← The Jim Acosta Show
The Jim Acosta Show
Tara Palmeri on Epstein-gate, sports writer Rick Reilly on Trump's cheating at golf and whistleblower attorney Andrew Bakaj
00:57:18
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Okay, welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta show. And it's another day that ends in Y. In Epstein Gate. Trump keeps dropping hints that he just might pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the ex girlfriend of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. And Trump keeps making excuses for why his name is in the Epstein files. And today in Scotland, Trump said of pardoning Maxwell, well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but I. Nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it. It's in the news and about that. That aspect of it, but right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it. So he's sort of dancing all over the places, but again, saying he's allowed to give her a pardon. My guest, Tara Paul. Mary. Tara, you've spent a lot of time investigating this. You have your own substack, the Red letter, your own YouTube show and so on. What do you make of, you know, Trump? He's trying to distance himself from Epstein, saying, I never had the privilege of going to his island. I turned it down. I mean, some of the stuff that he's saying, he's just digging himself deeper and deeper in this.
- [01:01]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, he's certainly not helping himself at all.
- [01:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
And I do think it's interesting that they think that the way to close this case is to go to the woman who was the architect behind this vast criminal conspiracy. And let's not forget one time when she was prosecuted in 2021, not that long ago, that prosecutor said she is not a reliable witness. She has perjured herself in the past. They're having secret meetings between the number two law enforcement official in the country, the deputy doj, and a pedophile. I mean, Annie Farmer, one of the victims, she said, like many others, Virginia, who was also found by Ghislaine, procured by Ghislaine under the. By. Under the guise of being a boyfriend, a girlfriend of this man.
- [01:50]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
That when they came into the home, the first person who touched their bodies was Ghislaine Maxwell. I mean, that is. And I'm not saying just touching, like, you know, sexual abuse. And so this is.
- [02:03]
Jim Acosta
She's a very bad person.
- [02:05]
Tara Palmeri
She's a. She's a heinous criminal. And in a lot of ways, I was. I wrote about this this week in the Red letter, and I wrote about the idea of betrayal, trauma. It's a phrase I had never heard of before. And it is something that I've learned about. And it's. It's really weird. It's a. It's. It's something that the an. A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein explained to me Marika Church and she said, it's when someone who is in, who is supposed to be in charge of your safety and security, they violate your trust and they violate you. That causes betrayal trauma. And so what I see happening right now is not only the kind of betrayal trauma that they already faced the first time by Ghislaine Maxwell, a woman who said, you're special, I will take care of you. Just come with me to this man's house. I'll make you a model, I'll pay for your schooling, I'll take care of you. But now it's the same thing with the government. They trusted the government, you know, someone who was supposed to look out for their safety, that was supposed to look out for their well being to prosecute Jeffrey. The first time they failed to do that with the sweetheart deal, and then the second time with Ghislaine Maxwell, I mean, Annie Farmer, for example, has been telling her story over and over, over again since 1996 and this. And the Justice Department dropped the ball back then in 2008 with the, with the Sweetheart deal and testify and take the stand again to talk about what it was like to be 16 years old and be trapped on the Zorro ranch where Jeffrey Epstein talked about breeding young girls. I mean, breeding people with young girls with his sick DNA. And she's gonna, and she had to testify and go through it. And like, you know how you've covered trials, they say a very long time, they're emotionally exhausting. They are retraumatizing for the victims. And you're going to sit down with her. And the one thing I, Jim, I've been saying all along, the key to this lock is not Galen Maxwell, it's the victims. They're witnesses, they're eyewitnesses. And their documents, if you look at them, so many of them reference men and the men, their names have been redacted. And that's even in the vaults that you can look at right now on the FBI. And those are johns that are no longer third party conspirators. Case closed, right? Pam Bondi. Or are we going to trust the girls and what they've said and what they've testified and what. Or are we actually going to follow up on this case? So you know that this, this case to me is, is just another case. Trump talking to Glenn Maxwell, the DOJ taking her seriously is another case of betrayal trauma that these women are going through.
- [04:40]
Jim Acosta
It's like a truth that wants to be told. To me, it's been buried and covered up, and it just wants to be told. And then today, I mean, he was talking about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and he says, you know, why? There was a falling out. And he said, very easy to explain. I don't want to waste your time by explaining it, but for years, I wouldn't talk to Epstein because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help. I don't know what this means. And I said, don't ever do that again. He stole people that worked for me. Trump said, I said, never do that again. He did it again. I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata. Do we even know what that he's talking about there, that Epstein hired people that were working for Tribe?
- [05:21]
Tara Palmeri
Well, he did take Virginia Giuffre off of the. Off the property at Mar a Lago. Virginia was working in the spa. Glenn Maxwell found her. Virginia said, I really want to be a masseuse. That's my dream. She was 16 years old in the year 2000. And he brought. She brought her back to Jeffrey Epstein's house and said, well, you know, we'll. We'll teach you how to be a masseuse. And it was, you know, she was being chauffeured around. She lives in Palm Beach. Virginia was from the other side of the Intracoastal in Palm Beach. I don't know if that's. That's what he's referring to, but he.
- [05:54]
Jim Acosta
Makes these mysterious comments, and I didn't have the privilege of going. I never had the privilege of going to his island. What does he mean by privilege? I mean, it just, you know.
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Tara Palmeri
Yeah, I know. It's very funny.
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Jim Acosta
The stuff he's saying is so odd.
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Tara Palmeri
So Brad Edwards, who is a lawyer for many of the victims, he. I interviewed him for my podcast many years ago, and he interviewed Trump. He subpoenaed him for his case, the Crime Victims Rights Act. And he asked Trump about what Epstein told him about the fact when he would go to Epstein's house and see all these young girls hanging out around the pool. And according to Virginia, they were often topless.
- [06:31]
Rick Riley
And.
- [06:32]
Tara Palmeri
And there were. And in the house. When the police actually collected evidence in the house in 2005, surveillance, it was all naked girls all over the house, like, pictures of naked girls.
- [06:41]
Andrew Bakai
Oh, boy.
- [06:42]
Tara Palmeri
House. You know, he asked Epstein, what's it all about? Like, why, you know, according to Trump, who's telling the. The lawyer this, and Epstein tells him, it's a big brother, little sister program. Like, that's how bizarre and depraved it was. And so at that point, it's like, well, what are you going to do about it, buddy? If you, if you really don't know, why don't you call the police, tell them that your friend's a bit of a sicko over there, has a big brother, little sister program, there's teen girls hanging out around the pool.
- [07:08]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, I mean, and there's so much that doesn't add up. And then do you, do we know what is going on with her? Trying to go to the Supreme Court to get her conviction thrown out, I guess. David Oscar Marcus, her attorney, was putting out this statement earlier today. We're appealing not only to the Supreme Court, but to the president himself to recognize how profoundly unjust it is to scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein's crimes. I mean, scapegoat Ghislaine Maxwell.
- [07:36]
Tara Palmeri
There is zero way that this operation could have happened without Ghislaine Maxwell because it was a very sophisticated criminal operation. You have to remember this. A thousand victims trafficking across state lines, as Ghislaine liked to bribe to her friends who have been on the record in my other podcast, Power the Maxwells. You know, she would brag that Jeffrey had 24 hour erections, needed to have three orgasms a day. And so she was in charge of procuring these girls. There were. I actually created like, I wrote a long magazine story for Politico magazine, I think in 2021, about this just to explain how this criminal operation and, and Galen was at the top of it. So, you know, scapegoat this. None of these girls would have ended. None of these girls would have walked up to a 50 year old man's home and walked in the door without a woman in Ralph Lauren, Oxford educated, with a little Yorkie named Max, you know, guiding them in again. Betrayal, trauma. It's a woman telling you it's all going to be okay.
- [08:41]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
So it was, you know, there was the message pads, there was a pyramid scheme in this high school in Palm beach. And each girl was told, you know, if she could bring another friend, she would get $200. Who do you think was managing all this?
- [08:57]
Jim Acosta
Right, right.
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Tara Palmeri
You know, so it's. It was a six.
- [09:01]
Jim Acosta
Epstein. Epstein could not have done what he did without Ghislaine Maxwell. I mean, all of the evidence seems to show. I mean, it has shown.
- [09:08]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, exactly. And every, the other thing is like, why don't we believe the victims? So many have the same exact story over and over and over again. And, you know, you get to this point where, like, I'm tired of telling their story over and over and over again. So I can only imagine how they feel.
- [09:27]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, exactly. And I mean, the other thing that is just laughable today is that, you know, Trump said that the Biden administration may have planted something damaging about him in the Epstein files, which says two things. One, wow, there must be something in there that is really damaging about Trump. But also, I mean, don't you think Biden would have used that information had they found it? I mean, and then decided to weaponize it? Why wait until Trump is president? I mean, I just don't understand. They would have used that during the campaign, obviously. I mean, the whole thing is just ridiculous.
- [10:00]
Tara Palmeri
Jim, What I know about this case, because I've talked to a lot of the victims. I know a lot of the names. The victims have their own lists of men that they were trafficked to. This is a Pandora's box that opens up a lot of allegations against a lot of very powerful men on both sides. On both teams.
- [10:18]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah. And Trump was throwing out Bill Clinton's name and Lawrence Summers name.
- [10:22]
Tara Palmeri
I mean, not good for any. It's not good for anyone. So I understand, too, why Democrats would want this to go away. This is the kind of thing that would consume an entire administration. This is the kind of thing that could be politically weaponized against either side. Um, and so that is. And. And I think the collective conscience of the American people know that.
- [10:43]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [10:44]
Tara Palmeri
They know that instinctively that this is something that is. That is. That is explosive.
- [10:51]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
And. And that's. And those are the kind of stories that are swept under the rug.
- [10:55]
Jim Acosta
And so do you think he pardons her? What do you think? I mean, because to me, if he pardons her, he. He's basically admitted, you know, there's something wrong, there's something that he has to hide, and he's in big political trouble. I just, you know, I don't see how. I think he's in a jam. I think he's in a real box here, and I think it explains a lot of his behavior.
- [11:16]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. I mean, it feels like it's. We feel like we're going down that route. Feels like the groundwork softening the soil. You know, you hear Greg Kelly from Newsmax saying maybe she was innocent all along.
- [11:28]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Didn't he say something? She's the victim. Yeah.
- [11:31]
Rick Riley
Yeah.
- [11:31]
Tara Palmeri
Now what are they going to say? The Chiron victim? Galen Maxwell on Newsmax, you know, Charlie. Charlie Kirk saying she had courage to speak. First of all, she had the opportunity under cross examination to her own trial, and she chose not to because she knew that she could not withstand test testimony, cross examination, and that the jury wouldn't like her. She is exactly who the victims recall. Yeah, she's a viper. About her father. Her father was a crook. Her father stole money from pensioners. He was a terrible man. Robert Maxwell. I did an entire series on him called Power the Maxwells. You check it out on. It's everywhere. You get your podcasts. I'm also in the filthy rich Ghislaine Maxwell documentary as well. But, you know, she, her, she learned from a criminal, and she was the favorite child in that operation as well. So he named his yacht the lady the Yacht he mysteriously died off the side of Lady Galen.
- [12:34]
Rick Riley
Wow.
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Tara Palmeri
Yeah. So this is, this is a long running Bonnie and Clyde operation. They, you know, Glenn and Epstein found each other shortly after her dad's death. She moves to New York. She ends up being in the arms of Epstein, living in the biggest townhouse in Manhattan. His biggest benefactor is Les Wexner, the founder of Victoria's Secret. He was a high school math teacher from Dalton who was wrapped up in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in the world. That guy Hoffenberg, Stephen Hoffenberg. But somehow he gets let off. This guy. I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing there.
- [13:20]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, you can.
- [13:21]
Tara Palmeri
There's nothing about her that feels victim to me, I gotta say.
- [13:25]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And when you're starting to hear that stuff on the far right, you're absolutely right. These are the talking points that they're trying to figure out. What, what, what can they sell? What can they shop around in terms of talking points on the far right? What can they say to get QAnon to believe this stuff? I, I started writing a piece and I haven't posted it yet. About. I mean, a big Part of Trump's MAGA support comes from the QAnon political movement, which is built around the conspiracy theory about Democratic, you know, cabals in Washington hiding a child sex trafficking ring. And then Trump is going to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. Are you kidding me?
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Tara Palmeri
Well, actually, this, that sweetheart deal that was hatched was actually during the. That was during the Bush administration, if you remember.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah. I think Alex Acosta, the U.S. attorney. Right. No relation.
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Andrew Bakai
I.
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Tara Palmeri
And it went all the way up to the top, by the way it went. Always the Attorney General.
- [14:17]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [14:19]
Tara Palmeri
And I mean, the amount of injustice in that case is insane. For example, Alex Acosta, you'll remember this. Yes, Jim, because you and I did a lot of the back and forth to Mar a Lago and Palm Beach. Remember that hotel, the Marriott West Palm Beach?
- [14:35]
Jim Acosta
I do.
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Tara Palmeri
It was like the one that wasn't as good as the Hilton one, but it was right near the airport. Right.
- [14:39]
Jim Acosta
I used to see Rudy Giuliani staying there. They wouldn't let him stay at Mar a Lago, but anyway, that's a different spot.
- [14:44]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, exactly. So the Marriott, which was not as good as the Hilton, but sometimes you'd be stuck at the Marriott. Alex Acosta drove an hour and a half from his, from his office in Miami to meet privately with Epstein's defense attorneys, Jay Lepkowitz and Ken Starr. And when does the U.S. attorney have a private meeting with defense attorneys on site at a hotel, restaurant? That one of all of them.
- [15:17]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Tara Palmeri
Not anything to rave about. Right.
- [15:19]
Jim Acosta
Which is not anything to write home about. Not a place where prominent attorneys usually have dinner. But yeah, you're absolutely right. Well, to be continued. Tara, Paul, Mary, I mean, we're just going to have to continue to follow this thing. I am just, I am amazed by his behavior because to me, I've never seen him in a jam like this. He's been in jams, yes. He's gotten out of them. He's, he's good at it. The distractions are not working. The bullshit excuses that he's throwing out there aren't working. He, he sounds like he has something to hide. He just does. But I'm so glad that when I talk to you, you know, I'm not chasing the bright, shiny object. I'm getting to the heart of the matter. And we, and I, I wish there, we should get more of the victims. If they would like to say what they want to say and speak their mind, I, I, I would be happy to have him on my show. We could do them together and air them on both shows. Whatever. I mean, to me, I would like to see justice. I would like to see the truth come out. I mean, I just, it's dying to be told. The story's dying to be told to me, it seems.
- [16:17]
Tara Palmeri
Yeah. Thank you, Jim. I mean, when I talk to them all the time, we're constantly texting I on my YouTube. You can check it out. Arapalmary but the thing that they just keep saying is, like, believe us, talk to us. We've been telling the same story consistently forever. The FBI has, the FBI, the doj, they have the evidence. We have been helpful every step of the way. Our Lawyers have been helpful every step of the way. You want to solve this case, you want to prosecute people, then believe us, and that's where they are. And, and, yeah, Annie was really gripping in this latest interview I did with her. She said Trump, like, basically says that she's being betrayed again by this administration, an administration that promised transparency. So.
- [17:08]
Jim Acosta
And they promised to go after child sex traffickers. They promised to release the Epstein files, and they're just violating those pledges. I mean, just left and right. And it just, it just, every time he says something, he opens his mouth about this. It doesn't look good. It doesn't sound good, but. Tara. All right, thanks a lot. I won't, I won't make you stay on for too long. Thank you for doing it, as always. Appreciate it. Good to see you. All right. I mean, Tara's, Tara's one of the experts on this. And, you know, there a lot of, A lot of things go down in Palm beach, and I don't want to make too sharp of a turn here, but I do want to talk about, I mean, the video that has been in the news non stop over the last 24 hours, and that is, you know, Trump over in Scotland. He's at one of his golf courses. And of course, you know, God bless the pool. Pool cameraman who was out there and caught this on video, catches one of Donald Trump's caddies helping him cheat out on the golf course at Turnberry. One of the golf courses I've been to, actually in Scotland. I traveled with Trump during the 2016 campaign, and he went on a trip to Scotland. And of course, part of the presidential campaign trip that he took was to promote his golf courses. And so he went to Turnberry, went to one of the other ones anyway, the great Rick Riley, sports writer, he's written a book about this, about how Trump cheats at golf. And the book is called Commander in Cheat, How Golf Explains Trump. And I think there's Rick right there. Oh, Rick, we got you sideways. Let's turn the camera the other way if we can. No, it's okay. It's sideways. Just. Just like Trump's golf game.
- [18:49]
Rick Riley
Yeah, exactly.
- [18:52]
Jim Acosta
Good to see you, man. How are you?
- [18:53]
Rick Riley
Good. How are you, Jim?
- [18:55]
Jim Acosta
I'm doing great. Hey, thanks so much for doing this. Really appreciate it.
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Rick Riley
And I, you know, I'm just so appreciative of. You were with the one guy that stood up to him and asked him questions when he would say crazy things like, you know, I was, I was in Sports writing for 40 years, if a coach got in front of us and said, yeah, you know, we just won three World Series titles in a row, and you'd go, no, no, you didn't. Why are you saying that, sir? Yeah, but no one seems to have the guts. What. Why is it so hard?
- [19:22]
Jim Acosta
I. You know, Rick, I wish I knew the answer to that question. I think it can be answered in a few different ways. And you know this because you've been such a great sports writer and an observer of the world of sports. You know, there are the. There are the reporters who want to get to the heart of the matter and aren't worried about, you know, making enemies. And if that coach or that player doesn't talk to you ever again, so be it. And then there are the one who need the access. They love the access. They want the access. They like being in the locker room. They like being the Oval Office on Air Force One, and they're just not going to jeopardize that. And I just.
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Rick Riley
I mean, I guess I could see.
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Jim Acosta
That, but, Jesus, I know there's a lot at stake right now, and you would think you would ask the hard questions, and I, you know, to me, I always felt like if you. You just gotta go for it. You know, you only go around this merry go round once. But, I mean, you. You have nailed Trump dead to rights on multiple occasions about his golf game. What did. I mean, I think just about everybody who's watching this has seen this video. It looks like something. What did you think when you saw this video? So he's got, you know, he's out there. It looks like maybe he hit it in the bunker or something. He can't find his ball, and the caddy is walking a few steps ahead of him and just sort of drops the ball out of the back of his jacket or almost like, what is it? Odd Job and Goldfinger with the ball rolling down the pants, Old throw behind.
- [20:38]
Rick Riley
That's a. It's a classic Trump move.
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Tara Palmeri
Okay?
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Rick Riley
I've known this guy for 45 years. I played golf with him. I know he can't hit it out of a bunker. He cannot chip, and he's terrible out of a bunker. So the caddies always throw it out of the bunker. He hasn't been in a bunker, and I don't know how many years. And he. And if he. If he is, it's only because the cameras are on him. He's got to hit one. And even so. So that. That's. That's a typical move for a Trump. Can they've always got lots of pockets, pockets full of his balls which are marked with the presidential seal. And then they flip it out. You know, at Wingfoot, that caddy's called him Pele because he kicked it so much. And if he's not kicking it, then it's. Then his caddies are kicking it.
- [21:21]
Jim Acosta
Oh, my God.
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Rick Riley
Well, Commander in Chief, I got the call from the caddy master at Bedminster, who'd been there for 10 years and was. He wasn't there anymore. He said, you forgot about the green teas. I said, what do you. We had to give his caddy 4 inch green teas. Always give his kid, make sure they left with lots of green teas. I'm like, that's perfectly legal. What's wrong with that? He goes, no, they tee him up in the rough.
- [21:47]
Jim Acosta
Oh, they tee him up in the rough.
- [21:50]
Rick Riley
So when, when this happened yesterday. And by the way, there were three videos of him and they're green, I.
- [21:55]
Jim Acosta
Guess, so you don't see. Because of the grass or whatever. Is that right?
- [21:57]
Rick Riley
He can't hit it out of the grass. So the long grass, throw him out. One guy told me he hit it in the water. There was a big splash by the time they got down to where he was. Because he's always off first. If you notice in these videos, he always hits first. Jumps in his cart. He's messed with the governor. So it goes really fast.
- [22:15]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Rick Riley
Out there and in la, he hits it in the water. This is before he was president. They see this flash when they get to the ball. It's in the fairway. Donald. We're playing $50 a hole.
- [22:30]
Jim Acosta
Jesus.
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Rick Riley
And they. And Trump goes. It must have been the tide.
- [22:34]
Jim Acosta
Oh, God.
- [22:35]
Rick Riley
Anyway, he hits it in that bunker and they always flip it out.
- [22:39]
Jim Acosta
They always flip it out.
- [22:41]
Rick Riley
They always flip it out. He never has to hit out of a bunker.
- [22:44]
Jim Acosta
And it's not like the caddy pulls the ball out and carefully places it on the ground for a drop shot. Like it's an obvious drop shot. We're going to carefully place it on the ground, blah, blah, blah. This is like he's doing it like it. And it almost looked like he's done this a million times.
- [22:57]
Rick Riley
Yeah, his cat, he's doing a million. The thing you saw, he cheats like that two and three times every hole. Now, when you say a drop shot, you're assuming he's taking a penalty shot.
- [23:08]
Jim Acosta
Right, right, right.
- [23:09]
Tara Palmeri
He.
- [23:09]
Rick Riley
He's in that bunker in one. When he comes out, he's laying zero. By that time he gets a pencil on it. So. So he. So he'll do that. The. The other thing they'll do is if he gets in the water, they'll throw it out of that. But the one time you saw yesterday, among three videos, he was in the bunker, but he knew there were cameras on him. So I don't know if you saw his club. And he started foozling around in the bunker because it was right up against that face, the riveted face in Scotland, these trumpets, really hard. He gets it out like eight feet from there, then he knocks it on. Then he gives himself the eight foot putt. He just. He just wanders up and kind of. We call it raking. He's raking it in the hole, right? No one ever goes, donald, that's good. He just takes it. He probably wrote down a four. And if we were at Bedminster or at Florida International, he'd say, I just won the club championship.
- [24:04]
Jim Acosta
I'm the best. Nobody's better than. And so. But. So here's the question. I mean, because the other thing I have, I have to ask you about is he. Lately he's been saying, I won this club championship and that club championship. I'm like, if you own the club, nobody's going to say you didn't win the championship. They get thrown out of the club or, you know, something bad would happen to their clubs or, you know, their bag would get thrown in the. You know, whatever, you know, like, who believes this shit?
- [24:30]
Rick Riley
Well, look, that's how the book got started. Because when I caddied for. Or when I played with him for this book called who's yous caddy? I did 22 years ago. He didn't have Patty that day. He didn't have anybody to play with, so I had to play with him. He's telling me how he wins the club championships. I'm like, I can't believe you've won a club championship. Because, you know, he's just a guy to me. He's a 10 handicap. They don't win club championship.
- [24:54]
Jim Acosta
They don't win, Right?
- [24:55]
Rick Riley
They don't win. So he goes, no, what I do is I buy a new course, I play the club championship by myself. I'm the winner. How he won the first 12. Then he started saying, I come home from road trip. Oh, I see Marvin Schwartz, 1. I beat him all the time. So the pro has to take poor Marvin's name off and put Donald Trump, because no pro wants to get fired. Then he won one when he met Korea or where he met Korea, the Kim Jong Un. He comes back a month later, says he won that. Then he wins one. Remember he went to funeral of. He went to the funeral of diamond or Aurora. Yeah, yeah.
- [25:33]
Jim Acosta
Diamond and silk or something. Yeah, yeah.
- [25:35]
Rick Riley
He goes to that funeral on Saturday. Then he comes on Monday and says, I just won the tournament with something, something score. I said, well, wait a minute, you were at a funeral Saturday. And I know it was a two day, two day tournament. So finally someone had the guts to say in the press, score, how'd you win this? When you only. And in Florida for one day of the two days, he goes, I shot a really good score earlier in the week, and I brought that over.
- [26:03]
Jim Acosta
Wow. And so, I mean, you know, one of the things that you say in your book is that this explains how Trump, you know, does everything else in life. This explains who he is. What did you mean by that?
- [26:15]
Rick Riley
No, I was close with Arnold Palmer and he had this thing in business. He wouldn't do a business deal unless he played golf with the guy. So if it was an airplane deal, a sponsorship deal, a course deal, he had to play golf with the guy. And I said, why? He said, because how a guy behaves on the golf course is how he's going to behave in business. So if he's cheating you, he'll cheat you in business. If he's fun, if he's nice, if he plays by the rules, he'll be good to you in business.
- [26:44]
Jim Acosta
And even if he sucks, even if.
- [26:46]
Rick Riley
He sucks, he'd be like, I suck. You know?
- [26:48]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, that's me. I suck at golf. I can't hide it. Yeah.
- [26:52]
Rick Riley
He never liked Trump because he hated the cheating.
- [26:54]
Jim Acosta
Wow.
- [26:55]
Rick Riley
The cheating. And people call him. Every time people call him on it, they've come up to me and said, I caught him cheating. What'd you say? So, Donald, we're not going to have that. We're playing for money. And what does he say? And they all said the same thing. They all go, hey, I cheat on my wives, I cheat on my taxes. You don't think I'm going to cheat at golf on my course? That's how he does it.
- [27:17]
Jim Acosta
Jesus Christ.
- [27:18]
Rick Riley
So anyway, Unbelievable. Golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a guy. And his game reveals everything you need to know about him. He will cheat. Cheated Tiger woods, he cheats his kids, he cheats his best friends. He, Jim, he has to win. There's something in his brain he can. I know one guy beat him out of 20 bucks. Sam Farmer. He finally gets Trump to get out the money and give him a 20. And Trump won't let go of it. And the 20 rips in half, the 20 in half, because he just has to win. There's something twisted in his mind.
- [27:57]
Jim Acosta
Something is twisted. There's something certainly twisted in his mind. And you mentioned Arnold Palmer earlier. I'm sure you've heard the comments from Trump recently talking about how big Arnold Palmer's dick is or whatever the hell. We can say all this in substack. It's not my old place.
- [28:10]
Rick Riley
What is.
- [28:11]
Jim Acosta
What in the world is going on?
- [28:14]
Rick Riley
One of the greatest guys we've ever had in golf. Everybody loved him. Like, if Arnold borrowed your locker at a course for a tournament, he'd leave you four shirts, four dozen balls, four clubs. He was the greatest man. And then to do this despicable thing about Arnold Johnson is ridiculous.
- [28:32]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [28:32]
Rick Riley
So, I mean, he's just leaving a big, orange, ugly stain on the golf. I love, like, I don't know much about politics like you guys.
- [28:41]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [28:42]
Rick Riley
But I know if a guy's going to cheat to beat his friends in a tournament, he's definitely going to cheat to win an election. He's going to on his taxes. He's going to lie about how he did in Covid. I mean, have you ever heard the GE building story?
- [28:57]
Jim Acosta
I have not heard that story, no. Oh, God.
- [29:01]
Rick Riley
Trump Tower, right? And the GE building is 51 stories. So he want build me a 52 story. I want to be built across the street. I want to be one story taller. Well, they can't do it. There's some kind of coding, some kind of zone. They can. They can only do something in the 40s. So when he opens it, it's 54 stories. And the contractor comes up and goes, why are you saying it's 54? He said, I skipped the 20s.
- [29:29]
Jim Acosta
Oh, God.
- [29:30]
Rick Riley
There's no 20 floor. 20 through 20.
- [29:33]
Jim Acosta
Of course, of course.
- [29:35]
Rick Riley
Okay. And that's all fine, I guess. You liar. But then there was a fire at Trump Tower. Remember that fire?
- [29:42]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [29:42]
Rick Riley
And they said, what floor? What floor? I'm on the 44th floor. And the fire department came and there's no. There's no fire on the 44th floor. So it was a big problem.
- [29:53]
Jim Acosta
Well, and this is the reason why he got. This is why he got in all that trouble for, you know, what was it? Insurance fraud and all of. He was accused of all this business fraud in New York because he was exaggerating the size of apartments and so on, and he was including, like, the Elevator shaft and stuff. I mean, he just. You're absolutely right. Any. Any place he can cheat, he will cheat.
- [30:13]
Rick Riley
Everything gets the Trump bump. Everything gets the Trump Bump. Like, he introduces me around like, this guy owns Sports Illustrated. Like, no, I don't. I'm just a sportswriter. Why are you saying that? Oh, it sounds better. So anyway, you see, were you there? Did you watch a minute with a flower flag raising thing? And.
- [30:31]
Jim Acosta
Oh, yeah.
- [30:31]
Rick Riley
God, he puts up this ridiculously oversized 100 foot flagpole.
- [30:37]
Jim Acosta
I saw.
- [30:37]
Rick Riley
Yes, right. It's against all zoning. Every course. And he. You want to sue me. You want to tell the people that you don't like American flags. So they let him put him up.
- [30:47]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, he's done the same thing over at the White House. He's got these. They just put these giant flags up at the White House and it's basically to dare every future president. Oh, you don't like America? You're going to take my flagpole down. And it doesn't look like you're at the White House. It looks like he's opened up a used car dealership, you know, and it's.
- [31:05]
Rick Riley
Have you ever. Have you ever been in his penthouse at Trump Tower?
- [31:09]
Jim Acosta
Thank God I have not. No.
- [31:11]
Rick Riley
The piano is like white with gold keys. And I played and I sat down. Play it. And I said, whoa, Donald, this piano is so out of tune. No, it's not. That's the best. Well, it's out of tune. Sorry, buddy. Years later, he tweeted something about Rick Riley. He doesn't know a tune piano when you're.
- [31:32]
Jim Acosta
Oh. So he doesn't forget. You're absolutely right about this.
- [31:35]
Rick Riley
Back to this flag thing. So he's standing White House, new flags going up. The last we checked, he had 23 club championships. He has zero. He's never won one at a course. He doesn't own with the pro that he pays. So he's got zero. So he turns to the lady next to him and he goes, can you believe I've won 33 club championships? He skipped all the 20s. Guys nuts.
- [32:00]
Jim Acosta
No, there's no question about it. And. And he does this with everything. I mean, he absolutely does it with everything. He cannot. He cannot just. Just tell the truth as it. As it is in the real world. And it just makes me wonder, why would people want to play golf with him? I mean, this is like, I guess you would say, well, I played golf with the President. But then you're going to find out exactly who he is.
- [32:19]
Rick Riley
Okay, so, Faxson, Brad Faxson. A terrific, great, fun pro. Now he's on tv and he were in a match against Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods. And I said, why would you guys play with this guy?
- [32:32]
Tara Palmeri
You.
- [32:32]
Rick Riley
You play by the rules. And he goes, we all wanted our own story. Everybody's got a story. We didn't have a story. So anyway, they're playing. Dustin and Tiger hit him from the back tees. Trump and Faxing from the front. And Trump's getting like eight shots, so they're on the right. Tiger over here. Trump chunks it in the water and Paxton goes, that's all right. Lay up. Maybe you'll make a six. He goes, no, throw me another one. Throw me another one. Yeah, throw me another one. They didn't see, so Paxton throws him. This is Tiger woods over there. Paxton throws him another ball, chugs that in the water, lays it up, knocks it on. On the green. He's got about a six footer. And Tiger says, what's that for, Mr. President? And Trump goes, this is for par.
- [33:21]
Jim Acosta
So let me ask you this, because I, I've talked to people who have said, oh, no, he's. He's actually an okay golfer. He's a decent golfer. Are they just. Are they just full of shit too? Are they just.
- [33:29]
Rick Riley
He's fine. He's 79 years old. He's out of shape. He's Tiger, Annika, Fred, Couples, they all say he's about 11 or 12. That's pretty dang good, right? He's pretty good for his age at golf. What pisses me off is that that's not enough.
- [33:46]
Jim Acosta
Right?
- [33:46]
Rick Riley
He's got to win club championships against the best young players, not. Not give any strokes. My God, this guy. That's faker than Velveeta cheese. My God, this guy cheats like a four year old playing solitaire.
- [34:01]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, you called it. It's like the three card money. You said it's like the three card money in your book. I mean, it's so true. It is.
- [34:08]
Rick Riley
He's like a mafia accountant. He's just like, with numbers. Like, he got caught and it happens all the time with him. The trump bump goes both ways. So he was telling people, oh, this course, I think it was up in Westminster. This, this trump, this trump, this course is worth a hundred million dollars. Would put in 100 million in this course. And yet when he goes to file his. The tax worth of it, he filed for 2 million, right? They caught him out like, well, which is it, Donald? He gets. He forgets the lies he tells because so many.
- [34:44]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, and you know. And this is the kind of bullshit that's getting him in trouble right now in the Epstein case, when he's talking about the Epstein case. Oh, Joe Biden put that in there. That's why I'm in the Epstein file. I mean, that's what he's been saying. It's just. He can't help himself. He just is a bullshitter about everything in life.
- [35:00]
Rick Riley
And he can't stop.
- [35:03]
Jim Acosta
He can't stop.
- [35:03]
Rick Riley
Guys get lies all screwed up, you know. Oh, this was a. Jerome Powell was a Biden hire. Well, no. Here's you introducing him. Oh, well, they faked that. I don't know. I don't know what he does then. He just.
- [35:16]
Jim Acosta
The thing with Jerome Powell the other.
- [35:17]
Rick Riley
Day, sir, you said Powell was a Biden hire. You hired him. But they just won't even do that simple thing.
- [35:24]
Jim Acosta
I know, I know. I would like to see more of that from the press corps, honestly. And because when I've done that to him, that is when his head pops off. That's when his head explodes. He cannot be. And it goes back to what you're saying. He cannot handle being told he's a liar. He cannot handle being told he's full of shit. And he even admitted to Leslie Stahl, I call the press fake news so people don't believe what they say. He admitted that. He admitted to this to Leslie stahl back in 2016 or whatever.
- [35:50]
Rick Riley
Most crucial point of this whole thing that he told Leslie, this is what I'm going to do.
- [35:56]
Jim Acosta
That's right up.
- [35:57]
Rick Riley
Huge lies and say the press is lying. They're public enemy one, so when I do stuff they're not going to believe, and it's worked.
- [36:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. If only we. If only we could have Judge Smales from Caddyshack as president instead. Ted and I.
- [36:11]
Rick Riley
Fair. Keep it fair.
- [36:12]
Jim Acosta
Keep it fair. Keep it fair. He also would, like, drop the ball and kick it along and that sort of thing.
- [36:17]
Rick Riley
Right. But I felt. Saying he was the club champion. Even Ted Knight didn't do that.
- [36:20]
Jim Acosta
That's true. He still had to. He still tried to win and of course, lost at the end of Caddyshack.
- [36:25]
Rick Riley
By the way, have you checked his USGA index? You can look at it. It's an index where we all keep our handicaps. You put in every score you have.
- [36:34]
Jim Acosta
No, he puts that in there.
- [36:36]
Rick Riley
What?
- [36:36]
Jim Acosta
He puts that in there. That's in there.
- [36:38]
Rick Riley
No, that's the point. He doesn't.
- [36:41]
Jim Acosta
Oh.
- [36:42]
Rick Riley
Scores in. So it's. We're fair. When we bet he has had the 20 scores he has in there. That keeps 20 in a running total. It's taken him like 30 years. And he then what he does, he lies about the wood. The how hard the course is manually screws with it. So the course is like 150 slope which is like impossible.
- [37:03]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [37:04]
Rick Riley
Does he shot 68 there and that's how his handicap is 2.8. I mean if he's a 2.8. Queen Elizabeth was a champion pole vaulter.
- [37:14]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [37:15]
Rick Riley
Why exactly like 2.8. So I got a hundred thousand dollar standing bet he and I play anywhere in the country except his courses. The USGA picks the caddies.
- [37:27]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [37:28]
Rick Riley
Camera and a rules guy with us. And I give him. No, he doesn't have to give me any shots. I'm a six. He's a 2.8. 100 grand to charity and he's been strangely quiet about that.
- [37:40]
Jim Acosta
Interesting. Isn't that interesting? Well, if he ever takes you up on that bet, I just want to have the exclusive rights to cover it.
- [37:46]
Rick Riley
You got it. You got it.
- [37:49]
Jim Acosta
I'll hire all the cameras out there. I'll make sure we, we keep an eye out for those green teas. I want some of those green teas. I want a bag of those green teas. I get it.
- [37:56]
Rick Riley
But only box. He's used them out in the rough, so.
- [38:01]
Jim Acosta
Crazy man. Rick, I really appreciate you're doing the Lord's work out there. Thank you for what you do and the book. I will say and I've heard from so many people who have said, you know, I read a lot of stuff about Donald Trump. This is the thing that explains him better than anybody because it's something we can all relate to.
- [38:18]
Rick Riley
Four old Republican white guys come up to me and say I was a Trump backer. I was a Trump donor. I read commander and cheat. And I'll never give to that son of a bitch again because I hate golf. Cheaters. You know why? You know why Jim? Because it's totally reveals who you are.
- [38:34]
Tara Palmeri
It's.
- [38:35]
Jim Acosta
It's true.
- [38:36]
Rick Riley
Cheater. You can't.
- [38:37]
Jim Acosta
And you want to go out there and play golf. You're a busy guy. You're a businessman or whatever.
- [38:40]
Rick Riley
You go out there and play 20 bucks. Yeah. Yards over here. I know you're not going to screw with it. You know I'm not going to. If I give you a little two footer. Okay. But you don't take them because we're friends and we're gentlemen and women do it. Everybody plays by the rules except this son of a bitch. And he's become to represent golf, and it just makes me want to eat bees.
- [39:04]
Jim Acosta
You and me both, man, oh, man. All right. Hey, Rick, great to talk to you, man. Good stuff. Keep doing what you're doing. And let us know if you ever get that call about the game of about that round of golf. I want to be out there for that. Thanks a lot, Rick. Good to see you. Take care. All right. That's the great Rick Riley. Man, oh, man. I mean, talk about stories. That is just some great stuff, you know, and it's so true. It does really explain who he is. And when I saw this video over the weekend, I thought to myself, I have got to get Rick Riley on the show. I mean, it just because. And it's exactly what Rick was saying. It explains so much about who the guy is and how he literally cheats at everything and even at something that you're supposed to do just to take your mind off things, the game of golf.
- [39:53]
Rick Riley
But.
- [39:54]
Jim Acosta
All right, I do want to go to Andrew Bakai. He works for Whistleblower Aid. He represents whistleblowers, and he is right now working with a couple of whistleblowers, I believe Andrew can fact check me on this, who are making some pretty serious allegations about Emile Beauvais, one of Trump's former personal attorneys, works for the Department of Justice. And now Trump is trying to put him on the appellate bench, of all places. My God, can you imagine? Talk about the fix being in. Let's go to Andrew and talk about this, because this is very serious. And it appears that we are within a day or so, it could be coming very soon that Emile Beauvais could be confirmed to become a judge on the appellate bench. And there's Andrew right there. Andrew, great to see you. Thank you so much for coming on.
- [40:45]
Andrew Bakai
Thank you for having me on today.
- [40:46]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, yeah.
- [40:47]
Andrew Bakai
Your previous segment about golf president and I mean, I play, it's hit or miss, but if I sometimes drop a ball or just do whatever because I'm having fun.
- [40:57]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [40:58]
Tara Palmeri
I'm not.
- [40:58]
Andrew Bakai
I'm not out there, you know, going like, winning the club championship. I'm out there taking some time off from work.
- [41:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. Well, I'm dropping so many balls because I'm hitting them off in the woods all the time that, you know, I just say, hey, you know, I'm dropping a ball. Put me down for one stroke. But I mean, you know, it does explain Trump so well. It's so true. But, Andrew, I mean, talk about something else that explains Trump so Well, the fact that we are talk. I mean, it's difficult to talk about some of this stuff because we're sipping from the fire hose all the time. But the fact that Trump wants to put one of his former personal attorneys on the appellate bench. Do I have this correct? That he is attempting to put Emile Beauvais on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, an incredibly important job. And you have been representing, I guess now, two whistleblowers who have come forward in this appointment battle and to basically say that Beauvais has directed attorneys to give false information and to defy court orders. Tell us about this.
- [41:57]
Andrew Bakai
So we represent one. It's kind of getting confused. Oh, okay. We represent a lot of whistleblowers followers during the course of this administration. But for this particular matter with Beauvais, we represent one. It's getting confusing because you have.
- [42:10]
Jim Acosta
Or maybe there's another one.
- [42:11]
Andrew Bakai
There's another one that's come out since because Erez Ruvini, he's the one who has come out publicly before the Hill to provide details about what Bove has and basically was trying to, according to Rouvainy, basically say, look, you know, you can go ahead and tell the courts f you with respect to deporting individuals to El Salvador to basically lie to the courts about what is or isn't transpiring, which is a huge problem. Now, our client, the client who we represent, we're not going to publicly identify who they are because we need to protect their anonymity for their safety and security and career. Our client actually filed a disclosure back on May 2 with the Department of Justice Inspector General's Office, which is before Beauvais was nominated, which I think is important because our client came forward because they were really concerned about what was happening, what misrepresentations may have been made to before a federal judge. And so the approach that we took, we, because of our client's ethical obligations, they're also an attorney, we proceeded with filing a disclosure with the Inspector General's office. So a filing was made online on May 2nd. Hard copy was submitted with the substantive documents that was received by Doji a few days later, according to our records. So the reason why we've come out last Friday publicly, that there is somebody out there who has seen the same thing, is because we represent a number of whistleblowers, and I've represented whistleblowers now for years, developed investigative programs in the government previously in support of whistleblowing. And it can be lonely at the top. And we wanted to have folks know that, one, Rouvainy is not alone. Two, that there is information out there that helps, that shows that his disclosure is credible. Now, our client wasn't disclosing everything that Rouvaney has disclosed about Bovet, but the thrust of what Ruvaney has disclosed, our client had corroborating evidence that was previously provided to the Inspector general's office.
- [44:23]
Jim Acosta
I see.
- [44:24]
Andrew Bakai
What we did was we also, in June, a few weeks later, did inform the Senate Judiciary Committee about the existence of this report. And the reason why we do that is that we. Because under Article 1 of the Constitution, Congress has oversight authority over the executive branch. Right. And one of the ways that they can do that, particularly when it involves really sensitive matters, is for them to coordinate and communicate with the Inspector General. So the IGs, as we all now know, they have the authority to investigate internal wrongdoing. Right. And when I was working within an IG years ago in the federal government, I had access to all records, personnel, everything that I needed to do to conduct an investigation. Now, I had that authority because I was working for an IG within the executive branch, overseeing a particular agency. Congress, because we're talking about attorney client privilege information here, would have to coordinate with the Inspector General for the Justice Department, which is why we, why we did that, to give them a heads up.
- [45:29]
Jim Acosta
And I mean, basically your whistleblower is saying what I mean, basically the same thing that has been alleged before, that Beauvais directed attorneys to give false information, defy court orders. I mean, can you specify what your whistleblower is saying?
- [45:45]
Andrew Bakai
We can't, because.
- [45:46]
Jim Acosta
Oh, I see. Okay.
- [45:47]
Andrew Bakai
Yeah. So what's, what's tricky about this is that, you know, we made a deterrence.
- [45:52]
Jim Acosta
That'S to protect their anonymity or to.
- [45:55]
Andrew Bakai
Protect them because of their obligations as a former attorney with the government, their ethical obligation as counsel. So it gets really tricky because, you know, you know, there are different approaches that different whistleblowers can take depending on the positions that they held. Because of our clients situation, we've elected to produce the information directly to the DOJ ig, so that way they can conduct the investigation.
- [46:22]
Jim Acosta
Do you have faith that the DOJ IG will conduct that investigation? I mean, there's a real cloud over that department right now. And the way Trump has handled these IGs makes you wonder.
- [46:33]
Andrew Bakai
I think that, you know, there's, there's a concern that I have not necessarily about DOJ, but about the IGs, just more broadly to your point, because, you know, I think what was within the first week, Trump fired at, what was it, 18, 19 inspectors general. And so, you know, which is not a small thing. Remember, I was the chief counsel during the first impeachment and representing the unnamed Ukraine whistleblower, the intelligence community whistleblower.
- [47:01]
Jim Acosta
Right.
- [47:01]
Andrew Bakai
And we filed that disclosure with the intelligence community, ig. I used to work at CIAG previously, so I knew about the process, the methodology about making that disclosure properly. And what was the result of that? It was the IG's referral and their determination that the disclosure was urgent and credible that resulted in the drip, drip, drip here in Washington about what was and wasn't happening because the administration was trying to block release of the disclosure to. To the Congress. So, you know, process does matter, right?
- [47:36]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [47:37]
Andrew Bakai
And, you know, it's something that, you know, I think it's easy to take for granted in terms of what an inspector general, what the internal oversight mechanisms do and what they are, but they have access to things that, for example, you know, I remember when I was. Even today, you know, journalists do rely on, you know, congressional oversight investigations and IG reports investigations to find out what is. Isn't happening within the. Within a particular agency. Now, that's something that the organization that I work for, Whistleblower a dot org, you know, that's something that we really try and do, is we try and help whistleblowers come forward lawfully in a way that protects them, but also ensures that we're getting the information to the hands of somebody who can conduct an independent investigation, because what we want is for the truth to come out. So in this particular case with Bovet. Right. You know, yes, the disclosure was made prior to him being nominated by the president, but it is important for Congress to have access to any information or any investigation that the inspector general has conducted or is conducting, because presumably, you want members to make the best decision possible with all the facts. Yeah, and that's what's really at issue here, I think.
- [48:51]
Jim Acosta
And so what are your thoughts on the Bovet nomination? I mean, a lot of folks are very concerned about this prospect of one of Trump's former defense attorneys being on the appellate bench and potentially being teed up for a Supreme Court justice nomination.
- [49:05]
Andrew Bakai
I think there are a number of concerns on my end. So, first of all, we have the fact that we have the president putting up a nomination, a former attorney of his, which, as we know, and you know, this from his first administration, he was angry that the Department of Justice was not acting as his own personal attorney. Right. So, I mean, here we have it. He's hiring his own attorneys to be DOJ attorneys and now nominated, nominating them to the bench. So that's one thing. The other thing is that. And I asked myself this, you know, Beauvais has, you know, the FU comment is what everybody's latching on to. He's basically said, you know, if the court is directing us to basically stop sending the folks to tell Salvador and Effie to the court's determination, well, he's being nominated to be a judge in the Federal Circuit. Right. How would he feel if he learned that attorneys before him in his court were being told to lie to him? It's kind of. It's kind of ironic here, so. And it doesn't make any sense. So I do have a lot of concerns there. And then ultimately for the respect for the rule of law. I mean, it's funny, some of the stuff that we're working on, in my opinion today, it's not actually that complicated. It's really fundamental things with how our government and our nation is supposed to run. It's really going back to high school civics. It's not complicated. We're really working to fight to uphold the very basic, fundamental elements of our Constitution. I think that's where we are today. And I think Bobay's nomination is. It is an indicator of that.
- [50:46]
Jim Acosta
And I guess there's the issue of whether he misled senators during his confirmation hearing.
- [50:51]
Andrew Bakai
Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's one of the. And I've had. We've had a number of cases years ago where we've had either nominees or members of an administration who clearly misled Congress, if not outright lied, and that should be taken seriously. And by the way, that's why, you know, the, the committees. That's why the IGs exist, is to determine independently what happened. You know, it's really sad when, you know, we're in a situation where we have folks going up in front of Congress and, you know, there's a question about whether or not what they're stating under oath is true. There should be no question about that. Right. But that I think really underscores the need for, you know, a strong IG, independent IGs, and a Congress that, you know, really is able to go through and find out what isn't as intriguing and make the best decision possible with all of us knowing what the truth is, objective truth.
- [51:52]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely. Well, Andrew, thank you very much for the time. We'll see how this nomination develops here. It looks like it's. He's going to get Approved and put on the appellate bench, which will be something to watch. But, hey, thanks, thanks again for doing this. Really appreciate. Good to talk to you.
- [52:06]
Andrew Bakai
Absolute pleasure talking to you.
- [52:07]
Jim Acosta
All right. And watch out for that golf game.
- [52:09]
Andrew Bakai
And we're all watching.
- [52:10]
Rick Riley
You, too.
- [52:11]
Andrew Bakai
You, too.
- [52:12]
Jim Acosta
All right, take care. Thanks.
- [52:13]
Andrew Bakai
Bye.
- [52:14]
Jim Acosta
All right. And you know, and just, I mean, you know, I saw a lot of the comments there. It seems like, you know, folks, really enjoyed our conversation with Rick Riley, I have to say, you know, just, just, he just had me at stitches the whole time. And it does tell you a little bit about, does give you some insights into Trump that are kind of away from politics, removed from politics, that even in the sport of golf, he lies, he fudges, he cheats, he steals. I mean, if you're cheating at golf, when there's money involved, you're stealing. And it takes me back to what we were talking about at the beginning of all of this in the Jeffrey Epstein case. I mean, when Donald Trump is trying to say they can put things in the file that are fake, who could put things in the file that are fake, who put, who put things in the file that are fake. He, this is a guy who right now, as we speak with the Jeffrey Epstein case, is, is trying to get his caddy to drop a ball when nobody's watching so he can, he can get it to the hole in fewer strokes. And it just sounds as though that all of this cheating.
- [53:34]
Rick Riley
All of these.
- [53:34]
Jim Acosta
Fast ones he's pulled over the years, he just can't get out of what's happening right now in the Jeffrey Epstein case. He can't have his caddy drop a ball on Joe Biden or drop a ball on Barack Obama, Rosie o', Donnell, and distract the public with something else. He just can't drop a ball over there to draw our attention away from the cheating that is taking place right before our very eyes. And when he says earlier today, very strangely, I never had the privilege of going to Jeffrey Epstein's island. I never had the privilege. It's not a privilege to go to Jeffrey Epstein's island. It sounds as though people who were going there were going there for quite possibly some very dark, disturbing, nefarious reasons. And so, knowing what we all know about Jeffrey Epstein now, knowing we all know about Ghislaine Maxwell now, why was Donald Trump in the past saying, I wish her well? Why is he saying, now I'm allowed to give her a pardon? You know, these are, I mean, these are things, you know, any other president would say, hell no. I'm not giving her a pardon. She's in prison. I mean, look at what the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said on Meek Press over the weekend. That 20 years is probably not enough for Ghislaine Maxwell, given what she's been convicted of doing. And so Donald Trump can try to cheat all he wants. He can try to cheat the truth all he wants. But we can see, we can see when that ball's getting dropped. It's right there in front of our eyes. Want to thank everybody for tuning in today. Want to thank Tara Palmeri, as always for her expertise on the Epstein case. I have to send a special shout out to the great Rick Riley, absolutely hysterical. Really enjoyed the conversation with him. A real home run. We'll be clipping that, I'm sure, lots of times and putting out lots of clips on that. And of course, Andrew Bukai, who is representing whistleblowers doing very important work here in Washington and might potentially down the road, didn't have a whole lot of information to reveal today. That's not atypical. I mean, I shouldn't say that often happens in these kinds of whistleblower cases. The attorneys involved cannot always give as much or divulge as much information as they would like as these cases are taking their course. But keep in mind some very interesting developments happening in the Emile Beauvais nomination. We'll stay on top of that as well. But anyway, in the meantime, thanks everybody for watching. Really appreciate it. And until next time, still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Stay tuned for those Rick Riley clips. I'll be getting those out later on this evening. And watch out for my substack. I'll be putting out a tech substack shortly on why Trump might want to think twice about pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell. And it has to do with the letter Q. So stay tuned for that as well. In the meantime, still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening, everybody. Thanks for watching. Bye bye.
- [56:59]
Tara Palmeri
It.