The Tara Palmeri Show

Tara Palmeri sits down with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative reporter Russ Buettner to break down what may be the most brazen act of presidential self-dealing in American history: Trump's $1.776 billion IRS "settlement." Buettner explains how two Trump subordinates — acting AG Todd Blanche (Trump's former personal defense attorney) and Treasury officials — quietly cut a deal that creates a massive slush fund with no public reporting requirements, wipes away a 15-year audit over a suspicious $72.9 million tax refund that could have cost Trump well over $100 million, and includes a sweeping addendum that "forever bars" the IRS from auditing Trump, his family, and any "affiliated individuals" — language so broad it could cover Jared Kushner and his crypto partners. They dig into why the IRS thought they could win the case, how Trump declared over $1 billion in losses from his casinos and Chicago Tower (possibly claiming the same losses twice), how January 6th defendants are already lining up for $30 million payouts from the fund, and why a senior Treasury lawyer reportedly quit over what was coming. Plus: why lawyers won't even call it a "settlement," whether a future administration can reverse it, and why this may amount to the president having deputized and funded a militia.

0:00 – Intro: Pulitzer Prize-winning NYT reporter Russ Buettner on Trump's IRS deal

5:57 – The $72.9 million refund, The Apprentice windfall, and a 15-year audit

10:24 – Todd Blanche signed the deal — Trump's former personal defense attorney

15:16 – "Forever barred": the sweeping non-prosecution language no taxpayer has ever received

20:58 – The $1.776 billion slush fund and January 6th defendants demanding $30 million

26:00 – Pandora's box: elected kings, future presidents, and the self-dealing precedent

30:02 – "The most corrupt moment I've ever lived through"
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Royal biographer Andrew Lownie joins me to discuss explosive new allegations that Ghislaine Maxwell introduced Sarah Ferguson to Diddy — and the hidden overlap between the Epstein world and elite royal circles.
How deeply did Maxwell penetrate the Royal Family’s orbit? And how did those relationships shape the fallout surrounding Prince Andrew and Ferguson?
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Tara Palmeri sits down with reporter Ellie Leonard to expose how journalist Michael Wolff spent two decades as Jeffrey Epstein's fixer — and is now trying to cash in on the 100 hours of tapes he recorded with him. Ellie went through 1,830 emails between Wolff and Epstein and found a paper trail that goes far beyond journalism: Wolff helped Epstein build a PR team (the same one that worked with Harvey Weinstein), drafted public statements to discredit survivors, killed a New York magazine article because Epstein didn't want his sex offender status mentioned, signed an NDA to get advance copies of books about Epstein and passed the information back to him, tried to get ahead of James Patterson's "Filthy Rich," suggested Epstein pay off his doorman for leaking about girls coming in and out, and offered to trade off-the-record White House information with the Saudis through Epstein. Now Wolff is actively shopping a narrative documentary with a major producer while claiming no one wants his tapes — and Tara breaks the news live on air, texting with Wolff in real time as he denies it all.
0:00 – Intro: Ellie Leonard's six-month deep dive into 1,830 Wolff-Epstein emails

5:20 – Wolff as Epstein's fixer: killing articles, discrediting survivors, drafting PR statements

10:50 – Wolff moved his tapes to a "secure location" — and has been shopping them ever since15:46 – Tara breaks news live: Wolff is actively pitching a documentary with a major producer

20:15 – The Daily Beast connection: Joanna Coles, the failed production deal, and "raw tapes" semantics25:57 – The Epstein Files reading room in New York — somber, two stories of binders, mixed feelings

31:43 – "Stop using these girls as props" — politicizing survivors vs. honoring them

36:20 – The $830K GoFundMe, the $13M book deal, and Wolff's financial hypocrisy47:06 – "You couldn't be a pizza delivery boy and not know" — Virginia Giuffre on Epstein's house

54:16 – The shadow hearing in West Palm Beach: Rosa's testimony and Sky Roberts naming Dershowitz

59:07 – Survivors can't afford to fight billionaires' lawyers — "they've sold houses to pay legal bills"
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Tara Palmeri sits down with Isaac Saul from Tangle, who spent 15 months reporting on how President Trump has profited from the presidency — a 6,000-word investigation that puts it all in one place for the first time. Isaac breaks down the staggering scale: the Trump sons investing in companies landing Pentagon contracts, the meme coin that netted Trump an estimated $350 million, World Liberty Financial taking hundreds of millions from foreign governments and adversaries, Jared Kushner raising $5 billion for his private equity firm while negotiating the Iran war with Saudi Arabia pouring billions into his companies, Melania's $28 million Bezos movie deal, Trump's $23 million in licensing deals, a pay-for-play pardon economy that includes wiping $676 million in restitution for a fraudster whose defense attorney was Pam Bondi's brother, and Barron Trump launching a beverage company while still in college. They discuss why Republicans who cheered on the Hunter Biden investigations are now silent, why Democrats can't seem to message on corruption, why Trump told the New York Times he's "not even bothering" to separate business from government this time, and what investigations Democrats should launch first if they win the House in 2026.

0:00 – Intro: Isaac Saul's 15-month investigation into Trump profiting from the presidency

4:18 – The cryptocurrency scheme: meme coins, World Liberty Financial, and foreign money pouring in

9:13 – Why no Republicans will act — and why Democrats can't message on corruption

14:09 – The pardon economy: Trevor Milton, George Santos, and pay-for-play justice

19:02 – What Democrats should investigate first if they win the House in 2026

24:16 – Jared Kushner negotiating the Iran war while Saudi Arabia funds his companies

29:18 – Trump's net worth has exploded — crypto alone is worth more than his entire real estate portfolio

34:35 – Barron Trump's beverage company, tariff conflicts, and the Overton window on corruption
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Tara Palmeri joins V on Parasocial to break down her exclusive ten-month investigation into John Kerry's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — a story mainstream media has entirely missed. Tara walks through the full paper trail: a photo of Kerry in Epstein's home, sworn FBI testimony from Epstein's chef placing Kerry on his plane, Virginia Giuffre's account of encountering Kerry during the height of the sex trafficking operation, Epstein's campaign donations, the "Kerry Scheme" emails fantasizing about Kerry jumping into the 2016 race, and Epstein acting as an unofficial broker while Kerry was secretary of state — trying to connect him with disgraced Norwegian diplomat Rod Larsen, an Emirati shipping tycoon who loved a torture video, and Steve Bannon. They also dig into Epstein's cultivation of William Burns (Kerry's deputy who became Biden's CIA director), the Leon Black–Jay Clayton conflict of interest corrupting the Epstein file investigation, Tara's confrontation with acting AG Todd Blanche at the French embassy, Howard Lutnick's shifting Epstein timeline under oath, the Epstein Files reading room pop-up in New York, Ghislaine Maxwell's pardon push, and why politicizing survivors' pain is unacceptable. Plus: the hantavirus cruise ship quarantine headed to Nebraska, the Canvas hack shutting down college finals, and ABC threatening to sue Trump over his FCC investigation into The View.

0:00 – Intro: Tara's ten-month investigation into John Kerry's ties to Jeffrey Epstein

4:58 – The evidence: sworn FBI testimony, Epstein's plane, the little black book

9:12 – The "Kerry Scheme" emails and Epstein as unofficial broker to the secretary of state

14:20 – Rod Larsen, the Oslo Accords, and Epstein tracking the Iran nuclear deal

19:13 – Why subpoenas are stalled and who still hasn't been called to testify

24:27 – Leon Black, Jay Clayton, and the conflict of interest corrupting the investigation

29:39 – WHCD chaos, Epstein's suicide note, and Ghislaine Maxwell's pardon push

33:47 – The Epstein Files reading room — "Stop using these girls as props"

39:49 – The hantavirus cruise ship headed to Nebraska's biocontainment unit

45:09 – Canvas hack, ABC vs. Trump over The View, and outro
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