Trump’s Ex-Fixer Cohen Said He Knew “Nothing” About Epstein — Then This New Doc Dropped

Summary

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The Tara Palmeri Show

Episode: Trump’s Ex-Fixer Cohen Said He Knew “Nothing” About Epstein — Then This New Doc Dropped
Date: January 15, 2026
Host: Tara Palmeri
Guests: Michael Cohen (audio clips), Lev Parnas, Ellie Leonard

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Tara Palmeri Show dives into newly surfaced documents in the Jeffrey Epstein files, which suggest that Michael Cohen—Donald Trump’s longtime “fixer”—may know far more about the Trump-Epstein connection than he has admitted publicly. Tara revisits her contentious interview with Cohen, scrutinizes the contradictions between his public denials and his private offers to the Department of Justice, and highlights the investigations by independent journalists that continue to propel the Epstein narrative forward.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Newly Unearthed Document Exposes Contradictions

• Tara Palmeri reveals the existence of a document in the Epstein files that indicates Michael Cohen offered the DOJ information about conversations he overheard Trump having about Epstein, potentially as part of a bid for leniency in his own criminal proceedings ([00:34]–[04:26]).
• This directly contradicts Cohen's repeated denials that he had any knowledge of Epstein-related matters involving Trump.

Quote:

“He even offered to tell the Department of Justice about it, saying he’s, quote, heard Trump say things about Epstein.”
— Tara Palmeri [00:34]

2. Cohen’s On-Air Denials

• In prior interviews, Cohen emphatically denied knowledge of Trump’s connections to Epstein.
• When pressed, he admitted to dealing with an “infant Jane Doe” case but characterized the allegations as “awful” and “despicable,” maintaining that nothing substantial came of it ([01:24]–[02:56]).

Quote:

“I have no knowledge of anything with Jeffrey Epstein. Zero.”
— Michael Cohen [01:24]

Memorable Moment: Tara’s persistence causes Cohen to finally admit a single interaction with a Jane Doe legal case, but he dismisses it as meritless ([01:33]–[02:56]).

3. The Rule 35 Angle

• Tara explains Rule 35—a legal mechanism whereby a defendant can receive a reduced sentence by providing “substantial assistance” to prosecutors ([03:56]–[04:22]).
• The newly surfaced file reveals Cohen’s willingness to “be a witness” in hopes of sentence reduction, suggesting he had important information.

Quote:

“He wanted to be a witness or a star witness to the prosecutors. He wanted to be useful in another case to lessen whatever he was dealing with in his own case.”
— Tara Palmeri [04:24]

4. Lev Parnas’ Analysis

• Lev Parnas, who knows Cohen, underscores the significance of the document: Cohen, through his attorneys, communicated to the DOJ a willingness to share “criminal knowledge”—directly at odds with his media statements ([04:46]–[05:26]).

Quote:

“This is an official document that his lawyers have given to the DOJ saying that he actually has knowledge. He has criminal knowledge. That’s what this says. He has criminal knowledge about Trump saying things about Epstein.”
— Lev Parnas [04:54]

5. The Role of Independent Journalism and “Internet Sleuths”

• Independent journalist Ellie Leonard describes how she and online collaborators combed through the vast Epstein files, discovering the pivotal email about Cohen ([05:26]–[06:53]).
• Ellie emphasizes the grassroots, collective effort behind investigative work—even without formal credentials.

Quote:

“I’m just digging. Like, I’m just reading. I’m literally just scrolling and reading and looking for these Easter eggs... People have started bringing me things that they find. And one of those things was the email from Mike about Michael Cohen.”
— Ellie Leonard [05:56]

6. Cohen Responds to the Newly Surfaced Evidence

• Reached for comment, Cohen insists that the “valuable” information referenced in the letter to DOJ is merely related to the already-dismissed Jane Doe case ([07:12]–[07:43]).
• Tara notes the illogic of this claim—if Cohen himself considered the Jane Doe case baseless, how could it have merited a sentence reduction for offering “substantial assistance”? ([07:47]–[08:32]).

Quote:

“He told me it was bullshit. Take care of it.”
— Michael Cohen [07:52]

Quote:

“How could that information be so valuable to the feds in 2019 that he could request Rule 35... It doesn’t make sense to me.”
— Tara Palmeri [07:54]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Highlight | |-----------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:34 | Tara Palmeri | "He even offered to tell the Department of Justice about it, saying he’s, quote, heard Trump say things about Epstein." | | 01:24 | Michael Cohen | "I have no knowledge of anything with Jeffrey Epstein. Zero." | | 01:42 | Michael Cohen | "As far as the only case that I was involved with was a Jane Doe, an infant, by and through her mom, Mary Jane Doe...that case was dismissed..." | | 03:17 | Michael Cohen | "I don't believe that Donald Trump was on Epstein's island. Why? He said it more than five, six times and he says it very openly." | | 04:54 | Lev Parnas | "This is an official document that his lawyers have given to the doj saying that he actually has knowledge. He has criminal knowledge...about Trump saying things about Epstein." | | 05:56 | Ellie Leonard | "I'm just digging. Like, I'm just reading. I'm literally just scrolling and reading and looking for these Easter eggs..." | | 07:52 | Michael Cohen | "He told me it was bullshit. Take care of it." | | 07:54 | Tara Palmeri | "How could that information be so valuable to the feds in 2019 that he could request Rule 35... It doesn’t make sense to me." |

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Key Segments with Timestamps

• Document Discovery and Its Contents: [00:34] – [04:34]
• Cohen’s Denials and Interview Highlights: [01:24] – [03:17]
• Rule 35 and Its Legal Implication: [03:56] – [04:34]
• Lev Parnas Analysis: [04:46] – [05:26]
• Independent Journalism’s Role (Ellie Leonard): [05:26] – [06:53]
• Confronting Cohen with New Evidence: [07:12] – [08:32]

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Final Takeaways

• Tara Palmeri highlights the necessity—and difficulty—of holding insiders like Michael Cohen to account, especially when mainstream media avoids hard follow-ups.
• Newly surfaced documents directly challenge Cohen’s narrative and point to a much deeper knowledge of the Trump-Epstein relationship.
• The episode spotlights the vital contributions of independent journalism and crowd-sourced investigation to major investigative stories.
• The lingering question: What does Michael Cohen truly know, and why has he worked so hard to cover it up?

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If you found this breakdown valuable, consider supporting Tara Palmeri’s independent investigations through her newsletter, and stay tuned for future episodes that dig even deeper behind the facade of power.

Transcript

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[Tara Palmeri]

Welcome back to the Tara Palmeri Show. So there's a document in the Epstein files that's just been unearthed that shows that President Trump's longtime fixer, Michael Cohen knows more than he has been publicly willing to admit about Jeffrey Epstein. In fact, he even offered to tell the Department of Justice about it, saying he's, quote, heard Trump say things about Epstein. But when I asked him back in August about it, about Epstein, about Katie Johnson, the lawsuit that was filed in 2016, when he was President Trump's fixer, when he was dealing with the Karen McDougal case and the Stormy Daniels case, and he was the one who was dealing with the women who were coming forward with accounts of sexual harassment, he denied it.

[Michael Cohen]

I have no knowledge of anything with Jeffrey Epstein. Zero.

[Tara Palmeri]

So somebody else handled the Jeffrey Epstein.

[Michael Cohen]

I didn't handle it. I didn't. I didn't handle it.

[Tara Palmeri]

Then after some pressing, he finally cracked, admitting that there was one case that he dealt with involving an infant Jane Doe.

[Michael Cohen]

As far as the only case that I was involved with was a Jane Doe, an infant, by and through her mom, Mary Jane Doe. Right. As legal guardian. That case was dismissed not because of anything that I. Well, I spoke to the lawyers and I've talked to. I've talked about this a million times. I turn around and I receive this summons and a complaint. And the averments in it are awful. They're despicable. It talks about basically rate of an underage female claiming and alleging that Donald was involved in it and all that other nonsense. I ended up taking a private investigator and trying to find out who this person was. And we went to the address that allegedly this miner lived at in the Bronx. Well, lo and behold, the investigator responds back and says the only thing that's there is an empty parking lot.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

Ever since we did that interview, Michael.

[Tara Palmeri]

Cohen has trashed me for asking the.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

Hard questions that no one else was willing to ask. But here's the thing. The reason that I asked him to Come on my show. And the reason that I wanted to hear from him is that he kept going on TV and he kept saying that he just knows that President Trump had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.

[Michael Cohen]

I don't believe that Donald Trump was on Epstein's island. Why? He said it more than five, six times and he says it very openly.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

Can tell from his voice. He just knows from knowing him, but didn't give any real evidence. And none of the journalists that I saw interviewing him on TV actually asked any follow up questions. And I felt like I had to do it.

[Tara Palmeri]

I just find it hard to believe that at no point during the time that you worked for him, you never spoke to him about Jeffrey Epstein.

[Michael Cohen]

No.

[Tara Palmeri]

When. When this guy, Brad Edwards, who is just a lawyer, I don't know who was like, it's infamous that they hate each other. Like, that's why.

[Michael Cohen]

And I'm sure they do hate each other. I'm just telling you, I have no idea.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

But there's a reason why my gut was right. This latest file shows that he believed that his information was so valuable that they should Discuss, quote, Rule 35, okay? For those who don't know what Rule 35 is, and frankly, I didn't know what it was either until I did some research. And it allows the government to file a motion to reduce a sentence if a defendant provides substantial assistance in investigating.

[Tara Palmeri]

Or prosecuting another person.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

So basically, he wanted to be a.

[Tara Palmeri]

Witness or a star witness to the prosecutors.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

He wanted to be useful in another case to lessen whatever he was dealing with in his own case. If that's what was discussed, it had.

[Tara Palmeri]

To have been really substantial assistance. Right. And I don't think he's come forward with anything truly substantial. But what he knows about Jeffrey Epstein. Right.

[Michael Cohen]

I have no knowledge of anything with Jeffrey Epstein.

[Tara Palmeri]

So Lev Parnas, who has known Michael Cohen for a very long time, he explained the significance of this request.

[Lev Parnas]

This is an official document that his lawyers have given to the doj saying that he actually has knowledge. He has criminal knowledge. That's what this says. He has criminal knowledge about Trump saying things about Epstein. What are those things? He also lies. Somebody came up and said, Michael Wolf, actually Cohen said either in your interview or, or on one of the other interviews that the first time he even heard about this stuff was about when he interviewed Michael Wolf. Just think about that.

[Tara Palmeri]

Ellie Leonard is the independent journalist who obtained this document from one of her followers who was sleuthing through the Epstein files. And I want to thank all of the Internet sleuths out there, all of the independent journalists, they have been the ones who have moved this Epstein filled story forward. They have been going to the places that the mainstream media has been afraid to go to. And you know, there, there's just too many documents, frankly for everyone to go through. Even the largest news organizations haven't been.

[Tara Palmeri (continued commentary)]

Able to see this.

[Tara Palmeri]

This one slipped through the cracks. So Ellie and I spoke about this earlier and the significance of this document.

[Ellie Leonard]

Degree I'm not coming at this with a lot of experience and skill. I'm just digging. Like, I'm just reading. I'm literally just scrolling and reading and looking for these Easter eggs. And like all of us have the ability to do that. We all have kind of unique skills. Some people are really good at finding metadata. Some people are really good at like their paralegals and they're really good at the research stuff. And so I said, you know what, here I'm going to put all this in a Dropbox. I'm going to give everybody a link and like, whatever you can do, just go do it. Like if you can do 10 pages, great. And so people have started bringing me things that they find. And one of those things was the email from Mike about Michael Cohen. And that was from one of my subscribers and she wanted to be anonymous, and so I'm not going to say her name, but she said, is this something? I think this is something. And I said, I think that's something. And so I sent it to Zeb and then Zev sent it along to Lev, because I said that perfectly contradicts the entire conversation up to this point.

[Tara Palmeri]

I reached out to Michael Cohen earlier today to find out what information he was planning to give the Department of Justice and whether he actually had those conversations. If you read the full letter, you will see that the prosecutors were skeptical of Cohen's credibility, just like me. Here is Cohen's explanation for what this email means.

[Michael Cohen]

It all started with Tara Palmeri when she asked me a question about the Jane Doe case that was dismissed. And I said to her, the facts.

[Interviewer (possibly Tara Palmeri)]

Why did your lawyers submit that letter saying, in essence, Michael knows a lot of stuff here on Trump?

[Michael Cohen]

No, no, no, no, no. That's not what the letter says. What the letter says is that that there's information that he couldn't give. The information is exactly what I'm telling you about, which is the Jane Doe case.

[Interviewer (possibly Tara Palmeri)]

That was the information that you said you could provide on Jane Doe.

[Tara Palmeri]

But let's not forget that Cohen told me back in August that the story of the Jane Doe was bullshit.

[Michael Cohen]

He told me it was bullshit. Take care of it.

[Tara Palmeri]

I said, okay, so how could that information be so valuable to the feds in 2019 that he could request Rule 35, meaning that his information was so substantial to another case that it would reduce his sentence? Doesn't make sense to me. I don't know how I have anything to do with it. I'm just asking questions. I just hope Michael Cohen will come clean and tell us what he knows, because this isn't about him. This isn't about me. This is about survivors, about the American people getting the truth about what happened. He was uniquely close to the president and he claimed that he had information about Jeffrey Epstein. I would think that he should come forward and tell us what he knows. That was another episode of the Tara Palmeri Show. I know it was a little different this time, but I figured I wanted to break it all down for you and for you to hear about this news. And I hope that this show really reaffirmed the value of independent journalism. Not just from me asking the tough questions from Michael Cohen that weren't asked by the mainstream media, but from Ellie Leonard was able to pull up this document and I hope that you'll see it valuable enough to go to tara palmary.com and subscribe and become a paid supporter and subscriber because you can get my all of my exclusive content like this straight to your inbox first. And you know, I hope that we'll find out what Michael Cohen actually knows. If you like this show, of course, please rate, subscribe, follow, share it with all your friends. I want to hear what you think in the comments. I will be back again this week and in the meantime, I want to thank my producer on this one, Dan Schiffmacher, Abby Baker, who does my social media and research, Adam Stewart on the graphics, and Dan Rosen, my manager.

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