99% of the Epstein Files Are Still Hidden — And Trump Just Made It Worse w/ Jim Acosta

Summary

The Tara Palmeri Show

Episode: 99% of the Epstein Files Are Still Hidden — And Trump Just Made It Worse
Date: April 28, 2026
Host: Tara Palmeri
Guest: Jim Acosta

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the ongoing controversy surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein files, focusing on how the vast majority remain unreleased despite public pressure and legislative action. Tara Palmeri and guest Jim Acosta dissect Donald Trump’s recent comments on 60 Minutes about the Epstein case, analyze the U.S. government’s resistance to transparency, and call out attempts to discredit survivors and journalists. The episode also addresses the harassment faced by reporters covering the Epstein story, particularly an altercation involving Michael Tracy and journalist Julie K. Brown.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s 60 Minutes Interview and the Epstein Files

• Trump’s Defensive Denials:
  Trump, prompted by a reference from the shooter’s manifesto, unpromptedly declares “I am not a rapist. I am not a pedophile.”

  • Jim Acosta: “I thought this was extraordinary, that he would just come out and say, I am not a rapist. I am not a pedophile. I mean, she did not ask him that question. And like, when you gotta say it, you know, come on, man.” (04:00)
  • Tara Palmeri: Draws a parallel to Bill Clinton’s infamous denial (“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky”), suggesting such blanket denials have historic and lasting impact.

• Trump’s Claim of Exoneration:

  • Jim Acosta: “When he says, I was exonerated—in what way was he exonerated? … He has not been exonerated … In the E. Jean Carroll case, there was a judge who found him liable for sexual abuse.” (04:52)
  • Tara Palmeri: “There’s more than 30 women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment . . . He’s been saying that the Epstein files prove he’s exonerated. I think the Epstein files have just raised more questions.” (05:20)

2. The Massive Scale of Unreleased Epstein Files

• Government Noncompliance:

  • Jim Acosta: “They have gone out of their way to not release all of the files. All of the files have not been—like 1%.” (06:56)
  • Tara Palmeri: “We’ve seen 1% of the files . . . The FBI talks about having 40 terabytes of files, we’ve only seen 300 gigabytes. That’s a huge difference ... most of that is probably video.” (06:56)

• Lawsuits and FOIA Action:

  • Acosta mentions legal action by Katie Fang: “She just filed a lawsuit today going after Todd Blanche, accusing the administration of not complying with the Epstein Files Compliance Act.” (06:18)

• DOJ and Attorney General Involvement:

  • Tara Palmeri: “They spent a whole month trying to scrub [Trump’s] name from the files … And we know the people leading the Department of Justice—like Todd Blanche—were acting as personal attorneys for Trump and writing lines to exonerate him and others.” (05:20)

3. Harassment and Intimidation of Journalists and Survivors

• Incidents with Michael Tracy:

  • Jim Acosta: “There was this online troll … Michael Tracy … harassing the investigative journalist Julie K. Brown … I stepped in and said, hey man, you got to get out of here … Substack security removed him from the party.” (07:21)
  • Palmeri describes Tracy confronting survivors at public events and herself:
    “He was shoving his camera in the faces of the survivors … basically saying, you’re not real victims, some of you, because you were over the age of 18 when you were trafficked.” (10:04)

• Impact on Survivors:

  • Tara Palmeri: “Julie had a really rough day. She knew Virginia [Giuffre] really well. She was there at the memorial … He was just targeting her, clearly … I think it’s really sad that happened to her.” (11:27)
  • Palmeri on Tracy’s motivation:
    “Why are you so passionate about this? Is there someone paying you? Because to me, it doesn’t make sense to have this sort of anger and passion that would pit you against survivors of sexual abuse.” (12:02)

• Continued Harassment:

  • Jim Acosta: “Later on that night, he’s challenging me to a fight at the Hampton Inn … I retweeted him and said, did you at least get the free breakfast? … the waffles are kind of breathtaking.” (12:29)
  • Tara Palmeri: “He seems to have made a hobby out of it or a living … tries to take apart their stories. So I’m sure he is making some money in the very least.” (16:23)

4. The Legacy of Survivors and the Need for Accountability

• Virginia Giuffre’s Importance:

  • B: “Many women came up and said, I never would have said anything if not for Virginia … because of her courage, other women came forward.” (15:38)
  • Tara Palmeri: “She carried so much pain … from the constant revictimization … She took her own life. Is that not a testament to the kind of pain that these sexual assault survivors experience?” (15:18)

• On Bullying and Public Discourse:

  • Jim Acosta: “I’m sick and tired of bullies. I think what this Michael guy was doing over the weekend makes him a bully. And America, we’re tired of bullies.” (18:16)
  • Tara Palmeri: “Now we need to make it less normal for people to act like that.” (18:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I am not a rapist. I am not a pedophile.”
  — Donald Trump, Interview Clip Played (03:14)

• “When you gotta say it, you know, come on, man.”
  — Jim Acosta, reacting to Trump’s unprompted denial (04:00)

• “We’ve seen 1% of the [Epstein] files … that’s a huge difference for anyone who’s not a total data nerd.”
  — Tara Palmeri (06:56)

• “Is there someone paying you? … It doesn’t make sense to have this sort of anger and passion that would pit you against survivors of sexual abuse.”
  — Tara Palmeri on Michael Tracy’s repeated harassment (12:02)

• “She took her own life. Is that not a testament to the kind of pain that these sexual assault survivors experience?”
  — Tara Palmeri on Virginia Giuffre (15:18)

• “I’m sick and tired of bullies. America, we’re tired of bullies.”
  — Jim Acosta (18:16)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Trump’s 60 Minutes Interview Reaction: 02:42–04:52
• Discussion on Exoneration and Legal Realities: 04:52–06:18
• Scale of Unreleased Epstein Files: 06:56–07:21
• Harassment of Journalists and Survivors—Michael Tracy: 07:21–16:23
• Virginia Giuffre Memorial and Survivor Impact: 14:50–16:20
• Reflections on Bullying in Public Life: 18:16–18:59

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Final Thoughts

The episode offers an unflinching look at how power can stymie transparency and justice, even in the face of immense public scrutiny. Both Palmeri and Acosta underscore the importance of tenacious journalism, the bravery of survivors, and the ongoing efforts—and obstacles—in holding powerful figures accountable. The episode closes with a call for collective intolerance of bullying, whether from internet trolls or figures at the highest levels of government.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

It's another day that ends in Y. And Donald Trump's cover up is in the Epstein files controversy. Trump boldly stated that he is not a rapist and not a pedophile. Over the weekend during an interview on 60 Minutes. Let's discuss with Tara Palmeri, the author of the Red Letter substack and host on YouTube substack and wherever you get your podcast. Tara, great to see you.

[A]

Thanks for having me, Jim. It's. It's good to see you too. After we bumped into each other a few times this weekend in Washington. I apologize, I have the hiccups a little bit. And this is what happens when you try to power through the White House correspondence weekend. It can whack you later.

[B]

That's okay. Take sips of water if you need it. I mean, I know the feeling. I call it the hangover after the dinner and it lasts for several days. I will tell you after everything that went on this week and it was a hell of a weekend, I know a lot of people are still processing what took place Saturday night at the White House correspondence dinner and. But I'll tell you, I think that this moment on 60 Minutes with Trump when he was asked about the manifesto allegedly written by the shooter at the White House correspondence. I thought this was a huge moment. You know, Norah o' Donnell asked him about this and how the manifesto appears to reference the Epstein files and, and that whole controversy and saga and so on. Let's play that and talk about on the other side. You can have another sip of water.

[C]

So called manifesto is a stunning thing to read, Mr. President. He appears to reference a motive. In it he writes this, quote, administration officials, they are targets. And he also wrote this. I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes. What's your reaction?

[D]

Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're, you're. You're horrible people. People. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody.

[C]

Oh, you think he was referring to you?

[D]

Excuse me, I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the, the plate are the ones that were involved with, let's say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, you know, I'll do this interview and they'll probably, I read the manifesto. You know, he's a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, Tara, I thought this was extraordinary, that he would just come out and say, I am not a rapist. I am not a pedophile. I mean, she did not ask him that question. And like, when you gotta say it, you know, come on, man.

[A]

I mean, it's true. She said, oh, you think he's referring to you? He could have been like, you know, who are you talk. Who are you talking about? Or that was a man that, that went into a ballroom ready to shoot up the entire cabinet myself. You know, do you. Are we supposed to take his words that. There's so many ways you could answer that, but it feels like that's something that he has been holding on to for a long time. And it does remind me of, you know, when Bill Clinton denied having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, said, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky. And he made that, that comment during a press conference, and it was a proclamation. Like, when you make a comment like that that lives on forever in infamy.

[B]

No question about it. And when he says, I was exonerated in what way was he exonerated? That's, that's not true either. As far as I can tell, Tara, he has not been exonerated. And in the Eugene Carroll case, there was a judge who found him liable for sexual abuse, who said he had. He was liable for sexual abuse. I know that you have to be very legalistic in describing it, but he has not been exonerated in any of this, right?

[A]

No. I mean, and there's more than 30 women who have accused tip of sexual harassment. I mean, he denies all of it some. And so, you know, he's been saying that for a while, that the Epstein files prove that he's exonerated. I think the Epstein files have just raised more questions rather than anything else because you see that so much of this has not really been followed up with. We know that 2.5 million files are still in the hands of the FBI. I. And we know that they spent a whole month trying to scrub his name from the files back in the spring to comply with a Bloomberg Freedom of Information request. Right. So, you know, and we know that people are leading the Department of Justice. We've got, you know, we had Pam, Bonnie. Now we've got Todd Blanche, who basically acted as his personal attorney and was, like, feeding Ghislaine Maxwell lines that would exonerate Trump and others.

[B]

Yeah. And I, I, you know, I'm just wondering, I, I just wonder where this is going to head. You know, our friend Katie Fang, she just filed a lawsuit today going after Todd Blanche, accusing the administration of not complying with the Epstein Files Compliance Act. And, you know, we'll be talking to Katie Fang later on in the show, but it seems to me they, they have gone out of their way to not release all of the files. And as far as we stand right now, Tara, correct, correct me if I'm wrong, we still have not seen all of the files. All of the files have not been like 1%.

[A]

We've seen 1% of the files. If you look at internal emails within the FBI and they talk about having 40 terabytes of files, we've only seen 300 gigabytes. That's, that's a huge difference for anyone who's not a total data nerd. I'm certainly not. Once I looked into it, I was like, whoa. And most of that is probably video.

[B]

Yeah. Well, and the other thing we should talk about, Tara, just very quickly is, you know, over the weekend, of course, there was the shooting at the White House correspondence dinner. I'm going to talk about that. With Frank Figlusi, the former top FBI agent, just a few minutes. But there was also what took place over at the substack party. I guess we kind of made the news, or I made the news. I won't lose you into this, but I kind of made the news a little bit. There was this online troll, I think he calls himself a journalist named Michael Tracy. And he showed up at the substack party and he was. I saw this personally. He was harassing the investigative journalist Julie K. Brown, who has done a lot of the reporting, a lot of incredible reporting as a you on the Epstein files. And he was in her face and. And harassing her, not really letting her get away from him and so on. So I stepped in and said, hey, man, you got to get out of here. Leave her alone. He and I kind of got into it and substack security removed him from the party. Thank goodness. But you were telling you were putting this out on X earlier in the day on Twitter earlier in the day that Tracy was showing up at some vigil for a Virginia Giuffre that was being held in Washington. We have a little bit of that video that we can show. And you tweeted this out and I guess let's watch a little bit of this here. But, you know, I remember, I think Michael Tracy showed up at this press conference that the Epstein survivors had up on the Capitol a while back before the release of the Epstein files when that got passed. And he does this, I guess he was showing up at this Virginia Giuffre memorial on Saturday.

[E]

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[B]

I. I kind of want to delve into this. I don't know what is going on with this guy. Why does he seem to bother these folks?

[A]

It's really horrible. He was shoving his. His camera in the faces of the survivors on. In Capitol Hill that first time, basically saying, you know, you're not real victims, some of you, because you were over the age of 18 when you were trafficked. Like, you know, those kinds of things. He. He took. He even started following me around with the camera at the Capitol on Capitol Hill when they were fighting for the Epstein Transparency act. And really pictures and put them on his feet is very bizarre. And, you know, Julie had a really rough day. She knew Virginia really well. She was there at the memorial. Like I was. Excuse me. And, you know, it was. She worked very closely with Jeff, with Virginia, and she didn't even know who Michael Tracy was. I mean, she knew who he was, but I pointed him out to her because she didn't recognize him. She wasn't in there trying to get into a confrontation with anyone. He was just targeting her, clearly, from what you've told me, because Julie's just. She's not like that. And I. I think it's really sad that that happened to her. But he's. We. We've all been completely mystified by this person, why he would have so much contempt for survivors of sexual abuse. I mean, he's called me a collaborator of Virginia Giuffre, as if that was, know, a bad thing. Because I, you know, was a reporter who went around the country trying to cooperate. Her story of abuse, which so many people for so many years said was completely false and denied and called her a teen, a prostitute, and all these things. And it turns out she was. She was telling the truth. And, and so, you know, I was. I was with her, and he. He's used that against me and attacked me. And, you know, on Piers Morgan show, I just asked him flat out, like, why are you so passionate about this? Is there someone paying you? Because to me, it doesn't make sense to have this sort of anger and passion that would, you know, pit you against survivors of sexual abuse.

[B]

Yeah, I know you asked him that. And he famously did not answer the question, or infamously did not answer the question. I think at one point during that interview with you and Piers, he claimed that he couldn't hear you anymore. And then Piers would start talking, and all of a sudden he could hear Piers again. If anybody wants to have a good laugh. They should go find that on the Internet. It's out there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But Michael does this, and then, you know, later on that night, he's challenging me to a fight at the Hampton Inn. And I don't know if you saw this, Tara, but the Hampton Inn was the nice. The nice Hampton Inn was trending on Twitter all day long yesterday. It might still be. I think it might still be trending. So I, you know, Stacy was. Or Tracy, whatever his name is, he was tweeting at me that I. I needed to come over there and have a fight with them. And I. Of course, I never did. I, you know, I don't know why I would bother with him and do any of that. No, no. But I retweeted him and I said, did you at least get the free breakfast? You know, I mean, if you're going to stay at the Hampton Inn, the waffles are. Are kind of breathtaking. You should get at least get a free waffle out of it. Michael or Stacy, whatever his name is.

[F]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, Jim, that's just so insane that. That he would even want to fight you. I mean, this is like, what is he fighting for?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

That is the question. What is this man fighting for? Who is he fighting for? Because, you know, often in life, when I think about things and I wonder, why is someone so passionate one way or another? Usually it's about money when it's not something altruistic. So I'm like, there's something. I still have the hiccups, but no, no, that's okay. No, I was really like this. The survivors, they walked up to me at the memorial, and they were really distressed by the fact that he showed up.

[B]

I know.

[A]

And I don't get this name for so long. And he shows up there, and. And so the security went up to him, and it just, It. It caused a whole commotion. And this was supposed to be like, a memorial for a woman who had so much courage, and it was sponsored by the Women's March.

[B]

Well, I hate to talk about him because I feel like it elevates him and. And gives him what he wants and so on, but I just think it's repugnant to go after survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in this way and to go after the reporters. I mean, it seems to me there's. There's something going on here when he's going after the truth tellers. You know, he was calling Julie K. Brown a liar over the weekend, and so On Julie K. Brown, you helped break this story, and she broke aspects of this, as you have. And I just think that it's a. It's a disgraceful thing. And, you know, if Michael wants to apologize to all of us, of course we'd have to listen to him, but he owes people an apology, and he ought to pick on people his own size. That's.

[A]

Yeah, no, I think. I think you're right. I think this is just someone who is. I don't know what other word to use besides deranged. Like, I don't know. I don't understand it, but I hope that I also just let these women have their peace. They're honoring a woman who died, who carried so much pain in her heart from what had happened to her, from the constant revictimization that happened to her over and over again.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She took her own life. Is that not a testament to the kind of pain that these sexual assault survivors experience?

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And also hold on to this. And. And yet you want to go there and disrupt this beautiful memorial.

[B]

You know, and apparently he still had this many of the women.

[A]

So many of them came up and said, I never would have said anything if not for Virginia.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Virginia Duffrey. I mean, she, She. I think along with Julie and yourself, I mean, Virginia Giuffre is part of the reason why we know about all of this, because she had the courage to come forward. Because of her courage, other women came forward. And I just. I would like to know, why does he troll these. These women and these survivors and their families? I don't get it. It's. It's sickening to me. And I noticed that, you know, he. You got video of him and he had, like, the sticker on his pants. I guess he had just bought some pants and he. He left the size sticker on the side of his pants. I don't know if you saw that, but.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know. I really don't.

[B]

Weird going on there.

[A]

I don't get it, Jim. But, you know, a lot of other men who are very wealthy and prominent men who've been accused of crimes related to Jeffrey Epstein. They've also targeted the survivors, but he seems to have made like a. A hobby out of it or a living out of it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I mean, he does. He does write a lot about it. I mean, he tries to take apart their stories. So I'm sure he is making some money in the very least. Or is he, you know, where. What is the motivation for this? Because there are a lot of men that would surely appreciate all of the hard work he is doing for them.

[B]

No, exactly. And that's. And that's where we are right now. I mean, we, we have the President of the United States on 60 Minutes. For some reason, he felt like he had to say, I'm not a pedophile. I'm not a rapist. I, I don't know why he said that. That was really strange. And we don't have. We don't have all the answers. We don't have all the files. We don't have the truth. Donald Trump, it seems to me, Todd Blanche, his defense attorney, who's now the acting attorney general, they're doing everything they can to cover up the truth. And so, you know, they, they kicked up this controversy about Jimmy Kimmel today. It seems almost to distract the public so we wouldn't talk about his Disastrous interview on 60 Minutes last night. It was. That was a disastrous interview. It was like Bill Clinton. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. That's exactly what it is.

[A]

You will never forget that line. I am not a pedophile. Like, that is exactly. I like that. That will be. That will go down in the history books. That will be played. That will be played forever.

[B]

No question about it. Yeah. Well, Tara, you go nurse your voice and your health and get better and get back out there. But great to see you, as always.

[A]

Thank you, Jim. And thanks for, thanks for looking out for Julie. She's a national treasure, and she's the best. You know, so are you. So thank you for that.

[B]

I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy, but Julie is, and you're worthy. I mean, my sense of it was is that. And I'll just say, I was gonna say this at the end of the show, and I'll say at the end of the show, but I'll say it now like, I'm sick and tired of bullies. I'm sick and tired of bullies. Like Donald Trump, I think he's a bully. I think what this Michael guy was doing over the weekend makes him a bully. And America, we're tired of bullies. We're. This is. Last year was the year of the bully. The bully made a comeback.

[A]

We.

[B]

This is the year when the bullies, maybe they get punched in the nose. That's the way I look.

[A]

That's how sort of shame about what they're doing.

[B]

I know.

[A]

Feel, Feel something that makes you feel uncomfortable because we're normalizing this behavior. And now we need to make it less normal for people to act like that.

[B]

Bingo. Exactly. All right, I'll leave you alone, Ter. You go rest and we'll do it again soon. Thanks, Tera.

[A]

Thank you. Bye, Tara.

[B]

Pal. Mary. She's wonderful.

[G]

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