On December 13, 2025, a former federal prosecutor’s voice thundered across CNN during The Lead with Jake Tapper, his face flushed with disbelief as he blasted Steve Bannon over the latest Epstein estate photos: “As authentic as a $3 bill—that’s Bannon’s excuse, and it’s laughable.”
The prosecutor, Elie Honig, a former Southern District of New York assistant U.S. attorney and CNN legal analyst, reacted to Bannon’s dismissal of the December 12 images as “fake” or “AI-generated.” The photos, released by House Oversight Committee Democrats from Epstein’s 95,000-file cache, show Bannon in three shots: a mirror selfie with Epstein, seated across from him at a desk, and chatting with Woody Allen. “Bannon’s claiming these are as authentic as a $3 bill?” Honig scoffed. “That’s his defense? It’s laughable. These come from Epstein’s own devices—metadata, timestamps, the works. This isn’t deepfake territory; it’s documented proximity to a predator.”
Honig accused Bannon of deflection, noting his post-2008 emails with Epstein plotting reputation rehab and political strategy. “He’s not denying the meetings—he’s denying the photos exist,” Honig said. “That’s the playbook: gaslight, deny, attack.” Bannon, on his War Room podcast that day, called the images “Democrat psyops” and “cheap fakes,” insisting his Epstein ties were “purely journalistic” for an unproduced documentary.
The segment, amid Virginia Giuffre’s Nobody’s Girl (October 21, 2025) exposing elite complicity, trended #BannonEpstein with 3.2 million X posts, 72% criticizing his denial. Claims of George Strait targeting Pam Bondi remain unverified. Honig’s outrage reflected broader demands for transparency as December 19’s file deadline nears.
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