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Tara Palmeri
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Progressive Insurance Announcer
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Tara Palmeri
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Tara Palmeri
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Tara Palmeri
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Tara Palmeri
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Tara Palmeri
Welcome back to the Tara Palmari Show. We have got a lot of Epstein reporting to dig into. So many advancements in the story, so much breaking news. But first we have to talk about J.D. vance's conversation with the View today and the many, many untruths he stated on the show about President Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. I need to clear the air. And so I'm going to break it down line by line because literally every line was a lie. And then we're going to talk about the New York Times latest reporting on the mental state of Jeffrey Epstein in the weeks before he killed himself. Now, according to new reporting that they have put out there, they have new interviews with various inmates and people who were exposed to Jeffrey Epstein in the months, and they have some new details that we hadn't heard before about attempts he had tried to take on his life. The article will take you 45 minutes to read, and I highly recommend you do it. But I'm going to give you top lines and my analysis of all of it. But first, let's go point by point into J.D. vance. I mean, first of all, he starts this interview basically basking in the glow of being seen as the transparent one in the Epstein scandal. Now, he obviously knows that this is a huge issue for the Republican base, particularly the people that he's trying to hang on to for 2028 when he runs for president. And he likes the narrative that he was the one who pushed for the files to be released. Right. This is according to new reporting in the New York Times. And I wouldn't be surprised if he was deeply involved in the shaping of that New York Times reporting, considering the the words out of his mouth were reported word for word and his colleagues, too. So let's hear what he has to say. But yes, he starts off pretty, you know, pretty cheery that he's being recognized for being the more transparent person among a group of people who are nothing.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
But according to a new report from the New York Times, you were the leading voice behind the scenes to release the Epstein files. And we applaud you for that. And you warned top officials, including top DOJ officials, at strategy meetings taking place inside the Situation Room. We understand that there are tapes of those meetings, that this was a huge problem for the base. The report says you even floated having Tucker Carlson interview Ghislaine Maxwell to clear the President's name, but you were rebuffed by your people. Why?
J.D. Vance
Well, I'd say, first of all, don't believe everything that you read in any newspaper, whether it's a right leaning paper or a left leaning paper. Because as you guys know, well, there are things that are true, things that are false, and things that are totally missing context. Well, here's what I'll say. So, number one, I am frankly kind of a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff. And that story says that that's one of the things that's true, is that some people called me a conspiracy theory on the Epstein stuff.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
Called you a conspiracy theory.
J.D. Vance
And I love Susie, but absolutely, she thinks I'm a conspiracy theorist on the Epstein stuff. Because I think that it's crazy that. That you had this guy who is clearly a sex predator who was hanging out with a lot of very wealthy and powerful people. Like, that really bothered me. I don't know what's there. Of course, nobody knows exactly what happened unless you were there. But that really bothered me. And I wanted to have full transparency. What I disagree with is the idea that the White House wasn't committed to full transparency. We have to remember, like, I was inside the room when some of these decisions were made. The Epstein files transparency act, the one that the President signed, the one that led to all these files that we're seeing, the emails, by the way. Again, Serge, why do I have to defend my boss? I know you guys don't always appreciate this, but, you know, one of the things you see in the Epstein emails is that Jeffrey Epstein hated Donald Trump and that Donald Trump literally reported Jeffrey Epstein to the police.
Tara Palmeri
Okay, let's stop right there. I want to clarify something. President Trump did not report Jeffrey Epstein to the police. According to the Epstein files, he did call the police when they were well into the investigation in July 2006. And he told Palm beach police chief writer, quote, thank goodness you're stopping him. Everyone has known he's been doing this. Okay, so you've known about this for a long time. And thank God the police are finally doing something about it. Now. This was after he was aware that there was an investigation. But according to this FBI memo, Ryder said Trump told him in a July 2006 call that he had thrown Epstein out of his Mar A Lago club and people in New York knew he was disgusting. Ryder also claims that Trump told him Glenn Maxwell was Epstein's operative and she is evil. And to focus on her. I mean, this is a person that President Trump has actually spoken pretty highly of in the Oval Office. It's very strange to me. Meanwhile, you know, when he was asked about whether he had any suspicions about his old friend Jeffrey Epstein, who he was friends with four decades. This was back in 2019, right after Epstein's arrest. He said, and I quote the words from Donald Trump's mouth, no, I had no idea. I had no idea. I haven't spoke to him in many, many years. There you go. Okay. I also want to give you a little context as to why President Trump might enjoy at the time, Donald Trump calling the Palm beach police and saying, you're hot on the trail. Keep going. Right. This is after they got into a huge fight over that waterfront property in 2004. Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were bidding over a home in Palm beach that was ironically called the House of Friends. And Epstein drove up the price for Donald Trump, and he did not like that because he got engaged in the bidding war. Trump won, and then flipped it to a Russian oligarch just a few years later, literally selling it for 96 million after buying it for, I believe, 34 million, something in that range. So that was the end of their relationship. Had nothing to do with the girls. It was the real estate battle. And, yeah, President Trump was happy to bury him. Okay, now, JD in that, whatever you want to call it, he also brings up the Epstein Files Transparency act and that Trump ultimately signed it, and he gives President Trump credit for that. But let's not forget that President Trump was getting a ton of pressure from his party, from the Republican base. And the bill passed nearly unanimously, at least unanimously in the Senate and almost unanimously in the House, which is proof that it was veto proof. So whether he liked it or not, he would have to sign that bill and pass it because it was veto proof. And let's not forget that Speaker Mike Johnson, he kept Congress out of sessions for weeks last summer to delay it while Trump hemmed and hawed and put pressure, pressure on his members to not push for the Epstein files to come out. This was. He shouldn't get any credit for signing this bill. I mean, he had no choice. He was backed into a corner.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
He signed that Transparency act under Duress. When some Republican women congresswomen, like Lauren Boebert, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, did not give in to his pressure of not signing. He brought Lauren Boebert into the Situation Room to pressure her into caving on not voting for that bill.
J.D. Vance
So let me respond to that.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
So it's all true.
J.D. Vance
Let me. Let me respond to that. So, number one is, yes, Donald Trump, he said this. He knew Jeffrey Epstein back in the 1980s. He also threw Jeffrey Epstein out of his club when he found out it was a creep and reported him to the police. That's something that the media often misses when it reports this story.
Tara Palmeri
Hmm. Also not true. JD Vance. So according to my recent interview with Congresswoman Madeline Dean, who. Who went into a private reading room in the Department of Justice with government minders to read redacted parts of the Epstein files, she read an email from Epstein's attorney to Epstein that was completely blocked out, by the way, because it was regarding Trump. I mean, the subject of the email was Trump. Okay. And in this email, once she was able to read what it was in the deep belly of the Justice Department. It was an email between. It was an email from Epstein's attorney explaining to him that he had spoken to Trump's attorney. That's right. Epstein's attorney and Trump's attorney, they were talking to each other. Why were they talking to each other? This was after a victim's attorney, Brad Edwards, wanted to subpoena Trump to get him to speak about Epstein. Instead, Trump said, just interview me. I'll talk about him. Well, Trump's lawyer reported back to Trump to Epstein's lawyer about what he actually told him. And. And that is in this email. Madeleine Dean read that email, okay? And she took copious notes. And one key part of this, among a number of lies that President Trump has made, is that Epstein was never a member of Mar? A Lago, so how could he throw him out? Take a listen to exactly what the congresswoman found here.
Progressive Insurance Announcer
This is the document. And here are my notes. This. I was able to remove that redaction. Jeffrey Epstein never expelled from Mar? A Lago. It reveals lies of the President. Jeffrey Epstein never expelled from Mar? A Lago. No, he was not a member. May have been a guest. He was never asked to leave. I've been on a lot of planes. May have been on his plane. No young girls on plane. What do you know about allegations against J. E? Only what I read in the paper. Trump specifically asked Garden to advise us of the interview. It reveals that Trump lied when he said he was a member and threw him out. And the other lie, which is that he was never on his plane.
Tara Palmeri
All right, back to the View. The hosts ask JD where are the 2.55 million files that are still missing from the Epstein files? And JD Vance just brushes it off saying, oh, they're duplicates or they're under judicial seal.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
It sounds like you believed that there would be men in the files who would be held accountable. Rightfully so. And the American people are with you on this. Why haven't we seen the release of over 2.5 million additional Epstein file documents? It seems like you are someone that is on the right side of history on this.
J.D. Vance
So we have released, I think it's 6 million files or 6 million pages of documents. My understanding is the 2.5 million. Sunny, I'm going to check on this to make sure. But my understanding is that a lot of those are duplicates of things that have already been released. We're not holding. We're not having. We're not holding anything back. Some of those things are like, the courts have to order you to release them. So that was one thing that we confronted. You talk about the situation for meetings is, you know, there was. There was a big bunch of files that existed, I think, in the Southern District of New York, or maybe it was. It was some other jurisdiction. But we were like, we want to release these files, but you need the court approval in order to release the files. Sometimes we would apply to release the files and the courts would say no. So those particular documents, I would need to actually, like, know exactly what you're talking about.
Show Co-Host or Commentator
Three and a half million documents were released, and my understanding is 2.5 million have not been those.
Tara Palmeri
Okay, now that we've cleared all of that up, let's talk about this latest report in the New York Times. It is a doozy. It really is. And like I said, it took a long time for me to get through. And even though it is from four of their top reporters, I'm still unsure of what happened in that jail cell when Jeffrey Epstein dies. Died. Their new reporting makes a strong argument that it was suicide because they interviewed an inmate who heard shredding from inside of Epstein's cell that night, ostensibly the sheets that he was shedding to turn into a noose. And then they also offer new reporting based on an interview with another cellmate that Epstein tried to kill himself at least three other times, three unsuccessful attempts, and that there was a discovery of a noose at some point. You know, it's hard, though, to take this all in because as part of their reporting, they also say that Epstein, when he was with his lawyers, would laugh about the idea that he would actually commit suicide and that his, the jail psychologist really couldn't tell how he was. And you know, he spent so much time with his lawyers because he was wealthy and he was able to pay them for billable hours just to sit there in a cell with him and keep him company, that it's hard to say what his mental condition really was. And then obviously there is a lot of discrepancy among the forensic medical community about the breaks in his neck's neck and whether they were in fact caused by a noose or a person strangling him. And we've heard from people all over the place, but the Times feels like it was definitely a suicide based on their reporting, while they admit that the scene of the crime was so poorly mismanaged and that it should have been treated like a homicide seat. I mean, they didn't even take DNA samplings. And then obviously, as we know, the video footage was missing. There were, the report was filed incorrectly. The jail attendants, they fell asleep. There's so many issues that raise so many possibilities, not to mention that so many of Jeffrey Epstein's associates have mysteriously died by suicide. So take a listen to this interview. But before I do get into the interview with Jim Acosta, I want to just bring up one interesting nugget that I read in this Times reporting. Trump Epstein was pissed that his high net worth friends like Les Wexner left him in jail to rot and he tried to come up with dirt on them, specifically President Trump, who he said was a con artist. But he, he couldn't. And it's, you know, it's interesting to get inside of his mind. And it seems like they really were able to. They clearly did a lot of reporting on this. I definitely think it's worth your time. So go check it out. And now I'm going to discuss it even more with Jim Acosta. We're going to talk about J.D. vance, we're going to talk about the New York Times reporting and of course, this latest reporting on Jeffrey Epstein in his jail cell in those final days. As always, you can support the show by smashing that subscribe button and going to tarapalmieri.com and signing up for my newsletter, the Red Letter. It's how you can get my exclusive reporting straight to your inbox. Keeping everyone honest. I'm doing it independently, but I can only do it with your help. And I'd Love to hear from you about what you think about how Jeffrey Epstein died. According to this story in the New York Times. Has it persuaded you one way or another? This is a Monday.com ad. The same Monday.com helping people worldwide, getting work done fast, faster and better. The same Monday.com designed for every team and every industry. The same Monday.com with built in AI scaling your work from day one. 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Jim Acosta
Great to see you as always. The red letter, A must read on substack, a must watch on YouTube and all of the other places. But Tara, great to see you as always. And I was just explaining while we were going through that technical stuff that I was off a little bit last week and. But one of the stories on your
Tara Palmeri
wedding, that's what I was trying to say when I was, I was just
Jim Acosta
away on this little thing that Was happening. Yes.
Tara Palmeri
Yeah.
Jim Acosta
But, no, thank you. I appreciate that. And no, but I saw this, this story in the New York Times, Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, and I know you've been, you know, one of the leading reporters on Epstein, no question about it. They had sort of the White House angle on this, and that there was this crazy meeting in the Situation Room that occurred that's going to be, I guess, profiled in their book that's coming out soon. And I was just wondering what you thought about this, because this has multiple layers. And of course, I want to get into your Epstein reporting as well. But what did you make of that? That they had this freakout session in the situation room? J.D. vance was suggesting that Tucker Carlson do an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell. They were having this discussion as to whether Ghis Maxwell should be pardoned, and Steve Chung and some other officials were warning against that. This was wild. What did you think of it?
Tara Palmeri
I just thought, well, first of all, my instinct was that somebody's recording in this skiff, you know, in this secure, compartmentalized Situation Room, which was kind of crazy, that they had all of these conversations in the Situation Room about allegations against President Trump that they knew were in the Epstein files and that they were basically trying to obstruct the American people from getting access. They were not interested in transparency. The only person who seemed slightly interested in transparency was J.D. vance, who thought, let's just overwhelm everyone with the files. And because he was thinking about his own political future. And then you had Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director, also of the same mindset because he was thinking about his future as a podcaster making millions of dollars. Everybody had an angle here, and that was also fascinating to me is that everybody had competing angles. Very few people were actually thinking about Trump who wanted nothing to do with this. He wasn't even sitting there in their crisis meeting meetings.
Jim Acosta
Right.
Tara Palmeri
And it just like it was, it showed me that all of the reporting that we had about what was going on was true. Those meetings that we saw, those just, even the, the fact that they were meeting all the time, that that was. There were the kind of anxiety that we knew that they had was factual. And, and yeah, I mean, somebody was recording because at least it appears that way because it. They're word for word quotes. And last time I. Word for word, you're all your recording devices. Now. There were people who were not on the call, and I believe it was Pam Bondi, who was not physically in the Situation Room but was on the phone and Cash Patel.
Jim Acosta
Right. You know, so they could have been. But that's the thing. I didn't know Tara and I covered the White House for almost eight years that you could be, I mean, I guess you could be on the speaker phone in the Situation Room. They, I thought they had video conferencing which was secured, but I guess if you're, you know, if you're on a conference call or something along those lines, you could have it on speakerphone and then, you know, have your other iPhone or something standing by and just recording all of this. But why would you do that? What would be the impetus? What would be the rationale for doing that other than trying to cover your own ass? Well, yeah, you know, and then Axios is reporting that there are White House officials who are freaked out thinking that somebody was recording or that somehow Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haven got a recording of what was going on in that Situation Room, which is a huge, huge security lapse that should not happen. But this is the same administration that, you know, puts war plans and signal chats. But I mean, that is, that part of it is ridiculous, too.
Tara Palmeri
It is a sensitized, sensitive compartmented information facility. That is what the Situation Room is. It's the skip skip. They can technically create one anywhere, as you know, this having covered the White House too. They can create one anywhere based on an emergency. But like, the whole point of it is that all of the information stays within there and secured and there are no recording devices at that moment because it's for top secret emergencies. I mean, the Situation Room is where they carried out the raids to kill Osama bin Laden. Here they are talking about President Trump and the way he was accused of painfully hurting a woman's nipples. Like, it was just like. And they were just like, should we just let it out there? And, and, and they don't, they don't really know how to manage it. It seems that most of their instinct is to. Well, if Trump's instinct is to bury it, they realize that the genie's out of the bottle and that this isn't going to happen. And they're also trucker. I mean, JB Vance, of all of them, like, kind of, he fascinates me the most because it's so clear to me that he's thinking about life post
Jim Acosta
Trump and how exactly them he's worried that this is going to blow up in his face and hurt his chances for 2028 because that he was one of the, you know, folks in the Republican Party, was harping on this Cash Patel Donald Trump was asked about it at one point committed to releasing the Epstein files. If you look at the full tape of that one, he sort of does it, you know, not exactly in a full throated way, but couple of things, Terror. One is the, the allegations that you mentioned that they discussed, which are absolutely gross and but it makes me wonder if it's consistent with things that Trump has said himself. He has bragged about grabbing women by their private parts and so is that allegation, it seems to me, would be somewhat consistent with stuff that he's bragged about, being rough with women and so on.
Tara Palmeri
I mean there's a number of women, there are how many women at this point who have accused him of sexual abuse?
Jim Acosta
Exactly. That's right.
Tara Palmeri
So that's of course, and it's not the only account in which Trump is mentioned in the Epstein files. So they knew that this was, this was going to be something that would have real impact on his presidency and that the ghost of Epstein wasn't going away, that they were going to have to live with this one despite their, oh, it's a hoax, it's a Democratic witch hunt that there was real, this was a real crisis going on, as I like to call it, the sun summer of Epstein.
Jim Acosta
Yes, it was. That's right. And Tara, the other thing too is because you're reporting on Todd Blanche made me think about this. The way Todd Blanche is very forward leaning in this meeting, as it's been reported, offering to go talk to Ghislaine Maxwell, I mean, offering to kind of be the point man on this. And then Trump makes him the acting Attorney General, is now nominating him to be the Attorney General. I mean that says a lot too, to me.
Tara Palmeri
Totally. I mean, Todd Blanche has been angling, he saw an opportunity. Pam Bondi dropped the ball, right? Claimed she had the client list on her desk, said case close, gave the binders when they're. Obviously that's not what the American people want here. She gave the binders to the influencers and there was nothing new in there. It was the fake classified binders, which are basically just Virginia's, you know, which, which were Virginia's court docs. In fact, I talked to Virginia that night after that came out and she was disgusted by it. She felt like it was becoming a dog and pony show, her story. And yeah, Todd said, look, Pam's effing it up, as you might say, and I can come in here now and take charge. And let's get. He's the one who introduced the idea of a party.
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
Tara Palmeri
She's not going to clear Trump for nothing. She's going to want something. So the quid pro quo. Absolutely. Going on. And it could be still going on right now. We don't know what they agreed to.
Jim Acosta
That's right, Tara. And to me, you know, if this were any other administration, this account alone would launch investigations. And you know, the fact that they were trying to figure out a way to shut up Ghislaine Maxwell. Well, that says to me that she has something to say about Donald Trump is what that says to me. And the fact that they were actively talking about a pardon. But the other thing that stands out to me is just the insanity of how this got leaked out. In any other administration, this would be a scandal. This would be a massive scandal. Can you imagine during the Obama administration,
Tara Palmeri
he wore khakis and the world went crazy.
J.D. Vance
That's right.
Jim Acosta
He wore a tan suit. If somebody recorded something, if Valerie Jarrett or somebody recorded something in the Situation Room and it got leaked out, people,
Tara Palmeri
gate crashers, I mean, that was pretty embarrassing. But still, that was like a 5, 5 alarm alarm fire. I mean, I'm sure that happens every single day at this White House. Now. There are probably so many gate crashers in Mar a Lago. Like, how do you even really control gate crashers when you're spending time at a prep at a members club that holds events with anyone can come in.
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And so what's your sense, ter, right now of where this investigation stands? Because, you know, James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, he has done a pretty effective job of shutting this down, of keeping things behind closed doors. The Bill Gates testimony was behind closed doors. And you know, it just seems to me that this is something that they have just insisted upon doing, which is shutting this investigation down. And it seems to me it's not going to get opened back up in a full way unless the Democrats take over the House and Senate.
Tara Palmeri
Absolutely. I mean, they've been doing these kind of. You and I were both there in West Palm beach for one of their hearings.
Jim Acosta
Yep.
Tara Palmeri
I know they're called shadow hearings, but almost feels like a mock hearing because it's not, you know, it's not recorded. So hopefully those survivors are able to actually testify and get that in the record and be and have, be safe with immunity and actually speak about what happened to them. But again, there has to be the political will for that. And so far there really isn't much of it. And you know, you see the assistants come in Like Leslie Groff and Sarah Kellen. You see Bill Gates, who's obviously a boogeyman for the left, for the right. And honestly, I mean, his, his testimony was interesting. I mean, Leslie Groff also said she saw nothing after two decades of working for Trump as a woman in her 30s and 40s and literally emails of her booking women. That's disgusting, first of all. But Bill Gates also claimed to not see anything or know anything, but admitted that Epstein tried to blackmail him about his affairs.
Jim Acosta
I saw that. Yes. That's wild.
Tara Palmeri
It's going on here and how I, Everybody's just saying I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything.
Jim Acosta
That is, they get to do it behind closed doors. That's the thing that pisses me off is if this is the biggest sex trafficking, child sex trafficking ring in, I don't know, world history, American history, I mean, since in the modern era you would. And it involves the President, potentially the President of the United States, maybe a former president, other notable figures like Bill Gates. And so I wouldn't, why wouldn't this be in front of the cameras? It's just, it's so cowardly. It feels so much like a cover up.
Tara Palmeri
I mean, the other thing is why hasn't Leon Black tell. Testified, you know, why hasn't just st. Why haven't just Staley. I mean, these are men who women have accused in the files. Their names are in there. There have been civil lawsuits. Why haven't they come forward? Oh, because maybe they're, they're Republican donors. We don't really know. We know that Leon Black was very close to Jay Clayton, who just got named Director of National Intelligence. He was the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, which was supposed to be in charge of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. He seem. He's such a prime target, even the FBI laid him out as a potential target. But Leon Black appointed Jay Clayton to his job when he got kicked out of the firm he founded. So it's like, it's so incestuous. I know. I kind of get, you know, the Epstein class. Feels a little cliche to say it, but like there, there's just, it's hard to describe it in any other way that everybody is looking out for each other, you know, at the highest levels. And the Justice Department too.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no, it's so true. And I mean, the more that you hear candidates talking about, you know, people like John Ossoff and others saying that, you know, that, that this is a, this is a, an election running against the Epstein class. It feels true. And, you know, if we're having to wait until Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's book to find out how much they were freaking out about Jeffrey Epstein behind closed doors when they were. When Donald Trump was calling it a hoax. Remember, he was calling it a hoax while the Vice President is convening a meeting in the Situation Room on how to handle this. Doesn't sound like a hoax. I mean, it just. It seems like more and more stuff is bearing out to be true.
Tara Palmeri
Right. Well, we know that they had FBI agents over the summer working round the clock trying to redact his name. The other thing is JD Van Gogh's on the View today, and he admits to being an epine conspiracy. Like he's. He's just playing to his base over and over and over again. By the way, for everyone who is really interested in the Epstein story, I suggest that you take out maybe like 45 minutes of your day and read the New York Times latest reporting on what happened in the Metropolitan Correctional center where Jeffrey Epstein was found dead, hanging. So it's really quite interesting because they. They say that they interviewed one of his cellmates who said that he attempted suicide. Not one, not twice like that has been said before, but three times.
Jim Acosta
Oh, wow. Interesting.
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, there's a lot of. It's interesting.
Jim Acosta
Like, is this the cellmate who was the murderer or is this a different.
Tara Palmeri
Yeah, Taglioni. But like, you don't. You don't actually. He's the cop who was there for four homicides, including one with a. God, what was it? Something really brutal. But the point is, like, they interviewed some new people that haven't been interviewed before they had met. Admit that this is an entire. This is a mess. There are conflicting accounts. There are, you know, people who are asleep at the time. There's just. It wasn't treated even like a homicide scene. And so they admit that this is an incomplete story. But if you are as interested in this story as I am and so many others, it's fascinating to see what happened that night. I still don't feel like after reading 45 minutes of that report that we still know what happened.
Jim Acosta
I don't think so either. I agree with you. I. I think we don't know what happened. And folks like Julie Brown have said that. That perhaps it was murder and not a suicide. Have you weighed in on that? Tara, what are you. What are your thoughts?
Tara Palmeri
I mean, I mean, I've heard, you know, Julie, like, Julie really does not think that he killed himself.
Jim Acosta
Right.
Tara Palmeri
I don't know. I do think it's suspicious that Matt Robert Maxwell, who was someone that obviously Ghisn Maxwell's father, also died suspiciously off the side of a yacht called the Lady Galen when he was working as an agent for both Russia and Israel. And he was becoming financially compromised because he had stolen from the pensioners of the newspaper he owned. Jean Luc Brunel, who was about to testify against Epstein, died in a French prison by hanging, and he was about to strike a deal with prosecutors to turn on Epstein. So, like, it's just a little weird, you know what they say, the rules of three and just so many things going wrong. And, and the fact that in the, if you read this New York Times article, he's joking with his attorneys, being like, yeah, they think I'm going to kill myself. They're idiots. Not going anywhere. And he spent half of his days with his attorneys because he was able to do it rather than spending time in his cell.
Jim Acosta
Yeah, no. And it just gets more and more convoluted and complicated. And, you know, it just seems to me that there, you know, we don't know the full story. And James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is shutting this investigation down. He is, he is trying to cover up what has happened to help Donald Trump get out of hot water. And I just, you know, to me it's, it's an unbelievable dereliction of duty. But Tara, always great to see you. Thanks so much for coming on.
Tara Palmeri
Okay, thank you, Jim. That was another episode of the Tara Palmeri Show. I want to thank my editor and producer, Dan Schiffmacher. I want to thank my other producer, Abby Baker, Dan Stewart, who does my graphics. Dan Rosen and Nicole Staple, my managers. As always, you guys can support this show by smashing that subscribe button following, liking, commenting, telling all your friends about it. Leave me your thoughts in the comments. Do you think Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide? I'm curious to hear from you. And I think, you know, a lot of people still haven't made up their mind. I will see you again soon, but always love hearing from you. And Please go to tarapalmary.com and consider becoming a paid subscriber. Talk soon.
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Podcast Summary: The Tara Palmeri Show
Episode: The 5 Things JD Vance Got Wrong About Trump & Epstein
Date: June 17, 2026
Host: Tara Palmeri
Guest: Jim Acosta
In this episode, Tara Palmeri, leveraging her extensive background in political journalism and investigative reporting on the Jeffrey Epstein case, meticulously dissects several misleading claims made by Senator J.D. Vance during his appearance on The View regarding Donald Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the recent release of Epstein files. Palmeri systematically addresses inaccuracies, provides context from her own sources and reporting, and explores the broader implications of new revelations from a major New York Times feature on Epstein’s final weeks. She is later joined by CNN's Jim Acosta to dig into the political machinations surrounding the Epstein files and ongoing lack of accountability at the highest levels of power.
[03:07-10:23]
Vance’s Portrayal of Himself: Vance presents himself as the advocate for transparency on Epstein, allegedly the driving force behind the files’ release.
Tara’s Response: Palmeri points out that Vance’s narrative is self-serving — emphasizing his ambitions for 2028 and suggesting he was closely involved in shaping the NYT story.
"He likes the narrative that he was the one who pushed for the files to be released… I wouldn't be surprised if he was deeply involved in the shaping of that New York Times reporting..." (Tara Palmeri, 01:35)
On Trump Allegedly Reporting Epstein: Vance repeats the claim that Trump notified police about Epstein.
"President Trump did not report Jeffrey Epstein to the police... he did call the police when they were well into the investigation in July 2006." (Tara Palmeri, 04:13)
Transparency Act Credit: Vance and Trump attempt to claim credit for the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The Mar-a-Lago Myth: Vance insists Trump expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for misconduct.
"[Dean:] Jeffrey Epstein never expelled from Mar-a-Lago... It reveals lies of the President. Jeffrey Epstein never expelled... No, he was not a member. May have been a guest. He was never asked to leave." (Madeline Dean, 09:35)
Missing Files: On the 2.5 million unreleased documents, Vance claims they are duplicates or under seal; Palmeri critiques this as evasive.
"[Vance:] We're not holding anything back. Some of those things are like, the courts have to order you to release them..." (J.D. Vance, 10:59)
[11:43-16:00]
Palmeri summarizes and analyzes the latest NYT investigation into Epstein’s time in jail and ultimate death, highlighting:
“Their new reporting makes a strong argument that it was suicide... but the scene of the crime was so poorly mismanaged… it should have been treated like a homicide scene.” (Tara Palmeri, 11:43)
[17:16-33:41]
[18:25-21:11]
Discusses explosive NYT reporting and upcoming book excerpt on a “freakout session” in the White House Situation Room regarding Epstein-related files and Trump’s potential exposure:
“My instinct was that somebody’s recording in this skiff… because it… they’re word for word quotes.” (Tara Palmeri, 18:25)
"Why would you do that [record in the Situation Room]? Other than trying to cover your own ass." (Jim Acosta, 20:12)
[21:11-22:16]
[22:16-23:43]
The group weighs whether graphic allegations in the files are consistent with Trump’s own public behavior and boasts, suggesting a pattern.
"He has bragged about grabbing women by their private parts... is that allegation, it seems to me, would be somewhat consistent..." (Jim Acosta, 22:16)
[23:43-24:57]
Todd Blanche’s role: From legal strategist advocating engagement with Maxwell (possibly for a pardon/quashing testimony) to Trump’s acting AG nominee.
Disappointment with the handling of the “client lists” and PR stunts involving the files.
“Pam Bondi dropped the ball... [Blanche] saw an opportunity... let’s get — he’s the one who introduced the idea of a party.” (Tara Palmeri, 24:10)
[25:08-28:01]
They lambaste the lack of real investigation, blaming oversight chair James Comer for shutting down meaningful hearings in favor of closed-door testimonies and protecting donors/party interests.
“James Comer... has done a pretty effective job of shutting this down... it just seems to me that they have just insisted upon doing, which is shutting this investigation down.” (Jim Acosta, 26:17)
"It feels so much like a cover up." (Jim Acosta, 28:31)
[28:01-29:32]
Palmeri expands on the idea of an “Epstein class” — an incestuous network of elites shielding themselves, with leaders across politics, finance, and the DOJ implicated or complicit.
"The Epstein class... everyone’s looking out for each other at the highest levels." (Tara Palmeri, 29:32)
Bill Gates, Leslie Groff evading accountability, and ongoing stonewalling of the investigation.
[30:12-33:41]
Renewed skepticism about Epstein’s supposed suicide, referencing previous suspicious deaths (Jean-Luc Brunel, Robert Maxwell).
Acosta and Palmeri agree the record remains incomplete and transparency is lacking, with many suspecting a cover-up.
“We still don’t know what happened.” (Tara Palmeri, 31:48)
“It just gets more and more convoluted and complicated... we don’t know the full story.” (Jim Acosta, 33:10)
"Jeffrey Epstein never expelled from Mar-a-Lago... It reveals lies of the President."
— Madeline Dean (09:35)
“Everybody had an angle here… Very few people were actually thinking about Trump who wanted nothing to do with this.”
— Tara Palmeri (18:25)
“They admit that this is an incomplete story. But… it wasn’t treated even like a homicide scene.”
— Tara Palmeri (31:02)
“It feels so much like a cover up.”
— Jim Acosta (28:31)
“We still don’t know what happened.”
— Tara Palmeri (31:48)
This episode is an incisive, granular rebuttal to recent attempts at narrative control around Trump and Epstein, particularly by figures like J.D. Vance. Tara Palmeri brings her investigative rigor to the fore, laying out documentary evidence, congressional insights, and context around recent developments, ensuring listeners are clear on what is truth, what is myth, and what remains unanswered amid ongoing efforts by political elites to obscure, delay, or deflect responsibility for the full scope of the Epstein scandal. The conversation with Jim Acosta provides further perspective on how these dynamics play out within Washington, implicating Congress, the DOJ, and the network of individuals Palmeri dubs the "Epstein class." The episode is essential for anyone seeking clarity in the swirling fog of media narratives and institutional stonewalling surrounding one of the biggest scandals of the era.