A thread of bombshell text messages made public Thursday alleged that Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign settled “multiple” seedy lawsuits for a man described only as “Boris,” leading to conjecture it could be a powerful Trumpworld figure.
Those messages were revealed by A.J. Delgado—a former staffer on Trump’s 2016 campaign who’s embroiled in a lawsuit against the current campaign, alleging she was taken advantage of and raped by her former superior, Jason Miller.
As part of that lawsuit, Delgado, a lawyer who’s representing herself, filed a motion Thursday that included a text thread she claims to be between her and Jenna Ellis, another ex-Trump staffer who is a co-defendant in his election subversion case in Georgia.
The alleged texts begin with Delgado asking if Ellis knew of anyone who “complained of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, or sexual harassment” during Trump’s 2020 campaign. She wrote that the messages were to remain between them and pleaded with her to “tell me the truth.”
A.J. Delgado alleged that these texts were between her, in the blue bubbles, and Jenna Ellis, in the white bubbles.
New York Southern District
The second texter, who Delgado claims is Ellis, responded, “Yes. Off the record – Boris. The campaign settled multiple suits.”
The second number added that Delgado should subpoena the ex-Trump campaign staffer Michael Glassner, and assured Delgado that she would “of course” tell the truth even though they “may not agree on everything.”
The Daily Beast has not independently verified the authenticity of the texts, and neither Ellis, Delgado or a Trump representative responded to questions messaged and emailed on Thursday night.
It’s the second time the texts were submitted as evidence by Delgado, after the Trump campaign’s lawyers asked her to re-submit them without names redacted and an offer to mark them as “confidential” appeared to be ignored.
Only a first name was used in the text thread, but speculation is rife that the trouble adviser could be Boris Epshteyn—an analyst for Trump’s 2020 campaign who’s remained a trusted ear for Trump to this day. Epshteyn also did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday and no official sources have made any confirmation he may be involved.
Boris Epshteyn exits a New York courthouse behind Donald Trump after a hearing in the former president’s hush-money trial.
Reuters/Mike Segar
The texts did not specify what sort of lawsuits “Boris” may have faced, but Epshteyn was accused of repeatedly groping two sisters at an Arizona bar in 2021 until a bouncer and cops intervened to remove him.
Epshteyn was slapped with a trio of sexual misconduct counts but they were later dropped, and he instead pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge. Epshteyn paid a fine and agreed to go on probation, but served no jail time. Those allegations were resurfaced by Forbes’ reporter Zach Everson, who first shared Delgado’s motion in a thread to X.
Bodycam footage from Epshteyn’s arrest showed police speaking separately to Epshteyn and his accusers. One of the women told police the incident began after he approached her group and invited them to his table for free drinks—a request they took him up on, despite describing him to police as looking like a “fatter Tony Soprano.”
Once at the table, the women claimed Epshteyn began touching them “inappropriately,” grabbing them by their waists and pulling them to his crotch, a police report said.
Epshteyn, 41, has also found himself in legal trouble for his alleged efforts to help Trump overturn the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty last month in Arizona to nine felony charges related to the last presidential election, and has reportedly had at least $90,000 worth of his lawyer fees paid for by Trump’s PAC, Save America.
