Eric Trump Responds to Report His Friend Boris Epshteyn Is Shaking Down People for Jobs in Trump Admin: ‘You Do Not Do That’

Eric Trump responded to reports on Fox News Monday that his friend Boris Epshteyn, a longtime advisor to his father President-elect Donald Trump, was shaking down those approaching him for positions in the Trump administration.

According to The New York Times, the president-elect’s “legal team found evidence that a top adviser asked for retainer fees from potential appointees in order to promote them for jobs in the new administration.”

An investigation conducted by Trump’s lawyers found that Epshteyn had asked Scott Bessent, who Trump recently named his nominee to serve as treasury secretary, to pay him between $30,000 and $40,000 a month to secure him as an advocate.

From the Times report:

Mr. Bessent declined. He also did not partake in another effort by Mr. Epshteyn, described in the report, to get him to invest in a three-on-three basketball league, but played along with him to avoid offending such a seemingly powerful figure in Mr. Trump’s world.

Mr. Bessent then called Mr. Epshteyn on Nov. 14 to see whether he was criticizing Mr. Bessent to people around Mr. Trump, the review said. Mr. Epshteyn told Mr. Bessent that it was “too late” to hire him and that he was “Boris Epshteyn,” with an expletive between the two names. He then suggested the hiring was for consulting.

The second person cited in the review was a defense contractor from whom Mr. Epshteyn sought $100,000 a month during the transition period. The report said Mr. Epshteyn depicted his own hiring as “do or die” for the person’s prospects, according to the review. The contractor did not hire Mr. Epshteyn and is fearful of retaliation, the review found.

On Monday night, the younger Trump was asked by Laura Ingraham if he had any comment on the report.

“Listen, I’ve known Boris for years, and I’ve never known him to be anything but a good human being. So that said, I will tell you, my father has been incredibly clear: You do not, you do not do that under any circumstance. And believe me, there will be repercussions if somebody was,” he replied.

“So, I’ve never seen that side of him. You know, I’ve known him for a very long time. And, you know, I certainly hope the reporting’s false. And I can also tell you if it’s true, you know, the person will probably no longer be around,” he concluded.

Watch above via Fox News.