indicates just how empty of moral character that movement truly is.

Like dear leader Trump, Bannon owes his prominence and prosperity to a pervasive atmosphere of impunity. Every day, in an era of burgeoning scandal on every front, both of them test its limits -- and have yet to find any at all.

What the Epstein files have lately revealed about Bannon, however, as disclosed in hundreds of emails between him and the predatory financier, is so depraved as to be almost unbelievable. In the face of these damning documents, the former Trump campaign manager has offered mutterings and excuses that scarcely even amount to a denial.

Not only did Bannon begin to execute a costly "op" with Jeffrey Epstein to rehabilitate the latter's image -- which ended only with his arrest by federal authorities in 2019 -- but they conspired politically together on various subsidiary plans both in the U.S. and Europe. Desperate for Bannon's help, Epstein financed his travel and connected him with potentates and politicians around the world. He paid Bannon hundreds of thousands of dollars to tape a dozen or more hours of "documentary" interviews that were evidently meant as media training, in anticipation of Epstein's prosecution.

All absolutely damning when assessed in the context of Epstein's vile assaults on girls and women, as well as his apparent financial crimes. Yet what seems most appalling so far, and most illustrative of the enveloping corruption, was their joint plotting against Pope Francis, whose liberal gestures toward gays and lesbians, migrants, Muslims and the global poor had enraged the self-styled "traditionalists" of the Catholic Church.

Together Bannon and Epstein aimed to produce a documentary film exposing the culture of hypocrisy and concealment surrounding homosexuality in the church, based on a 2019 French book "In the Closet of the Vatican." Bannon met with the book's author several times in Paris, where he also met Epstein, who had an apartment there.

With Epstein as the executive producer, Bannon predicted that the movie would wreak cataclysmic damage on the papacy and his other political adversaries, from Beijing and Brussels to Chappaqua. "Will take down Francis. The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU -- come on brother," he wrote, encouraging Epstein (who would soon be dead).

Stop and ponder for a moment what Bannon was attempting to engineer. He wanted to produce a movie, with the help of a monstrous pedophile who had victimized hundreds of children, which would destroy the reputation of the Holy Father and perhaps many others equally without blame. And aside from the political benefit to his hard-right allies, Bannon no doubt hoped to bank a substantial profit.

It isn't easy to imagine a more sinister project. By comparison, Bannon's swindling of the suckers who financed his "We Build the Wall" nonprofit and his phony indictment of the humanitarian Clinton Foundation look quaint.

Now a few of Bannon's longtime enemies in the MAGA movement -- including Elon Musk and Roger Stone, rather dismal characters in their own right -- have leaped to attack him over these reports. Presumably Musk would like to distract attention from his own cameo role in the files, including his solicitation of an invite to "the wildest party" on Epstein's Caribbean island. And the scorpion-like Stone is merely stepping on a perceived rival, as he always does.

Yet there are many self-proclaimed Catholics and Christians in Trump's orbit, MAGA influencers and conservative pundits who should have something to say about these appalling revelations. Why have we not heard from JD Vance, vice president of the United States, a fairly recent Catholic convert and a MAGA nationalist like Bannon, who spends so much of his time blathering on social media? Why haven't we heard from Peter Thiel, the ultra-right gay billionaire and Epstein buddy who lectures about the "Antichrist" among "woke Democrats"?

Indeed, very few of our moral arbiters on the right have felt moved to speak up about Bannon -- just as they remained silent when his coconspirators in the "wall" scam served prison terms, while he skated with a presidential pardon.

The most apt summation of this MAGA mountebank appears in a video recently released among the Epstein files, which was shot for that aborted documentary.

Bannon asks Epstein, "Do you think you're the devil himself?"

"No," Epstein retorts. "But I do have a good mirror."

Many well-known conservatives, from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) to veteran Washington Post columnist George Will to former Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, are saying that if far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton becomes the GOP nominee in that state's 2026 U.S. Senate race, the seat could be in play for Democrats. And that's saying a lot, as Texas hasn't had a Democratic U.S. senator since 1993.

President Donald Trump, so far, hasn't endorsed either Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the incumbent, or his ultra-MAGA challenger Paxton in that primary. But some of Trump's allies are having a bitter argument over it.

Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio, two major GOP operatives and Trump allies, are supporting Cornyn. But "War Room" host Steve Bannon, Politico Playbook reports, is "going all-in for Ken Paxton and slamming Trump's top campaign aides for backing John Cornyn."

LaCivita is calling Bannon out. In a text to Politico Playbook, LaCivita wrote, "associating with Senator Cornyn is better than being a lacky (sic) for Epstein."

That comment, Playbook's Adam Wren notes, was an "apparent reference to Bannon’s newly surfaced ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein."

Bannon told Playbook, "My belief is the Trump team should have stayed out of this race, absolutely. ... The Paxton situation is critical, because he has been the MAGA guy since Day One. He is a symbol of the heart of the grassroots MAGA movement."

President Donald Trump’s top adviser Steve Bannon is ensnared in a cryptocurrency scandal — although in Bannon’s case, the controversy comes with a literally profane twist.

A Missouri investor named Andrew Barr is suing Bannon over a failed cryptocoin called “F—— Joe Biden” (FJB), according to The Bulwark. Barr alleges that he lost almost $59,000 investing in the FJB coin and is seeking to sue Bannon in a class action suit that would also include MAGA bigwigs like political operative Boris Epshteyn. Barr also claims that Bannon and the other FJB executives demanded an unusually high 8 percent fee on transactions on the grounds that 5 percent would go to charitable donations like veterans’ care, but has not lived up to that promise.

The FJB coin, which was supposedly going to one day power an “uncancelable” economy under Trump, plummeted in value under Bannon’s and Epshteyn’s management. The lawsuit also alleges that $2.7 million in value intended to go to charity or marketing has instead vanished unaccounted for. Despite enlisting top MAGA figures like Benny Johnson and Jack Posobiec to promote the coin, the FJB coin never became a lucrative venture. Finally the lawsuit points to public discussions among FJB executives which suggest they were aware something was amiss with their financial product.

“Top coin administrator Sarah Abdul and programmer Chase Bailey offered their lament over an alleged $120,000 payment from FJB to Epshteyn’s friends for lackluster services,” The Bulwark reported regarding a Discord conversation among FJB executives. “But, they concluded, it was ‘drops in the bucket’ compared to more serious financial mismanagement, which they didn’t spell out. Abdul told Bailey the management of the coin’s money was ‘worse than I ever imagined,’ according to the lawsuit.”

The Bulwark quoted Bailey as replying, “This looks sooooo neglegent [sic].”

This is not the first time Trump and his administration’s figures have gotten involved in cryptocurrency scandals. The Abu Dhabi royal family invested $500 million in the Trump family’s cryptocurrency coin; later, after Trump became president, the United Arab Emirates received access to highly sensitive AI technology. The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal involved “pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities” and at the same time “at least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with” the family of Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Democratic strategist David Axelrod described this as “an earthquake of a scandal” while Protect Democracy director Ian Bassin commented “amazingly, this has all but fallen out of the news."

In addition to Trump himself, Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche was accused by the ethics watchdog Campaign Legal Center of owning at least $159,000 in cryptocurrency assets when he ordered an end to all investigations into cryptocurrency companies. Blanche had previously signed an ethics agreement promising to dump his cryptocurrency holdings within 90 days of being confirmed, but instead did not divest until more than a month after his cryptocurrency memo. Even then he did so transferring them to his adult children and a grandchild, which though legal skirts the spirit of the law.

Despite the Trump administration’s abundant promises that cryptocurrency would lead to immense profits, the market has fallen more than 50 percent since its October peak with no end in sight.

“I’ve never seen people so dispirited about the crypto industry before, even at the lowest lows," Nic Carter, founding partner of the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures, told Politico. "Psychologically, this feels really hard for people to handle.”

Carter later added, “The rapture didn’t happen, we’re just stuck here on Earth and it sucks.”

One of the rare experts on Donald Trump is far-right host Steve Bannon, and he knows exactly how to get the president to stop his reckless antics and return to navigating economic woes.

Speaking to The Atlantic's Ashley Parker, Bannon explained, “He’s driving deep. Remember, our strategy — I say it every day — is maximalist, a maximalist strategy. You have to take it however deep you can take it and, quite frankly, until you meet resistance. And we haven’t met any resistance.”

One year into Trump's second administration, “We haven’t met any resistance," Parker repeated.

"It is astonishing just how far Trump has pushed the country over the past year," without much response from lawmakers on the federal level, she said,

Parker listed off the growing number of actions Trump has taken that "in some cases, especially his base," would have been "outraged" over.

The growing list of actions that haven't inspired much response from the GOP-led Congress: "Already, many Americans have grown accustomed to bands of National Guard troops patrolling their cities; the United States bombing other countries without congressional approval (or even notification); white-nationalist rhetoric filling government social-media feeds; federal funding disappearing from elite universities that are viewed as too 'woke' and hostile to Trump’s movement; hundreds of thousands of immigrants being arrested and deported, often with extreme force; the once-independent Justice Department taking orders from the White House; conservative influencers masquerading as journalists; government data losing their reliability; museums quietly whitewashing history; and the White House being physically and symbolically demolished and rebuilt in Trump’s image."

Behind the scenes, leaders told Parker that they think Trump's election wasn't the standout, but that President Joe Biden's was. "Trump's reelection is not a fever dream but rather a reflection of the country at this moment."

State and world leaders, she pointed out, appear to be operating under the assumption that if they simply flatter Trump with attention and gifts, he might leave them alone. Those willing to stand up to Trump are quickly "labeled domestic terrorists, accused of left-wing 'street violence,' and threatened with 'the power of law enforcement.'"

As a "lame duck," Trump appears "impervious" to his sinking poll numbers, Parker wrote.

"It remains unclear just how far the president is willing to go, and what his endgame is," she cautioned.

While the first Trump term had the president backing off from unpopular policies when the public and lawmakers reacted collectively, this time, things are different.

"I have been struck by just how little meaningful resistance he’s faced, from citizens and even from lawmakers who claim to find his actions appalling or terrifying," said Parker.

She posited that Trump Derangement Syndrome has, instead, "been replaced by Trump Exhaustion Syndrome."

Bannon explained that the list of policies that Americans find objectionable is slowly shifting those ideas toward policy.

“You move it, and you do it, and no one complains — or MSNBC and The Atlantic complain and nobody gives a f— —and then you do it again, and push it again," said Bannon.

Parker closed by characterizing the U.S. as "settling" for Trump's behavior with "the illusory safety of the fetal crouch."

Read the full column here.

With Democrats having performed well in a series of late 2025 and early 2026 elections and President Donald Trump suffering from weak approval ratings in many polls, Democratic strategists are feeling cautiously optimistic about this year's midterms. But attorney and Democracy Docket publisher Marc Elias and other elections experts believe that Trump and his allies will resort to a variety of voter intimidation tactics in order to discourage Democratic turnout on Tuesday, November 3.

One concern is the possible presence of militarized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in major cities on Election Day. And MAGA Republican Steve Bannon, host of the "War Room" vodcast and former White House chief strategist in the first Trump Administration, is calling for ICE agents to make their presence felt at polling stations.

On Tuesday, February 3's "War Room," Bannon told viewers, "You're damn right we're gonna have ICE surround the polls come November. We're not gonna sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen…. Let's put you on notice again: ICE is going to be around the polls in the 2026 midterm elections."

Bannon's comments come at a time when Trump is drawing widespread criticism for seeming to imply that the federal government should take over running elections in at least 15 different states — a proposal that, MS NOW's Steve Benen argued in a February 3 opinion column, is a blatantly unconstitutional "power grab."

Bannon and other MAGA Republicans are claiming, with zero evidence, that undocumented immigrants are voting in huge numbers.

GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren, according to Newsweek reporter Khaleda Rahman, agrees with Bannon's comments. Newsweek quotes her as claiming that Democrats "don't want ICE funded because they don't want ICE at the polling stations to stop illegals from voting."

Rahman notes, "Trump has recently intensified his efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. He has repeated disproven theories that ballots were altered or stolen and that illegal migrants were allowed to cast votes in some states that he lost. Those efforts come as the Trump Administration is turning its attention to electoral issues before the midterm elections in November, when control of Congress will be at stake. Meanwhile, the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by immigration enforcement agents in separate incidents in Minneapolis last month have amplified scrutiny of ICE."

Criticism of the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis grew even louder when, on Saturday, January 24, 37-year-old Alex Pretti — an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse in a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital — was fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Pretti's death followed the fatal shooting of another Minneapolis resident, unarmed motorist Renee Nicole Good, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent less Jonathan Ross than three weeks earlier on January 7.

Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a scathing critic of the Minneapolis operation, spoke to President Donald Trump on the phone on Monday, January 26. Trump discussed the call on his Truth Social platform, posting, "Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!"

One far-right MAGA Republican who is not happy about that conversation is Steve Bannon, host of the "War Room" vodcast and former White House chief strategist in the first Trump Administration.

Bannon, on "War Room," argued that Trump "blinked" and made himself look weak by talking to Walz.

"We control the federal government: the House, the Senate, the executive branch — and we blinked," Bannon told viewers. "A bun of senators ran to the microphone: we've gotta deescalate. They're all going to wet themselves. This is a time for leaders, not politicians. President Trump, why has he been so powerful? Why has he won three terms? Why does the world pay attention? Because he's not a politician. And any time the White House staff tries to get him to act as a politician, we have cloudy days. Not sunny days, we have cloudy days. And we're having a cloudy day now."

Trump won two terms as president, not three — winning the 2016 and 2024 elections but losing to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Bannon, however, claims, without evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

The "War Room" host argued that because the United States is "in a civilizational struggle," there is no room for Trump to make any type of compromise.

"These are long fights," Bannon told viewers. "You're going to have days when it's very cloudy and overcast, and it doesn't feel like you can do anything."