¶ PART 9: CHRISTIAN CONTEMPT — "FORM A CHURCH" AND EVANGELICAL MOCKERY
¶ FIND 1 — THE CHURCH-AS-MUELLER-SHIELD EMAIL (BLOCKBUSTER)
[GRADE A1 — HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_026256 (House Oversight production)]
From: Jeffrey E. (jeevacation@gmail.com)
To: Steve Bannon
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2018 (5 months before E E iMessage, 17 months before arrest)
Subject: Re: Lawyer for Susan Rice: Obama administration 'justifiably concerned' about sharing intel with Trump team - POLITICO
The full exchange reconstructed from the email thread (read bottom-up):
- Bannon shares Politico article about Susan Rice's lawyer (7:48 AM)
- Epstein responds about campaign finance: "coin issues. : receive coins, distribute coins, pay in coins, coin cooperative, prohibitions foreign donor.? need to understand flow of funds. . donor to campiagn c?s. does it have to go to campaign first. . does it have to go there at all etc." (8:13 AM)
- Bannon: "On it" (8:14 AM)
- Epstein: "should it have a christian component? tithe? if you form a church you may be able to tell mueller you have a confession privelege.
" (8:18 AM) - Bannon responds with political coalition framing: "Populist/Nationalist first Conservative Christians (catholic/evangelical) next Reverse alabama This coalition staves off 'times up' for next decade plus" (1:21 PM)
Why this is a blockbuster: Epstein suggests to Steve Bannon that they could form a CHURCH as a legal shield — exploiting the priest-penitent confession privilege to obstruct the Mueller investigation. The smiley face :) signals he knows this is absurd/cynical. He is treating Christianity as a legal instrument — tithing, confession privilege — to be weaponized for political protection. This is not casual ethnic banter; this is Epstein proposing to USE Christian institutions as tools for obstruction.
Bannon's reply is also significant: he treats "Conservative Christians (catholic/evangelical)" as a voting bloc to be mobilized, a "coalition" instrument — not a faith community. Both men are treating Christianity instrumentally. The "Reverse alabama" likely references Roy Moore's December 2017 Senate loss to Doug Jones.
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: This email documents Epstein personally proposing to exploit Christian institutional structures (church formation, tithing, confession privilege) as a legal shield against the Mueller investigation. Combined with the "ALL Christians" iMessage (9 months later), this establishes a pattern of instrumentalizing Christianity. It does NOT establish that any church was actually formed or that any obstruction occurred. It DOES establish that Epstein viewed Christian institutions as tools to be exploited for legal advantage.
¶ FIND 2 — EVANGELICAL MOCKERY — EPSTEIN TO LARRY SUMMERS
[GRADE A1 — HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_025128 (House Oversight production)]
From: Jeffrey E. (jeevacation@gmail.com)
To: Larry Summers
Date: Friday, October 27, 2017
Subject: Re: Trending Now: Friends for three decades, Trump whisperer says he is 'stunned' by president's rhetoric
Epstein writes:
"evangelicals confirmed in their belief of a divine hand. I kid you not. their view. how else ,could one explain DJT winning. To a person they never knew him."
Analysis: Epstein dismisses evangelical Christian belief as absurd — "I kid you not" signals incredulity that people actually believe in divine intervention. "Their view" distances himself from this worldview entirely. Combined with the church-as-Mueller-shield email (5 months later), this establishes a pattern: Epstein views evangelical Christianity with contempt and considers Christian institutions exploitable.
The broader thread context: Summers had written from a conference about SoftBank, Saudi Arabia, and Trump's political standing. Summers also wrote: "I'm trying to figure why American elite think if u murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard, but hit on a few women 10 years ago and can't work at a network or think tank. DO NOT REPEAT THIS INSIGHT" — revealing elite social circle views on MeToo vs violent crime priorities.
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: This email documents Epstein dismissing evangelical Christian belief as incredible and absurd. It does NOT establish hostility toward individual Christians. It DOES establish that Epstein viewed evangelical faith claims with contempt, treating them as politically useful delusions rather than sincere belief.
¶ FIND 3 — EPSTEIN INQUIRES ABOUT QURANIC PROHIBITION ON CHRISTIAN/JEWISH FRIENDSHIPS
[GRADE A2 — EFTA02720408 (personal email found in Epstein's files)]
From: Sultan Bin Sulayem → Jeffrey Epstein (response to Epstein's earlier question)
Date: June 12, 2013
Subject: "Does the Quran say dont take Jews and Christians as friends?..FLV"
Sultan responds:
"Dear Jeffery Some times ago you asked me Does the Quran say dont take Jews and Christians as friends"
Analysis: Epstein personally inquired about whether the Quran commands Muslims to avoid Jews and Christians as friends — probing religious texts for frameworks of inter-religious hostility. This shows active intellectual interest in religious segregation frameworks. Combined with the "chosen people" hierarchy (Dec 2018), church-as-legal-instrument (Feb 2018), and evangelical mockery (Oct 2017), this demonstrates Epstein's sustained interest in how religions categorize and exclude outsiders.
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: This email documents Epstein proactively asking a Muslim associate about Quranic passages regarding inter-religious friendships. It does NOT establish anti-Islamic sentiment — the question could reflect genuine intellectual curiosity. It DOES establish that Epstein actively engaged with religious texts concerning inter-faith boundaries and exclusion.
¶ Christian Contempt Timeline
| Date | Event | From → To | Key Quote | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 2013 | Quran friendship inquiry | Sultan → Epstein (responding to JE's question) | "Does the Quran say dont take Jews and Christians as friends?" | A2 |
| Dec 23, 2012 | Priest joke | Sultan → Epstein | "how smart he was to get the priest to g[et]..." | A2 |
| Apr 5, 2017 | Jews vs non-Jews framing | Wolff → Epstein | "War between the Jews and the non Jews. Jews presently winning." | A1 |
| Oct 27, 2017 | Evangelical mockery | Epstein → Summers | "evangelicals confirmed in their belief of a divine hand. I kid you not." | A1 |
| Feb 24, 2018 | Church as Mueller shield | Epstein → Bannon | "if you form a church you may be able to tell mueller you have a confession privelege. " |
A1 |
| Dec 5, 2018 | ALL Christians as junior partners | E E + Epstein | "I was referring to ALL Christians!" + "beezelbub...outside counsel" | A1 |
| Dec 29, 2018 | Evangelicals = jihadis = Klan | Chomsky → Epstein | "jihadi, Klan, evangelical Christian, my ultra-orthodox grandfather" | A2 |
Pattern: Over 5+ years (2013–2018), Epstein consistently viewed Christianity through a lens of contempt and instrumentality — querying religious segregation texts, mocking evangelical belief, proposing to exploit church structures for legal obstruction, and engaging in banter where Christians are categorized as subordinate. This is not a single isolated remark but a sustained orientation documented across 7 exchanges with 5 different correspondents.
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: This timeline documents a pattern of Christian contempt and instrumentalization across multiple years and correspondents. It does NOT establish that Epstein's contempt for Christianity motivated his criminal conduct or that it rose to the level of religiously motivated bias crime. It DOES establish that Epstein's ethno-religious categorization extended well beyond the "goyim" emails — Christianity was treated as simultaneously absurd (evangelical mockery), subordinate (junior partners), and exploitable (church as legal shield).