← The Tara Palmeri Show
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- [00:00]
A
Take the exit, turn right into the drive thru.
- [00:03]
B
Nope, I'm making dinner tonight.
- [00:05]
C
You don't have time. Josh has practice.
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B
Oh, that's right.
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C
I'll just get a salad and fries.
- [00:10]
B
No, just the salad.
- [00:11]
A
But salad cancels.
- [00:12]
C
Fries.
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B
Salad only.
- [00:14]
C
Fries. Salad, fries. Food noise isn't fair, but Mochi Health is the affordable glp. One source that puts you on the road to successful weight loss.
- [00:22]
B
Hey, can I get the fries? Salad? Sorry.
- [00:25]
C
Learn more@joinmochi.com Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists. Results may vary. Welcome to the Tarot Sarah Palmeri show, the Red letter, and Scott McFarland reports. We're so happy to have you on the line with us, Scott. You are new.
- [00:42]
B
This is a nice tree. I'm really glad you asked.
- [00:45]
C
Yeah, you're new in the indie reporter world. How's it going for you? Coming from CBS News, this could not be more different.
- [00:54]
B
If somebody was trying to find the polar opposite of something, I would point to this moment of my life where you're no longer working for a legacy network, news organizations, you're working for your freaking self. And that's. That's just different. After 25 years of working for someone, it's lib.
- [01:11]
C
Yeah.
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B
Liberating. It's just stressful.
- [01:15]
C
Yeah, it's always stressful. In the beginning, I mean, I sort of like, eased into this. I wasn't like, thrown in in the same way because I had already done podcasting and newsletters and through Puck and, and before that, Politico, and I had done, you know, a few years at ABC News, but I just find network news just to be like, really stifling in general, the bureaucracy, the layers. Like, if Scott McFarland reports wants to go live with the report, all he has to do is hit a button and that's it, and you're there.
- [01:47]
B
And I can speak directly to people without going through all the filters, through all the steps. And for the not for better or for worse, when you're doing network news, you're competing with your colleagues, which is a weird dynamic, but you're competing with dozens of other people with really important news. And there's only a 20 minute broadcast of news at night. So sometimes you got big news and you don't get to tell anybody about it. That's. That's just anachronistic to what you and I are about, which is. Yeah, news. Get it out there as immediately and as declaratively as you can.
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C
Right. Exactly. Yeah. This is, it's great. I love it. For me, it's like a perfect, it's a perfect medium. It's always felt like more authentic to me and my voice because I was never really good at the. Hi, I'm Tara Palmeri reporting from the White House. Turns out I can't really talk like a man that well, but that's, I digress for another day. I do want to talk to you, though, because you have, you know, such a history in covering the Justice Department, which is so important right now. And we have like the sh. One of the shadiest justice departments of all time, which is really saying something because the Justice Department has always been historically really shady and never, you know, transparent ever. But, you know, Pam Bondi sacked, as we know, last week and now she will not appear for her deposition on April 14 next week. Isn't that kind of convenient? What do you make of it all, Scott?
- [03:20]
B
In prior administrations, the Department of Justice at least tried to give the appearance of independence that they were not politically tethered to the administration that appointed them. They at least tried to give that image. Whether it was true or not, it's probably debatable, but they communicated an independence and a non political view of how you provide law and order in America. This is a little different. The acting US Attorney General this week said I love you to the President on national television. That's not going to help restore or project an image of independence that's going to communicate, I don't know, something else. And all of that is just fueling this problem they have with an appearance that they're covering up the Epstein files on behalf of President Trump. Whether they are being as transparent as they can be is debatable. But if you're going to say I love you, President Trump, and do all the other demonstrative things to show you are politically tethered to the president, you lose that, that image of independence that has been prized for generations. And you also tie yourself to the Epstein files crisis. Now Todd Blanche owns it like Pam Bondi has owned it, like President Trump owns it. And you talk to the survivors, you know their thoughts on this. They think this has been mishandled from the jump.
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C
Oh, Prince. Since 1996. And it has been. And yeah, I, I'm, I totally agree with you. And this is apprentice, you know, Attorney General, which is really apprentice personal attorney to the president. You know, that's, that's essentially what this has become. This is a beauty pageant for to be the president's lawyer, not to be a lawyer for every single one of us, which is essentially what the Department of Justice supposed to be. It's supposed to be, you know, as civil servants representing that the people, victims of crimes. Right. Protecting us. And yeah, it has just become so far aield from what it was supposed to be. Remember little Jeff Sessions and how he was completely excarcerated before the, the Mueller investigation for letting a special counsel get involved? Like, obviously, in the Epstein case, there should have been a special counsel involved there. There, there needed to be separation, even more so than the Attorney General, between the President and the general. And in this case, we've got Todd Blanche feeding Glenn Maxwell softballs to try to clear the President's name.
- [05:42]
B
So let's play this out. What are the consequences of that? What are the consequences of what you just described? Well, there's going to be a political consequence to this. Maybe, maybe people can campaign against the Republicans using that as a tool, but that's, that's not the real consequence. The real consequence is what happens when the Department of Justice deploys FBI agents and deploys U.S. attorneys, prosecutors, to go try to arrest and convict child pornographers, gun runners, terrorists. They have lost, or at least they risk losing credibility with jurors, with judges, if they're viewed as a political arm. That's the same agency that's got to go into courtrooms and put bad guys behind bars. And we've already seen some indication grand jurors and trial jurors are sus about this Department of Justice. They are rejecting cases at a clip we've never seen before because they're viewing the cases as flimsy or potentially political. That's going to impact real cases where the administration's got real bad guys, apolitical problems. They've already sewn that distrust, Aaron.
- [06:50]
C
Yeah. So jurors are going to be like, really? You're telling me not to be political right now? This is my only chance at actually having an impact in democracy. They probably feel like, and I'm gonna use this position in a jury to try to change government the way that I want to. You're right. It's really, it's, it's really corrupting from the bottom up, from the top down. You know, it's every, every phase. And so many great people that were working, civil servants who've worked in justice for so long have resigned because they're just. They don't want to work for Cash Patel. They don't want to work for Pam Bondi. I just wonder, like, when will we get the full Epstein files? Will it be a whistleblower inside the doj, or are they just too terrified to come out with that?
- [07:36]
B
I'm bearish on the idea of a whistleblower presenting the papers and showing the world because there's so much risk to that, to people who shouldn't be endangered. We've already seen Tara, and you've done a great job reporting. The survivors have been exposed. Survivors who didn't want their names out there have had their names put out there because of mistaken releases of files by the administration. A whistleblower throwing more paper out there is going to out and identify a survivor who does not want to be publicly identified. What's more, a lot of those survivors are getting menaced in threats when their names are publicly available by that subset of Americans who are truly, truly animals who will just menace and threaten anybody who upends Trump's political agenda. But I also think seasons do change here. When Democrats get control of the US House eventually, if not in 2027, they've made pretty clear they're going to call on all these people to come back before their committees are going to hit them with questions. They maybe have more leverage to unearth more of these files even during a Trump administration.
- [08:37]
C
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- [08:44]
B
Yeah.
- [08:44]
C
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- [09:00]
B
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- [09:01]
C
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- [09:06]
B
Let us surprise you.
- [09:07]
A
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- [09:45]
C
Yeah, here's the thing I don't understand about James Comer. I mean, he is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee Right. And he doesn't really think it matters that if Pam Bondi comes back and, and testifies, he's just like, you know, do we really need her? It's. He didn't vote to subpoena her. He's. He doesn't think it's necessary. He's talking to Republicans about next depths. But there is, you know, obviously Tom Massie, who is a kinetic, is a Republican from Kentucky. He wants, you know, he wants to honor the subpoena. That's what he said. But is this going to be another fight like we've seen before, to try to, to get, to get her to come before the committee?
- [10:34]
B
I would characterize the Republican Oversight Committee response as equivocating. It's hard to really pin down their thoughts on Pam Bonnie. Doesn't mean that they're, they're cool with her not showing it all. I mean, they do want to respect the authority of their committee and they have made the Epstein files a priority in a bipartisan way on the Oversight Committee. So I'm not sure where they land on that yet. But the coalition politically on the Epstein files has been this unique unicorn of a coalition where you do have Republicans joining Democrats pressing back against the administration. What about that remarkable near unanimous vote to require the Transparency act to require the release? That's the one real strong pushback the President's gotten from his own party. I don't rule out Republicans getting on board some type of train going down the tracks to try to press Pam Bonnie to get back in the room.
- [11:27]
C
Yeah, I think we need it. So I think we need to bring in Epstein's lawyers back into the room, too. After the waffling on whether they, you know, had to, had to do a settlement with a victim in connection to President Trump, we never really got down to the bottom of that. Right.
- [11:44]
B
I agree. And somebody's going to have to answer the question eventually. Why the hell did Ghislaine Maxwell get transferred? Has they not given a public answer to that? The Bureau of Prisons has not given a declarative public answer on that. And members of both parties still are dissatisfied with what they've gotten.
- [12:02]
C
Yeah. So I, okay, we're gonna go into the war because I feel like everybody is obviously, you know, that's, that's the big thing right now. But I gotta. I saw something yesterday on my ex account and I actually thought it was a parody and it was RFK Jr. With his own podcast. Like, what is. First of all, like, does anyone want to listen to that voice? That voice is Horrific. Second of all, I mean, the kind of destruction that he has done to our health system in such a short period of time is kind of incredible. I mean, the cases right now of measles is skyrocketing as he's changed the vaccine schedule. So doubt in just the, you know, our entire vaccination program. I mean, what did you think when you saw this guy is going to get an even bigger platform?
- [13:00]
B
Well, first of all, let's take a look at the image you have there on the screen. That's quite something. First of all, doing a podcast is easy. Doing a second, third and fourth podcast is hard. Continuing and getting the regimen and the volume, it's a real work. It's real work. And one would think he'd be busy as it is.
- [13:21]
C
Right.
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B
He's been a uniquely polarizing figure for a health secretary. That's not lost on anybody, likely by design, but he has the ability to impact such brick and mortar retail things about people's lives. If they're not campaigning against that from the Democratic campaign arms in Congress, it may be a missed opportunity because this is stuff that you really can easily talk to voters about and they'll get, they'll understand what it means if their kids are less healthy, if they're, if, if their medicines or foods are more questionable, and if we're still, we're still going back and forth on, on the damn COVID vaccine. And it looks like the, the administration's still trying to press an argument with that. This is all tinder for a fire during the midterm elections. And if they don't take this opportunity, that may be viewed by some in the party, according to my reporting, as a missed opportunity.
- [14:15]
C
Yeah, I mean, I'm, I've taken the COVID vaccine a few times. I stopped taking it. I have my own reasons. I just don't. I, I feel like I'm a young, healthy person. I'll be okay. But measles spreads really quickly and there are pockets even like they're all over the country. In Texas particularly, it's really bad. But Fox News. Yeah, exactly. The Carolinas Kennedy was published in Fox News, and he referenced a study that shows that vitamin A can, quote, dramatically reduce measles mortality. However, it's, it's, it's only good for measles patients who have a specific measles, specific deficiency of vitamin A. So, I mean, what, what do you think? It's out of context, though. It's like if you were sick with, I guess you had the flu and you had a vitamin A deficiency. I'm sure vitamin A would certainly help you fight the flu in the same way that vitamin A would help you fight anything.
- [15:17]
B
I'm not sure how far and wide that philosophy has gotten with moms and dads around the country, but I can tell you this. If you're an administration or anybody running for elective office, you want to talk about progress, things that you're doing to move the ball down the field. This feels like the ultimate case, Tara, of regressing. Going back to a 19th century or 20th century problem in the 21st century seems to be madness. To worry about measles, and it's just the opposite of making progress. So I'm not sure how you message this and try to declare this to be a success. If we are struggling with things from the mid-1900s again, when you don't have to be, it just runs counter to every political argument you'd want to be making.
- [16:03]
C
Yeah. No. And the number of children, kindergarteners vaccinated against measles has gone down by 3%. But that's significant since 2020.
- [16:17]
B
You know where this is a dominant issue, and it's important because it's an election year. West Virginia is. Its state legislature right now is bottled up fiercely on the issue of vaccination requirements. This stuff trickles down into local communities and into state governments, even in West Virginia, which, Tara, is, to put it mildly, overwhelmingly majority Republican. The legislature may have literally just two or three Democrats in it, but they're not it up on what to do about these vaccination requirements. This stuff rolls downhill.
- [16:51]
C
Yeah. The only thing that may be saving America's health is the fact that this voice will be speaking to them on a podcast. Let's just play a minute for a second or sec. Just 15 seconds. Because I think that's all I can handle. Guys, roll that podcast.
- [17:07]
B
All that. We should trust the system, but our children are sicker. Chronic diseases exploding, and the answers that we've been given are working. Many of us have come to the conclusion.
- [17:18]
C
I only play that because I have had people, obviously we have tech difficulties on the show sometimes, and they're like terrier audience. Audio is terrible sometimes. And that happens. Okay. But that actually sounds like audio that's terrible, but it's actually just a voice. And I don't think you can fix that.
- [17:33]
B
A couple of things here. First of all, you said, let's give it 15 seconds. You lasted six seconds that are like, that's it. I'm about done with this.
- [17:40]
C
Yeah.
- [17:41]
B
When I. When I. When I came up through radio, and I'm still a radio guy, I can
- [17:45]
C
tell from the sweet sound of your voice and the way you handle a conversation, really, you're really good at it. I could tell.
- [17:51]
B
It's nice of you to say would. Radio is my. Is my soul and my passion. They. But they tell you just speak like you speak in radio. There's no wrong way to speak unless you're not being authentic. So RFK is being authentic, but I don't think that's listenable. And I'm not sure how that that cuts through to anybody because it's just. It's a tough challenge for them, and I don't think you can overcome that in the podcast universe.
- [18:15]
C
Well, that may save America, that voice, but he has a huge following, as we know. Maha is a huge movement, although they're unhappy because they don't think he's gone far enough. And I actually did hope that he would try to clean up, you know, preservatives and food and some of the excesses in our. In our industries that they have control over, you know, fertilizer.
- [18:39]
B
So many victories to be had politically and for the public good. When he sits, when he stands there, as he did recently with one of those big fat coffees drinks that we. We got, that the oversized sugary coffee drinks and says, there's just a pound of sugar in this thing. It's not good for anybody. That cuts through that. There are Democrats who say, you know what? He's right about that. That's a freaking problem. You missed opportunities. If you start tying yourself to this, to this more conspiratorial, less mindful type of theory.
- [19:12]
C
Yeah. I mean, I lived in Europe for a few years, and I always go back to this, but I was healthier there. And they just restrict more products like they restrict. I think they only allow like a hundred ingredients in skincare products. We allow 400. They don't. They ban most the stuff that we allow in our products. The food is cleaner. I mean, they don't chlorinate their chicken like we do. They didn't want to do a transatlantic partnership. They didn't want to do a trade deal during the Obama years because they thought that all of our food products were shit. And they thought. Felt like. And they might be right. You know, everything is so mass produced in America, and they don't even really like the word. Organic isn't even a real thing. It's like biologic. I mean, I lived in Brussels, so they spoke French, but everything is biologic. Like they don't, they just don't grow things the way that we do in a way that's so mass produced. They're also smaller countries, obviously, but yeah, they're not. They won't sacrifice quality in the way that we do and they don't eat packaged foods the way that we do. I mean, they actually sit down and drink their coffee. They don't take it. And, and Pote, as they say, they're
- [20:18]
B
not moving a thousand miles an hour with everything.
- [20:21]
C
Exactly.
- [20:21]
B
Kind of an American notion where you grab that 20 ounce coffee and you start running around with your life. The Maha people are upset. They feel unsatisfied with what the administration's done. That reminds me, Tara, of all these people who thought Trump was literally going to have arrested his political enemies immediately. There are some constituents of Trump MAGA allies who thought that he was going to go arrest the people who, I'm sorry, staged January 6th or quote, the 2020 election. They promised that they over promised for something that they can't do because, oh, by the way, the 2020 election was not fixed. January 6th was not staged. They set an expectation they could never meet, which is why they're seemingly aimlessly trying to prosecute some of his critics and they're failing. But they've over promised Maha's upset and maga's upset.
- [21:13]
C
Yeah. All right, well, I know I only have you for like four more minutes, so let's get into the holy war, right? Why not? You know, it is interesting the way that Hegseth makes it sound like it is truly a holy war and people who are evangelical like him believe it as well. I've seen it up close. My own family, but you know, now jd, Vance, Witkoff and Kushner, they're going to participate in talks in Islamabad on Saturday morning. But like, can the world take the President seriously and can we take Iran seriously? They just offered us the ten point plan, which Trump called fake. But that plan puts them in an even stronger position than they were before the war. Hey guys, it's me again, raving about quints. I'm wearing another one of their silk long sleeve shirts. I seem to wear them on the show every day because they look so good and the quality is great and they're washable, which I love. But it's spring, so it's time to reset my closet, maybe get some short sleeves or sleeveless. And I'm sure you'll see more silk shirts on the show. But when I'm not on the show, I wear their organic cotton tees or I'm wearing these, their European linen shirts, because they are really elevated. The fabric is amazing, and the prices start at just $50. And you're probably wondering how they're able to do this in an ethical way. Well, it's because they cut out the middleman. So if you're like me and it's time to reset your wardrobe, go to quint.comtara for free shipping and 365 days of returns. Now available in Canada too. So go to Q-U-I-N c e.com tara for free shipping and 365 days of returns.
- [23:04]
B
Quince.com tara the invocation of, of religion in championing the war, you're just begging for trouble. You're begging for criticism. When, when those two things get synthesized and you've seen the pope express his thoughts on war and you've heard the feedback to Trump threatening to blow up civilization, doing that in the name of God, you're begging for strong, fierce responses. Let's put that aside for a moment. It was noteworthy to me when the defense secretary spoke at a news conference this week, his first thing to do was to thank Trump, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, first thing to do was thank you, the service members. That's a contrast. It's not lost on people who are even just casually watching this and the instability of Trump's truth. Social posts the politicized nature of the Defense secretary at this moment does not inspire courage. And war requires courage. War will unify the country when it's done righteously. This war has not united the country. I mean, think about this, Tara. When's the last time you saw a war at its outset, split down party lines in terms of its response? That's bonkers. And I don't think we're paying enough attention to that.
- [24:23]
C
Yeah, Americans love a good war, don't they? Well, maybe because it happened in the dead of night and wasn't sold to anyone. Also, we have extreme war fatigue in this country after a war that lasted for two decades in Iraq and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that we lost. We lost those wars like there's no other way to put it. And we lost a lot of American men and nobody wants to go back there. It's. If it smells a lot like the last war, it looks a lot like the last war. This idea of weapons of mass destruction without any proof again. Right. I mean, does it not feel exactly the same? Death to America. It's a, it's more, it feels almost like a Cultural war more than anything else.
- [25:10]
B
But it's very much, very much splitting down party lines. Midday today, the Democrats try to unanimous consent to get the war authorization approved in Congress, and Republicans pushed it down. So you've got a party division on a war that's never healthy, no matter which side you're on.
- [25:27]
C
I just don't think that these representatives are actually representing their people anymore. I mean, look at this, you know, race in MAGA country. Maga. Maga. MAGA country where they literally have phone lines still. And that's how you have to do polling. And that is Marjorie Taylor Green's former district in Georgia. Okay. You know, Clay Fuller, the, the Republican one, we expected him to win. Right. But Sean Harris, he came pretty damn close after a wipeout against Marjorie Taylor Greene just two years ago. This was a 25 point swing for Democrats. We haven't seen this in a really long time. This is Georgia 14. It says 20, 25 point shift toward Democrats in a special election. And like, I just, I don't think that these polls are even really, truly reflecting yet how the American people feel about this war and their feelings about Trump. And also, they haven't polled yet since that sweet Easter message that we got. Praise Allah, we're going to destroy a civilization.
- [26:29]
B
And that does cut through. The Georgia stuff to me is exponentially more important than the other specials I've seen so far. Because, Terry, as you know, the road to the Senate majority goes through Georgia. The future of Trump's future Supreme Court nominees goes through Georgia. The future of Trump's war and ice, all of that goes through Georgia. So that's a, that's a decent sign if you're somebody who wants to see a check on Trump.
- [26:58]
C
Interesting. Yeah, I didn't think about it that way, that, that it goes through, through Georgia. I mean, are there any other races, any other specials that you're looking at? It is interesting that Republicans, this is the only special they've won, by the way, so far.
- [27:12]
B
The, you know, John Ossoff needs to hold that seat. For Democrats to have a majority, Republicans need to grab it to protect their majority. It's critical. But I gotta tell you, I, I'm getting a lot more, a lot more feedback on Ohio. Sherrod Brown is a known quantity. He's had success there even in the red period of Ohio, and he's running against an incumbent with very little visibility here in Washington and limited visibility back home. Alaska's and their aspirations. I'd watch that one, too.
- [27:43]
C
Interesting. Yeah. Okay, well, let's See what happens. I have heard, like, I know there's a lot of hope behind James Tallery go among Democrats, but more and more, I think the feeling is that a Republican will hold, even if it is Ken Paxton. But I'm sure Democrats are enjoying watching Republicans sink a ton of money into a race they shouldn't have to be spending money on. And, yeah, we'll see how that one all pans out. Do we end up getting this really deranged character, Ken Paxton in the Senate and. I don't know. I guess I. I think I'm not really seeing Democrats, like, seizing the moment, but we'll see. If they turn it around, they're gonna
- [28:30]
B
have some money to play with. And by the way, I'm really, really grateful you asked me to join. You've really blazed a trail for a lot of us in independent media. You don't get enough credit for that. So I want to just say it was, it was an honor to, to join you for the first time because a lot of us are modeling what we're doing. After you.
- [28:46]
C
Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that. And I'm really happy that you're on the other side with me. Keeps me. Keeps the seat warm now. It's good. No, it's great. And honestly, I feel like, I think we are. There are going to be many of us, and the more journalists that make the jump, the better. And if we can prove that this is a model that is safe for journalists who are at, you know, networks and various news outlets that, that they can still, you know, do their work, have a career, but do it more authentically, then I'm all for it, and I am. So thank you for that and I'm glad to have you join. And of course, guys, you can support both of us and what we do by just hitting that subscribe button and consider becoming paid subscribers to support us and our independent journalism. Thanks so much, Scott. I know you gotta run. I wish I could have kept you for another half hour, but I know you're in demand right now.
- [29:40]
B
Let's do it again. Thank you.
- [29:42]
C
Bye. Close your eyes. Listen to Monday. Com. Feel the sensation of an AI work platform, so flexible and intuitive, it feels like it was built just for you. Now open your eyes. Go to Monday. Com, start for free, and finally breathe.