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Restaurant Server
Your burger is served. And this is our finest Pepsi Zero Sugar. Its sweet profile perfectly balances the savory notes of your burger.
Podcast Host
That is one perfect combination.
Tara Palmeri
Burgers deserve Pepsi. Welcome to the Tara Palmieri show. For me, the Epstein story has always exposed just how much this country is truly broken from the broken justice system, a broken government, a broken society, and so many broken lives along the way. That's why we called the podcast that I hosted and investigated alongside an all star team of journalists, including the Miami Herald journalist who broke open the case again, Julie K. Brown, Broken Jeffrey Epstein. But I keep coming back to the idea of broken promises and the hope that Virginia Giuffre held onto for something more after all of this. I know I've said this before, but she was genuinely a hopeful person. She wouldn't have traveled around the country with me knocking on doors if she didn't believe that one of them would eventually open, that someone would help put together the pieces of her broken life. Someone who would just openly testify to the depraved things that they saw that they both witnessed together. Because she has been so maligned ever since she bravely came out and told her story. And that's why so many other victims are afraid to come out as well, because the first thing that happens is that they are attacked. If you wonder why you're not hearing from more of them, just look at how they're treated on social media. Just look at what's said about them, even though their stories are nearly identical. So Virginia on her hunt to find someone who could put together the story of her broken life, she looked to Epstein's former chef, Adam Perry Lang, who became a celebrity chef after he left Epstein's ranch, after he stopped traveling with him to the island, the Palm beach house, Upper east side, all over the place. That was Adam Perry lying APL in the flight logs if you want to find him. But now he's a celebrity chef who's besties with Jimmy Kimmel and has appeared on Oprah. He even has a book when he tells the story of his life. He says that he learned how to barbecue thanks to a wealthy client who had a ranch in New Mexico. But he never mentions the name Jeffrey Epstein. Still, Virginia thought he was a good guy because she said when she was around him and she was naked, he wouldn't ogle her. He would look her in the eye and that he was always really sweet to her. And he gave her pizza. And Jeffrey starved her and the other girls. I mean, not actually starve them. He fed Them, but such a little amount of foods that they look like little girls, that she was just gracious to have something that was a little fatty carbs. And so she hoped that he could.
Virginia Giuffre
Be a witness for her.
Tara Palmeri
And she left him a handwritten note at his restaurant, apl. It's a pretty. It was a pretty big place in West Hollywood. I mean, when we went there, when Virginia and I went there, I believe Jon Hamm was sitting in the back. Yeah, he was with a bunch of other celebrities. And she wrote to him. These are her words, which you can listen to her reading this note in Broken Jeffrey Epstein. She wrote to Adam.
Virginia Giuffre
Dear Adam Perling, my name is Virginia Roberts. Married name is Giuffre. I'm sure you've heard of Epstein's short incarceration and subsequential death. He's gone now. He can't hurt us anymore. But as you know, it wasn't just Epstein running the most prolific sex trafficking ring of modern times. He had help. Lots of help. That alone leaves me. And as uncountable victims searching for justice. Justice comes in many forms. In my case, justice is holding the various perpetrators that participated, enabled, or looked the other way accountable. I'm not here to ruin your life. You have so much knowledge of the various people on the plains, in his homes, and anywhere you would have been with him. You truly can't say you didn't know or you can't remember. You didn't help when Brad Edwards and I reached out to you in 2014. Jeffrey was alive then. And I get it. Maybe you were scared of him. We all were. You have the ability and frankly the responsibility to help now. By helping us victims and speaking out with us, not only will you redeem yourself, but you will truly elevate yourself to the status of a hero. Which is exactly what you could be for me. A hero. I have such fond memories of staying up late. We talk. We'd laugh. I considered you my friend, and I hope I still can. Life's too short, my friend. Don't go down the way in the history books as that amazing chef who worked for a pedophile. Be remembered as a man who stood for something. You can stand by me and with us. Adam, please, please, please understand. You could help put together some of the missing pieces of my broken life. You could help me on my pursuit of justice. Adam, please don't be an enabler. Be a hero. Be a hero to me, Epstein's victims, and the millions of children who are trafficked every day. I believe you are a good man, at least the Atom I know was Prove me right. Thank you. All my love, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
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Tara Palmeri
Well, he never spoke to us. He never even answered our calls. He said his lawyers would be in touch, but they never followed up with us either. In fact, he never testified in the trial against Galen Maxwell. Right. Virginia said that not only did he know her and see her, but that he knew all of Epstein's wealthy friends. That was part of the job. He needed to know their names and their dietary preferences. But he has consistently said that his role was limited to meal preparation and he didn't know what was happening to underage girls. Basically made it sound like he was a line chef. He said in a statement through his lawyers at the time to us when we were doing the podcast back in 2020, I understand the interest in the time I spent working as a chef for Jeffrey Epstein, and I'm working with the lawyers representing Virginia, Robert Giuffre, to provide whatever assist since I can. It pains me that I cannot provide the confirmation that you seek here, but I cannot attest to what I did not witness or cannot recall. That said, I want to be clear that I never saw sexual activity or nudity and was never aware of underage girls. I mean, when they went through Jeffrey Epstein's house, the law enforcement, when they raided it the first time back in 2004, 2005, they found pictures of girls all over the house. Find this really hard to believe. He's all over the flight logs. Still, Virginia had hope. She believed that other powerful men might help her too, including President Trump and Elon Musk. She told me that Trump was really polite to her when she met him through Jeffrey Epstein back between the years that she was under his control, 2000 to 2002. She thought when he had Epstein arrested in 2019, he might release the files, actually. And then when we spoke this past February, after Attorney General Pam Bondi released the classified documents, which were just Virginia's files, I called her about it. And I asked her what she bought. Of course she said she was disappointed by the circus. Those were her words. She did mention to me that she had previously sent direct messages with Elon Musk that they were communicating on X and that he promised to release the files, too. Well, he didn't, as we all know. Instead, he weaponized them, using the case against Trump. And here we are with Virginia ending her life and Galan Maxwell inching towards clemency. And the right, which once so loudly was invested in this story, has lost.
Virginia Giuffre
All interest and it's all become political.
Tara Palmeri
Theater and the victims are just the pawns. This is not the ending that Virginia imagined. And I know she would be so heartbroken to see it. The victims are once again being left in the dark by the Justice Department, just like they were in 2008 when they brokered this secret non prosecution agreement behind their backs, dropping Epstein's federal crimes from 60 to zero. He got a little over a year in county jail with work release, slap on the wrist estate crime, a sex offender. But more importantly, that sweetheart deal protected co conspirators named and unnamed from future prosecution, and that included Glenn Maxwell. And now the victims fear history is repeating itself, that Maxwell is going to get off again. She's already been moved from a federal prison to a prison camp, not a place for a sex offender. According to ABC News, she's telling a story that protects the current administration, saying that Trump did nothing wrong. Okay, then release the files. Fine, let's. But let's also take into account that Glenn Maxwell wants a pardon. Who's the person who can give her a pardon? President Trump. So why would she say anything negative about him? Why is she a reliable source? She perjured herself in the case with Virginia. She was found guilty of perjury. Why is she a reliable source? Epstein survivor Annie Farmer, who's still waiting for her call from the Justice Department, testified in the case against Maxwell, and she said she no longer has access to the line prosecutor who she worked so closely with on this case. That was Maureen Comey, the daughter of James Comey because she was fired for being the daughter of James Comey. So there's no one on the other end of the phone to call her.
Virginia Giuffre
Lawyers, of course, are sending out letters.
Tara Palmeri
Demanding that the victims be more considered and informed when they make these sort of decisions, like sending the number two person in the Justice Department to speak with Galen Maxwell and then moving her from a federal federal prison to a camp with fences. I keep hearing from them that they are terrified that the Justice Department will just drop the ball again, that they will be left in the dark, that Glenn will be free, no one will be held to account, and this whole thing will fall apart. It just feels like the case is just, it's like quicksand. It's slipping away from them. And I'm gonna stay on it for them. And so I want to thank everyone who has joined the channel. New people, old people, and by old, you couldn't have been around for that long since I just launched about five, five months ago. But I've been on this Epstein story for a long time. So I hope you'll continue to share this with your friends and you can go and check out my reporting@tarapaulmary.com you can sign up for my newsletter, the Red Letter, where you can get more of this kind of insight and reporting about the Epstein story as I continue to stay on it. This is a conversation that I had with Nicole Wallace from Tuesday. This was before the latest developments on Glenn and what sources say she told Todd Blanche, whether he actually will release that tape of their conversation. Is it even useful? Who knows? Shouldn't he just take questions from the press? And also the fact that the administration wanted to have a strategy session to figure out how to change the narrative because obviously anyone with two brain cells knows this is fishy. I don't know if you can change the narrative around this story, but take a listen to our conversation here.
Podcast Host
Podcast host and author of the Red Letter on Substack, Tara Palmeri's back with us. She has hosted two investigative series on the topic called Broken Jeffrey Epstein and the Maxwells. Also joining us, former Democratic senator, MSNBC political analyst Claire McCaskill's here and former criminal division deputy chief at STMY, MSNBC legal analyst, host of a new YouTube show, Courtside, Christy Greenberg is here. Tara, I read your new reporting today and was mind my mind was blown by your reporting and sort of weaving together the Ghislaine Maxwell story. I want to ask you to take us through it, but I first want to get your reaction to these two letters from victims to the judge and the Department of Justice really calling out the handling of the political firestorm in a way that completely neglects the victims of Epstein and Maxwell's.
Virginia Giuffre
It's been a mess and it's been a disgrace and it's consistent with everything I've heard. They keep telling me over and over again they feel left out. They're out of the loop. They're wondering why they're not getting a call and why it's Ghislaine Maxwell. And they also feel re traumatized by this. The idea that there may be some sort of deal happening behind their backs with Glenn Maxwell after all those years of testimony of having to tell their stories over again and being re traumatized. This is really consistent with what I have been hearing over and over again about feeling like they are about to be let down again. And let's not even go back to, you know, 2008 when that sweetheart non prosecution agreement came out and Jeffrey Epstein got a slap on the wrist. He was, he was supposed to get 60 federal crimes against him and it went down to zero. And he spent 13 months in a county jail with work release half the time and an ankle bracelet and was called a sex offender. So this is giving them nightmares, deja vu. And they don't trust the government which is supposed to be looking out for them and for all of us.
Podcast Host
What is their understanding of why or the circumstances around what happened between Friday and our broadcast yesterday that Kundalin and Lisa Rubin at our network reported that Ghislaine Maxwell was moved from a low security prison to an even lower security prison and that there was a rather unusual or unprecedented waiver granted by the Bureau of Prisons, something that an expert said he'd never seen for sex offenders.
Virginia Giuffre
It's unheard of. And I was speaking to Maria Farmer, you know, who went to the FBI in 1996 to report Jeffrey Epstein and then again in 2004 for, and has been cooperating the entire way. And she called me yesterday and she was like, I'm worried. The next step is house arrest. That's what it feels like. I mean, this is a place where Elizabeth Holmes is, she's about to get out in 2032. She's got visitation rights because she has a toddler. They have fences here. This is not the place where you put a sex trafficker. This is not the place where you put a pedophile who was not just an enabler for Jeffrey Epstein. And that's why I wrote that piece, Nicole, not for you, because I know you're aware of that and you understand that she was a predator herself. She had the psychology of a psychopath, the type of person who could manipulate while pretending to show care, emotional detachment and where she learned it. And, and I think they're, they're terrified that this person is going to be let loose again because she should be looked at as someone who could be let loose as a predator.
Podcast Host
Well, something that people don't understand. And I run into people. And I'm often listening to your podcast or listening to something old that I missed from Julie Brown or really trying to educate myself. A lot of people don't know or understand that she participated in the sexual abuse. Can you just remind folks what Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted of?
Virginia Giuffre
Well, in the case of Virginia Giuffre, who Glenn Maxwell, by the way, found in the spa at Mar a Lago, Jeffrey Epstein couldn't get into a ladies spa, right, and find the attendant there, and she found her. She brought her to Jeffrey Epstein's house, said, I will make you a traveling masseuse. That was Virginia's dream. At the time, she was reading a book about how to do it. And when she got into the house, it was Galen Maxwell who took off her panties before Jeffrey Epstein touched her. You know, in the case of Annie Farmer, it was Glenn Maxwell who fondled her breast when she was 16 years old, isolated on the Zorro ranch in New Mexico, where Jeffrey Epstein dreamed of turning it into a place to breed children. This is a sick, depraved woman who not only enabled this, created a pyramid scheme, by the way, in a local high school, managed it, which took a lot of work, believe it or not, shuttling these children back and forth, making sure they all came so that Jeffrey Epstein could get his three orgasms per day. I mean, this was a sophisticated operation. It required pilots, chefs, chauffeurs, cooks moving around. And she ran it all. She was a lady of the house, and she engaged in the abuse at the same time. Now that's why so many of the victims feel like she's even worse. They feel even more betrayed by her. Because in the case of Annie, I mean, she told me in an interview that she said, you know, when Jeffrey, when I first met him, I thought, who's this guy? You know, he feels a little weird. But when she heard. When she heard that her. That his girlfriend Glenn was coming with him to this ranch, she thought it would be okay. And they. And it was Galen who called her mother and said it would be okay. So she opened doors for Jeffrey to children that he would have never gotten.
Podcast Host
What, Tara in your brain explains the lack of a media firestorm around the way they're talking about Maxwell Todd. Blanche's two visits to Maxwell in prison and the move that's been described as unprecedented by an expert from the Bureau who consults folks dealing with the Bureau of Prisons, Ferguslane Maxwell being moved from a low security facility to an even lower security facility.
Virginia Giuffre
I just. I wonder if the outrage is just not there. I mean, I, maybe they think she's just some sort of accomplice. She had this minor role. I mean, obviously President Trump has nothing terrible to say about her. Right? He said he wished her well and his followers clearly don't see the depravity of what she did. And maybe they don't understand her and where she came from.
Tara Palmeri
I mean, the way that she spoke.
Virginia Giuffre
About these girls, one of her friends that I interviewed, Christina Oxenberg, said she was, that she would say they are nothing, they are trash. I mean, this is a twisted, sick person. And, you know, she was actively participating in the abuse. I just don't think there's enough of an outrage about her involvement in the sex trafficking ring. And perhaps that's why this is all happening and it's happening so quickly. Nicole, I don't blame them for being worried that the next week she's going to be in house arrest. What is the next step after this?
Podcast Host
We're back with Tara, Claire and Christie. So, Tara, this has happened since we've been on the air. A new letter from attorneys for Annie Farmer. Now, she and her sister are both, they are both accusers, I believe Annie testified against Ghislaine Maxwell, is that right, Tara?
Virginia Giuffre
Yeah, yeah. Annie testified in the 2021 case. She was molested on the ranch when she was 16 years old. They brought her across state lines and she has not been able to get in touch with the prosecutors, the line prosecutor, Maureen Comey, I mean, that was her contact and she has been frustrated. I've been talking to her every other day and her sister Marie Maria, at least every day. And that's, that's a really big frustration for them is they want to have a dialogue, they want to be able to stop this from happening. But they feel like it's a train that's already left, you know, the station and they can't stop it. So this is what they're trying to do right now. It's, it's a really horrifying thing and it's sort of like what happened with the non prosecution agreement. It was signed without the knowledge of the victims. And that's why they fought for their crime victims rights in 2008. They fought bitterly for that because they signed the sweetheart deal that people who are coconspirators named and unnamed would never be prosecuted. That included Glenn Maxwell, by the way. And once the victims found out that they were not notified about that, they fought so hard to have that non prosecution agreement overturned. And it was like it was it was a really, really tough fight. And so to see this happening again, I just don't think people understand how hard they have been fighting against the just and that should be fighting for them.
Podcast Host
So let me read from their new letter. This is, I guess, the third letter in 24 hours. Two anonymous victims filed letters yesterday. This is from lawyers for Annie Farmer to Judge Berman and Judge Engelmeier. And they write this. Dear Judges Berman and Engelmeier, we write on behalf of Annie Farmer in response to, to the belated notice that we received from the Department of Justice advising that the court is seeking letters on behalf of victims setting out their positions in the proposed disclosures of Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell's grand jury transcripts. By the government's admission, over 1,000 victims suffered from Epstein's and Maxwell's actions. To date, however, the combined forces of our country's law enforcement agencies have only ever arrested these two individuals in connection with crimes committed against countless young women and girls. And the government's recent suggestion that no further criminal investigation are forthcoming is a cowardly abdication of its duties to protect and serve. It's obviously impossible for two people to conduct a decades long sex trafficking enterprise involving thousands of victims without other individuals who participated in and facilitated these unspeakable atrocities. They also reference something that Kash Patel and Dan Bongino talk about at length in their appearances before they joined this Trump administration. Tara, this is back from the letter. Quote, while it was not the victim's decision to seek disclosure of the grand jury transcripts alone, as opposed to the much larger volume of information available in the, quote, more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence in the government's possession that should be disclosed as well. The instant motion for unsealing will help expose the magnitude and abhorrence of Epstein's and Maxwell's crimes. The idea that the only people sort of holding the line against this, what is now an inconvenient fact for Trump and Patel and Bongino and Bondi is Joe Rogan and the victims themselves is insane. I mean, this has been, this is, this is sort of the foundational fact of the conspiracies around the Epstein story. That these 300 gigabytes of data have been hidden and that if Trump is reelected, they'll be released. I mean, Trump is now single handedly able to release them if he wanted to today and make all this go away. Why isn't that a single call from Trump's base?
Virginia Giuffre
That is the crux of this all. I mean, even before Pam Bondi said case closed, I went back to a senior law enforcement source and I asked about the gigabytes, the files, the footage, the video.
Tara Palmeri
When you looked at the New York.
Virginia Giuffre
Times story where they showed inside of the townhouse, you saw there are little cameras everywhere. They had surveillance everywhere. And the victims knew about it as well. That was a huge part of the operation. And they said, we passed it on to Pam Bondi. Right? We passed it on to her.
Tara Palmeri
Well, she has it.
Virginia Giuffre
They're sitting on this evidence. And I remember Virginia Giuffre told me that she went to the FBI headquarters with Stan Pottinger to look at pictures of her through pictures of johns and girls and just try to see if she could identify her body. And she couldn't identify her body. None of the bodies were hers. But they're sitting on this. They have this. They have evidence. And I know that that kind of evidence, it's difficult to release. But there's a case there. There is more to this story. It's not case closed.
Podcast Host
Tara Palmieri, Claire McCaskill and Christy Greenberg, thank you for answering my endless questions about all of this. We are grateful.
Tara Palmeri
That was another episode of the Tara Palmieri Show. If you like this show, please rate, review it, share it with your friends. Leave me a comment. I want to hear about what you want to learn about. You could also write me a review if you're listening to this on itunes or on Spotify. I want to thank my producer, Eric Abenante, and I want to thank my team. That's Adam Stewart on the thumbnails, Sarah Carney on the social media, Luke Radle and Abby Baker on socials, on our weekly quiz and on research. I'll be back again soon. But of course you can support my reporting by becoming a paid subscriber to the Red Letter. You can find that by going to tarapalmieri.com and that's the way you can get my exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. I'll be back again soon.
Podcast Summary: The Tara Palmeri Show – "Elon Musk's Broken Promise to Epstein Survivor Virginia Giuffre"
Podcast Information
Tara Palmeri opens the episode by drawing a parallel between a perfect burger and Pepsi Zero Sugar, symbolizing a seemingly ideal combination. She swiftly transitions into the core topic, emphasizing the pervasive brokenness in America's justice system, government, society, and the lives affected by these fractures. Tara introduces her investigative work alongside esteemed journalists, notably Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, highlighting the depth of her exploration into the Epstein case.
Key Quote:
"For me, the Epstein story has always exposed just how much this country is truly broken from the broken justice system, a broken government, a broken society, and so many broken lives along the way."
— Tara Palmeri [00:12]
Tara recounts Virginia Giuffre’s unwavering hope amidst her traumatic experiences. Virginia’s determination to find someone trustworthy to piece together her fragmented life led her to Adam Perry Lang (APL), Epstein’s former chef turned celebrity. Despite Virginia's efforts, including a heartfelt handwritten note to Adam at his restaurant, he remains uncooperative.
Notable Moments:
Notable Quote:
"Virginia wrote to Adam... Be a hero to me, Epstein's victims, and the millions of children who are trafficked every day."
— Virginia Giuffre [03:29]
Adam Perry Lang, portrayed as a amiable celebrity chef with ties to high-profile personalities like Jimmy Kimmel and Oprah, has remained silent despite Virginia’s outreach. Tara highlights the stark contrast between Virginia’s expectations and Adam’s lack of response, raising questions about his true involvement and potential complicity.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"He never spoke to us. He never even answered our calls."
— Tara Palmeri [05:46]
Virginia Giuffre had hoped that influential figures like Elon Musk would support her quest for justice. However, Tara reveals that Musk failed to uphold his promise to release classified documents related to Epstein’s operations. Instead, Musk allegedly weaponized the case against former President Trump, exacerbating the plight of the victims.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"Elon Musk... he weaponized them, using the case against Trump."
— Tara Palmeri [07:00]
The discussion shifts to Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal battles, highlighting recent developments where she was moved to a lower security prison—a move deemed unprecedented by Bureau of Prisons experts. Virginia and other victims express profound frustration and fear that justice is slipping away once more, reminiscent of the 2008 non-prosecution agreement that allowed Epstein and his co-conspirators to evade significant punishment.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"This is a place where Elizabeth Holmes is, she's about to get out in 2032... this is not the place where you put a sex trafficker."
— Virginia Giuffre [14:51]
The latter part of the episode features a panel including former Democratic senator and MSNBC political analyst Claire McCaskill, former criminal division deputy chief at STMY and MSNBC legal analyst Christy Greenberg, alongside Tara Palmeri. They dissect the recent letters from victims’ attorneys addressing the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein case, criticizing the lack of transparency and ongoing marginalization of victims.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"The government's recent suggestion that no further criminal investigations are forthcoming is a cowardly abdication of its duties to protect and serve."
— Annie Farmer’s lawyers [21:29]
Virginia Giuffre shares her continuous efforts to engage with law enforcement and her frustrations with the Justice Department’s handling of evidence. She underscores the existence of substantial undisclosed evidence (over 300 gigabytes) that could potentially expose the full extent of Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes. The lack of access to this data and the government's inaction perpetuate the victims' nightmares of justice being perpetually out of reach.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
"There is more to this story. It's not case closed."
— Virginia Giuffre [24:14]
Tara Palmeri wraps up the episode by reiterating her commitment to keeping the Epstein story alive and advocating for the victims. She calls on listeners to support her investigative efforts through subscriptions and engagement with her reporting platforms. The episode concludes with a heartfelt acknowledgment of her team and the ongoing fight for justice.
Key Quote:
"I hope you'll continue to share this with your friends and you can go and check out my reporting."
— Tara Palmeri [25:06]
This episode of The Tara Palmeri Show offers a comprehensive and emotionally charged exploration of Virginia Giuffre’s ongoing battle for justice against the remnants of Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network. Tara Palmeri, alongside expert panelists, underscores the systemic failures that continue to impede victims’ quests for accountability and closure. Through in-depth interviews, significant revelations, and passionate advocacy, the episode serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring struggle against entrenched power structures and the imperative to uphold justice for all victims.