NEW Epstein Files Reveal More Trump Connections

Summary

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The Tara Palmeri Show

Episode: NEW Epstein Files Reveal More Trump Connections

Date: January 31, 2026
Host: Tara Palmeri
Guest Co-Host: Jim Acosta

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the newly released "final dump" of Jeffrey Epstein documents, exploring their implications for political power players—especially those close to former President Donald Trump. Host Tara Palmeri and guest Jim Acosta scrutinize the strategic timing of the file releases, the visibility of Trump’s name in the documents, persistent cover-ups, and how victims' identities have been mishandled. The conversation also addresses the Justice Department’s responsibility, changing narratives, and broader political maneuvers surrounding the Epstein scandal.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The “Final” Epstein Documentary Release

• The Department of Justice announced a "final dump" of Epstein files—releasing 3 million out of the 6 million documents they've collected ([00:32], [04:29], [07:41]).
• Tara highlights survivor disappointment, noting, “This is it... which has been incredibly disappointing for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein” ([00:32]).
• Concern is raised about what content remains in the unreleased half. Tara: “Why are the other 3 million not being released? What's in them?” ([07:21]).

2. Trump Connections & Selective Disclosure

• New Epstein files contain numerous references to people in Trump’s orbit, including former Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, attempts to visit Epstein’s island, Elon Musk’s communication, and more ([00:32], [04:29]).
• Tara points out the irony in public figures’ statements about Epstein: “Elon Musk...said to Trump, 'you're gonna get blown up in the Epstein files,' [yet] he himself had this close association.” ([04:29]).
• Jim expresses skepticism about the absence of mention, “If we’re not seeing Donald Trump’s name in 3 million Epstein files...come on.” ([08:39]).

3. Strategic Narrative and Media Leaks

• Tara and Jim discuss how administration practices manipulate timing and visibility:
  • Leaking stories about Bill Gates and others to distract or redirect public interest ([05:05]).
  • Tara: “Administrations are strategic with their leaks...this is all a narrative for them.” ([06:20]).
  • Past dump patterns addressed, e.g. Clinton-focused releases ([06:01]).

4. Victim Privacy and Government Negligence

• Tara laments the sloppy handling of survivor identities in recent document dumps—some license IDs even exposed ([06:53]):
  • “They have revealed the identities of victims...they don’t want to be known as Epstein survivors...for the Department of Justice to be so sloppy...is really disturbing.” ([06:53]).
• Very few survivors (2-3 dozen out of ~1000) have come forward publicly ([06:53]).

5. Trump’s Place in the Files: Direct Allegations and Context

• Tara confirms that Trump does appear in the documents:
  • “No, there are thousands of mentions of him in this.” ([09:02]).
  • Details surfaced of Epstein asking then-White House counsel Kathy Rumler for help managing allegations that Trump assaulted a 13-year-old ([09:12]).
• The degree of proximity between Trump and Epstein, going back to the 1990s, is underlined:
  • “Going back to 1993…some of the allegations go all the way back to 1993 and President Trump…he was very much a pal of his, you could say, for about 10 years.” ([13:14]).
  • On the inescapability for Trump: Jim: “[Trump] can’t outrun this. He’s just gonna have to face the music eventually.” ([10:49]).

6. Department of Justice & Todd Blanche’s Role

• Todd Blanche, former Trump defense attorney now Deputy Attorney General, is accused of downplaying potential third-party perpetrators ([00:32], [11:05] onwards):
  • Tara: “The Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has not changed his position that there were no third party perpetrators, even though all the evidence points otherwise.” ([00:32])
  • Tara’s reaction to Blanche’s denial at a press conference:
    • “I just want to quote it, Jim, please: ‘I don’t know if there are men that abuse women.’ You are the Deputy Attorney General. Okay.” ([11:27]).
  • Jim notes the performance aspect: “It sounds to me he’s performing for the audience of one when he says that.” ([12:14]).

7. Cultural and Political Cover-Ups

• Discussion of the structure enabling Epstein’s activities across administrations, driven by financial power and influence:
  • “He was able to buy people at every single level.” ([09:34]).
• Relationship with Kathy Rumler spotlighted as emblematic of high-level protection ([09:14]).

8. On-the-Record Survivor Experience

• Tara references her collaborator Virginia Giuffre’s recollections of Epstein’s Palm Beach house, making it clear the abuse was hardly concealed ([13:56]):
  • “When you walked into that house, there was no doubt that something was off...there were young girls naked by the pool...pictures of girls...Polaroids and all types of pictures of young girls all over the house.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Elon Musk...said to Trump, 'you're gonna get blown up in the Epstein files,' [yet] he himself had this close association.”
— Tara Palmeri ([04:29])

“Administrations are strategic with their leaks...this is all a narrative for them. This isn't about actually getting down to the truth.”
— Tara Palmeri ([06:20])

“They have revealed the identities of victims...they don’t want to be known as Epstein survivors...for the Department of Justice to be so sloppy...is really disturbing.”
— Tara Palmeri ([06:53])

“If we’re not seeing Donald Trump’s name in 3 million Epstein files...come on.”
— Jim Acosta ([08:39])

“He was able to buy people at every single level.”
— Tara Palmeri ([09:34])

“Going back to 1993…some of the allegations go all the way back to 1993 and President Trump.”
— Tara Palmeri ([13:14])

“[Trump] can’t outrun this. He’s just gonna have to face the music eventually.”
— Jim Acosta ([10:49])

“When you walked into that house, there was no doubt that something was off...there were young girls naked by the pool...pictures of girls...Polaroids and all types of pictures of young girls all over the house.”
— Tara Palmeri ([13:56])

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Important Timestamps

• [00:32] — Tara introduces the significance of the new files, their incompleteness, and immediate reactions.
• [04:29] — Discussion of Elon Musk, Howard Lutnick, and names in Trump’s circle appearing in the files.
• [06:01] — Analysis of strategic leaks around the Epstein files and coinciding news about Bill Gates.
• [06:53] — Details about careless revelation of victim identities in the public file dump.
• [07:41] — Confirmation only half the files (3 million out of 6 million) are released.
• [08:39] — “Suspicion” about Trump’s absence from the documents and naming of high-profile, implicated individuals.
• [09:12] — Epstein seeking legal help about a Trump accusation; broader systemic failure referenced.
• [10:49] — Jim: Trump’s inescapable predicament with the Epstein story.
• [11:27] — Tara and Jim critique Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s statements.
• [13:14] — Length and depth of Trump’s historical association with Epstein.
• [13:56] — Virginia Giuffre’s first-hand experience at Epstein’s estate, reinforcing that the signs of exploitation were blatant.

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Tone and Language

• Direct, colloquial, and strongly opinionated.
• Emphasizes skepticism, frustration, and a call for accountability.
• Stays true to Tara Palmeri's and Jim Acosta’s energetic, investigative journalistic style.

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For listeners new to the episode:
This summary covers core revelations, exposes government mishandling, provides names and context on key figures, and highlights both the far-reaching implications and remaining mysteries surrounding the Epstein scandal—especially as it relates to Donald Trump. The stakes, strategic leaks, and enduring obfuscation are all center stage, with the hosts’ critical voices guiding listeners through the murky underbelly of power and accountability.

Transcript

[Tara Palmeri]

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[Jim Acosta]

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[Tara Palmeri]

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[Tara Palmeri]

Welcome back to the Tara Palmari Show. So we have the final dump of Epstein documents, the final one, according to Todd Blanche, the deputy Attorney general, who also admits that it's not all of the documents that they have accrued. In fact, that he says that they've accumulated 6 million, but we're only going to see 3 million. And this is. This is it. Which has been incredibly disappointing for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. Already. The names of men that are mentioned in Epstein's inner circle, they're part of President Trump's inner circle. See the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, trying to arrange to go to the island. Elon Musk talking about his. The party island that he wants to go to, which I find to be ironic because he obviously said that Trump would get burned in the Epstein files. And then some really disturbing tips and allegations against President Trump which were removed from the Department of Justice website and then put back on the website today. Yeah, a lot of shady stuff going on. Also some very strategic leaks, in my opinion, by the administration and some very uncanny timing about why it's coming out today. There are a few things that really bother me, and one of them is that the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has not changed his position that there were no third party perpetrators, even though all the evidence points otherwise. And I'm going to get into that in this video with Jim Acosta. One of my former White House correspondent colleagues now has his own show on Substack, like me and on YouTube. And we go into all this and more. I am going to continue reporting on this. It's 3 million documents. It's going to take a while, but I know you guys are sleuths. A lot of you are out there looking through the files. In fact, someone sent me a message that was pretty funny. Not, I guess, funny, but apt for the. The Michael Cohen drama that we've been covering. And it's from this guy named Nick, Nicholas Ribus. And he sent a message to Jeffrey Epstein July 25, 2018. An email says Michael Cohen will bring him down. Wonder what that means. So yeah, that all comes full circle, right? And yeah, there is, there is so much to see and look into here. And to think that it's only half of it. We don't even know what the other half that the Department of Justice has decided we don't need to see. Well, take a listen to the show. I go into all of these points and more into greater detail. I'm going to be on Ari Melbur's show on msnbc tonight at 6:30 and I will be back on over the weekend. This is a developing story and I appreciate all of you guys for sticking with me, of course, to support my reporting and my independent journalism. Please subscribe. Like follow share this with your friends. Go to tar palmary.com Become a paid subscriber to get my exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. It's how you can support my independent journalism. The Red letter. It's cool. Sign up for it. Take a listen to our conversation. I'd love to get hear your thoughts. I always appreciate to reading your comments. Take a listen here.

[Jim Acosta]

I want to quickly go to Tara Palmeri. I think Tara is standing by and I'm going to bring in Denver Riggleman in just a moment too. But Tara is with us. And Tara, I mean we've been talking about all the Don Lemon stuff and it really has to some extent and maybe this is by design overshadowed, which is some pretty big Epstein news today. And this, this release of all of these files, one of the files or one of the documents that came out today, I guess shows Elon Musk was asking about flying to Epstein's island or something like that. I, I mean, you see this, what Day, night will be the wildest party on our island. I don't know what Elon Musk is talking about there. But Terry, your thoughts on, on the news that came out today about the Epstein files? Because I mean they, they were supposed to comply with the law, what, weeks ago?

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, more than a month ago. December 19th was the deadline. And you know, Elon Musk was potentially on the manifest. It's not really surprising. Well, not for me at least in the others who have been paying really close attention to the files, that he actually was actually was quite close to Epstein himself, which makes it kind of ironic that he said to Trump, oh, you're gonna, you're gonna get blown up in the Epstein files. Right, right. When he himself had this close association. You know, I've got to say the timing is, is uncanny as they say. Right.

[Jim Acosta]

Interesting.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, exactly. And Then also, and you know this, having been a journalist for a long time, that sometimes administrations are strategic with their leaks. Not. They don't necessarily give. To give the public the full Epstein files. They sometimes stagger them and give reporters something in advance that they want to highlight from a packet of damaging information, something that does that either makes them look good or make someone else look bad. Right. When. Especially when they know they've got to take out the trash on a Friday, which is what normally happens across administrations. But in this case, it seemed to me very clear that the administration leaked that Bill Gates news about the std. And. And, you know, trying to give me Linda a antibiotic. It just seems like they. They know it's viral. It's.

[Jim Acosta]

Wait, I missed that one. I didn't see that. That come out today.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, and it came out, like, literally as the Epstein files were dropping. How did the Daily Mail figure out how to pull that one out? You know, give me a break. Yeah, it's kind of the same way where it was just a little too obvious last time when they dropped the Epstein files, when all of it was about Clinton right from the top.

[Jim Acosta]

We were talking about that.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, exactly. It was just a little. Because this is all a narrative for them. This isn't about actually getting down to the truth. This is about, you know, pinning President Trump's enemies to make them look bad, protecting him and obfuscating the truth, and just trying to get people to pay attention, to not pay attention to the truth of the matter, which is they are being haphazard with these files. They have revealed the identities of victims, which is something that these victims have already been sexually abused, are now going through another round of abuse. Maybe they don't want to be publicly. You know, they don't want to be known publicly for what happened to them. They don't want to be known as Epstein survivors. There's only two or three dozen of them that actually have come forward out of a thousand. It's because there's a reason why people that are abused want to be Jane Does. They don't want it to define the rest of their lives. You know, they don't want to go to the coffee shop and be known as the Epstein victim. And so for the Department of Justice to be so sloppy with their identity, their IDs, one of them, an actual license, is. Is really disturbing. Then there's the fact that these are only half of the files right now. He said there's only. This is 3 million, but we collected 6 million. But we decided that we're going to put these 3 million out. Well, why are the other 3 million not being released? What's in them?

[Jim Acosta]

So I was gonna say, so do we not have all of them still? Is that still not the case or.

[Tara Palmeri]

Well, Todd says, Todd, excuse me. Attorney General Blanche says this is the final dump, but he acknowledges that they have today at 6 million files and they are giving us 3 million. So, yeah, I think it's safe to assume that this is all we're going to see.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. Well, key part of that final dump, and, and I use the word dump in, in multiple ways here.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah.

[Jim Acosta]

Is whether or not Donald Trump has been scrubbed and his name has been scrubbed in these final files. If 3 million files have been released and we don't see Donald Trump's name in here, I'm going to be damn suspicious. But we're showing some of the, the names that have popped out just today, Tara. Kevin Warsh is, I believe he is. If this is the same Kevin Warsh who's been nominated to be the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, it's also.

[Tara Palmeri]

Insular at the top. That's the other crazy thing.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah. Brett Ratner, I don't know if it's the same Brett Ratner that I believe is the director of the Melania documentary. I don't.

[Tara Palmeri]

I mean, who else would it be?

[Jim Acosta]

It's just like, feel free to, you know, if I'm wrong, please choose from thousands of realistic voices to use in your content. But if we're not seeing Donald Trump's name in 3 million Epstein files that are getting released, come on.

[Tara Palmeri]

Well, his name has come up, actually.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, no, that's true. But one would think in this, and one would think in this tranche there would be at least one mention.

[Tara Palmeri]

No, there are thousands of mentions of him in this. In fact, Epstein is asking President Obama's White House counsel, I think her name is. Her name is Kathy Rimler, I believe.

[Jim Acosta]

Kathy Rumler. Yes, that's right. Yeah.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah. He's asking, Epstein is asking her for advice on how to deal with a 13 year old who's accusing Donald Trump of sexual assault.

[Jim Acosta]

Okay.

[Tara Palmeri]

Abuse. And also this relationship that Epstein had with Kathy Rumler is really, really disturbing to me.

[Jim Acosta]

Right. She became his personal attorney and all in, in some way. That's correct. Yeah.

[Tara Palmeri]

She's a former White House counsel. And like, I think that's just indicative levels, like the reason why for so many years we haven't gotten down to the bottom of this why for decades and administrations, because he was able to buy people at every single level.

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Tara Palmeri]

You know, and, and that, that really, that disturbed me. I mean, there's also some tips in there that the FBI fielded about President Trump that are really disturbing and graphic, and I'm not going to go into them. And they are tips. But what. But has the FBI actually followed up on them and done investigations into them?

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, we still don't know. We still don't know the full story of the relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. We just don't. We don't have all of the information. And to me, it is the big looming question hanging over everything. And when they put this dump out, as you put it, on the same day that they arrest Don Lemon, that makes my Spidey sense go off, I have to say. It makes. And, and, you know, I, I just think that at the end of the day, he can't outrun this. He can't. He can't. He's just gonna have to face the music eventually in all of this, whatever that music might be. And the way that they try to throw Bill Gates out there and, and it looks like Elon Musk maybe today and so on, is a way to try to throw MAGA off the scent.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah.

[Jim Acosta]

And that makes it even more damning for Trump, it seems to me. That's just my read on it.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, No, I agree. I'm with you on this. I think it's all. It's a narrative. And Todd Blanche was pretty explicit that President Trump is in no way connected to Jeffrey Epstein. The other thing that was. Was really shocking to me was that he said, he said during the press conference this morning that. I just want to quote it. Jim, please. I don't know if there are men that abuse women. You are the deputy Attorney General. Okay.

[Jim Acosta]

Gosh.

[Tara Palmeri]

There are numerous survivors who have filed civil litigation against men for abusing them, often because the statute of limitation had passed and they couldn't file criminal, you know, complaints. We know Maxwell and her habeas petition said that 25 men had signed settlements with a one plaintiff, one. One victim, and that that all thousand women were abused by just Jeffrey Epstein alone.

[Jim Acosta]

Exactly.

[Tara Palmeri]

What have you been doing? What is the Justice Department been doing?

[Jim Acosta]

That's right. And, and Tara, doesn't it sound, though, when Todd Blanche is saying that. And let's remember he's Donald Trump's former personal defense attorney who has now has a senior level position in the Justice Department. It sounds to me he's performing for the audience of one when he says that, because it's Very. It echoes what Trump has said, apparently to Marjorie Taylor Greene, which is, well, a lot of people's names might get dragged through the mud or whatever. Trump said to Marjorie Taylor Greenhouse. She relayed to 60 Minutes about her conversations with Trump about the Epstein files. And when Top Blanche says something like that, it makes me say, I wonder if he, who he's talking to when he says that doesn't sound like he's talking to the American people, you know.

[Tara Palmeri]

And sometimes the thing about Trump, too, when he told Marjorie Taylor Greene, it's going to hurt my friends. Right?

[Jim Acosta]

It's going to hurt my friends. That's what he said.

[Tara Palmeri]

And you and I know this from having covered him for a while. Sometimes he uses the word friend when he's talking about himself, too.

[Jim Acosta]

And he has no friends. I mean, I'm sorry, he doesn't really. Does he really have friends? I don't, you know, maybe a few guys around Mar a Lago. I don't know. Jeffrey Epstein certainly was his friend for many, many years.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah. I mean, going back to 1993, if you look at some of the Epstein files, some of the allegations go all the way back to 1993 and President Trump. So, like the height of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation, he was very much a pal of his, you could say, for about 10 years. And I don't know how you could be friends with a guy who ran one of the biggest sex trafficking operations in the world and not know about it.

[Jim Acosta]

I completely agree. And the birthday letter, this wonderful secret that he talked about, and it's on and on. And it just seems to me that, I mean, that's it right there. Does anybody doubt that this is authentic? I mean, come on, this is. Give me a break.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, no, I know. And it's also, here's the thing, like Virginia Robert Giuffre, who I obviously work with very closely on the Broken Jeffrey Epstein podcast, she told me, when you walked into that house, there was no doubt that something was off. There were young girls naked by the pool. Plus he had pictures of girls, Polaroids and all types of pictures of young girls all over the house. Even if you just wanted to look inside that Palm beach house. So even if Trump never went to the island or he never went to his townhouse in, in Upper east side, just going into the Palm beach house, which he has admitted that he's been to, you, you would know just walking in there that there's something up. A 50 something year old man with all of these young girls, these girls from high school. I mean, it's disturbing. That was another episode of the Tara Palmary Show. I'll keep continuing the story as it is developing. Please follow subscribe, share it with your friends. Tell everyone about this show. It's how we keep going. Please go to taropalmary.com and become a subscriber to the Red Letter. If you become a paid subscriber, you get exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. How you can support my journalism, I want to thank my producer, Eric Rabinate, Abby Baker doing my socials and research, Adam Stewart doing thumbnails, Dan Rosen, my manager. Everybody is working overtime today. It's a Friday afternoon. They always know to dump it then, right, just to ruin our weekends. And that's why, because they're hoping that we won't be as persistent and on it as we are. So thank you for listening to the show, and I'll be back again soon.