The Tara Palmeri Show

Tara Palmeri sits down with New York Post investigative reporter Isabel Vincent to discuss her explosive new book "RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise." Isabel obtained RFK Jr.'s personal diaries — without his cooperation — and they reveal a man obsessed with the presidency, riddled with sexual compulsion, and shaped by generations of Kennedy entitlement. The diaries include a scoring system for women he slept with (rated 1–10, with "victory" meaning he resisted), passages about failing his dead father's expectations, and entries where he castrates roadkill while his kids wait in the car. They also dig into the unanswered questions around his second wife Mary Richardson Kennedy's suicide — the missing phone, the missing computer, no suicide note, and a half-redacted police report — plus Cheryl Hines' $600K book deal, RFK's meetings with pharma lobbyists his own base hates, and why Isabel believes he is absolutely going to run for president in 2028.

0:57 – Tara: RFK has big ambitions — "this is a stepping stone"

2:13 – How she obtained his diaries: a source left three volumes at dinner

4:39 – The diaries as confessional — he writes about women like he's the victim

6:39 – First time a Kennedy confessed to infidelity in his own writing

8:24 – Mary at home with four kids under ten while he crusades and cheats

9:48 – His father told him he was "most like JFK" — conditioned since childhood

10:49 – Isabel: "I think you're going to see him run for president" in 2028

11:50 – Cheryl Hines: the $600K book advance and a marriage of convenience

13:04 – The Olivia Nuzzi affair and whether it almost ended his marriage

15:06 – The mythmaking: Twinkies, saunas with Kid Rock, cold plunges in jeans

17:05 – Does he really believe what he says? Congressional hearings and stubbornness

20:13 – Kennedy entitlement: his father had the speed limit raised so he wouldn't get a ticket

21:53 – Mary's suicide still weighs on him — but he had her body dug up and reburied

22:25 – The roadkill obsession: seagull skull collection, job at the National Zoo

28:32 – Hardest story to report: Mary's suicide — missing computer, no note, redacted police report

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tara Palmeri joins former CIA officers John Sipher and Jerry O'Shea on Mission Implausible to break down the Ghislaine Maxwell VIP prison treatment, Trump's refusal to rule out a pardon, and the DOJ sitting on 99% of the Epstein files. Why was a convicted sex trafficker transferred to the lowest-security federal facility — and given a puppy — after meeting with Todd Blanch, Trump's former personal lawyer? Why has the DOJ only released 1% of the total Epstein package while pulling prosecutors off counterintelligence cases to work on redactions? And why are survivors still living in fear while Ghislaine gets vegan food and haircuts? Tara also explains how Ghislaine wasn't just Epstein's girlfriend — she was the mastermind, the crueler perpetrator, the "Mary Poppins" who lured girls in with her posh accent and then abused them out of jealousy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tara joins a panel at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy alongside journalist Julia Angwin, Marissa Kabas of The Hand Basket, and Memo Torres of LA Taco for a conversation on resistance journalism in the Trump era. The panel covers how independent journalists are breaking the biggest stories — from federal funding freezes to the Swalwell scandal to ICE raid coverage — while facing daily legal threats, zero institutional support, and shrinking trust in legacy media. They also dig into objectivity vs. honesty, the symbiotic relationship between indie and legacy media, and why reader-supported journalism may be the only model that can't be captured.

#journalism #politics #independent

0:00 – Julia Angwin opens: the climate for US journalism has changed dramatically
2:39 – Capturing the media landscape is a hallmark of authoritarianism
3:32 – Marissa Kabas intro: from one leak to becoming the hub for government whistleblowers
5:46 – Why people trust independent journalists over legacy institutions right now
6:45 – Tara intro: covering the Epstein story solo with daily legal threats
7:28 – "Most days I get a legal threat — I got one yesterday, I'll probably get another today"
8:27 – Victims have told Congress there are other men living free with no consequences
9:19 – Melania's surprise Epstein statement — "we're only at the tip of the iceberg"
9:52 – The Swalwell story was broken by content creators, not legacy media
10:54 – "If that independent journalist hadn't got the story out, he'd be the next governor of California"
12:14 – Memo Torres intro: from covering tacos to covering ICE raids in LA
13:47 – Soccer moms, nurses, and mechanics became grassroots intelligence agents
16:26 – Debunking viral misinformation: the influencer, the old lady, and the eggs
18:44 – Reader-supported journalism: no corporate boss, no advertiser pressure
21:42 – Tara on audience relationship: "my agenda is social justice — is that a bad thing?"
23:08 – The comment section as an investigative community
25:27 – Legacy media's failure: "they started vertical videos and think they're cool now"
28:38 – Memo's Daily Memo: strangers crying on the street because of what he's reported
33:34 – Marissa: "I hold myself to an even higher standard because of the legal burden"
37:34 – Tara on running a 5-person operation and pitching litigious stories to mainstream outlets
40:15 – Memo: LA Taco's ICE death database — past 60 deaths and counting
42:25 – The objectivity debate: Marissa, Tara, and Memo each weigh in
46:40 – Tara: "The muckrakers changed this country with the power of the pen"
47:13 – Memo: "Objectivity is bullshit — honesty is more important"
50:35 – Q&A: How do you keep community connection as your audience scales?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who is the real Michael Wolff? Tara joins Lev Parnas and investigative journalist Ellie Leonard to pull back the curtain on the man who calls himself the "Epstein whisperer." Wolff raised nearly $1 million through GoFundMe claiming he'd depose Melania Trump — but the anti-SLAPP lawsuit he filed can't actually lead to depositions. They also break down Michael Cohen's shifting story about the Katie Johnson case and why both men are now attacking the independent journalists actually doing the work.

00:00 – Intro: Who is the real Michael Wolff?

0:46 – Michael Cohen and Wolff team up to call Tara and Ellie "conspiracy theorists"

2:02 – Tara: "I've never been called a conspiracy theorist in 18 years of journalism"

2:42 – Wolff, Cohen, and the podcast where they attacked independent journalists

3:10 – The bid to buy New York magazine with Epstein AND Harvey Weinstein — documented

5:07 – Cohen and Wolff playing clip: they call Tara and Ellie "far-left activists"

7:13 – Michael Cohen's collapsing Katie Johnson story — private investigators, contradicting lawyers

10:19 – Wolff is sitting on Epstein tapes and shopping them to the highest bidder

13:57 – The GoFundMe anti-SLAPP lawsuit explained: it can't actually lead to depositions

16:02 – Wolff says he has Epstein on tape — so why not just release it?

18:28 – He's thinking about the perpetrators staying quiet, not the survivors speaking up

23:23 – He made $13 million on his book — why does he need a GoFundMe?

29:31 – Wolff tried to discredit Julie K. Brown, Tina Brown, Ronan Farrow — now it's us

33:07 – "I'm not getting out of the way" — Ellie on continuing the work
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tara calls in from Perugia, Italy and Nomiki Konst joins from Barcelona for a deep dive into the Eric Swalwell fallout. Donors are furious and demanding their money back, a billionaire backer is suing to claw back $1 million, and the former congressman's gubernatorial campaign is dead. Nomiki shares her own story of Swalwell aggressively flirting with her at a DNC meeting in 2018 — in full view of party leadership — raising the question of what Democrats knew and when. They also discuss the modeling industry's trafficking pipeline, how visa control keeps women trapped, Amanda Angara's explosive allegations, and why MeToo didn't go far enough the first time around.

Read the full story: https://open.substack.com/pub/tarapalmeri/p/exclusive-swalwell-donors-are-calling?r=1ili3&utm_medium=ios

1:10 – Brave women and citizen journalists broke the story first
2:49 – The rape allegation: hotel, strangulation, and campaign finance receipts that match
3:42 – Donors want their money back — the non-disparagement agreement from Politico
6:58 – Nomiki's own story: Swalwell buying her prosecco and getting touchy at a DNC meeting in 2018
8:39 – Six years later he shows up in her DMs — "I don't think he even remembered me"
10:12 – What did Democratic leadership know? The Washington protection racket
12:23 – The DC culture that enables abuse: dorms, lobbyists, young staffers, no families around
17:16 – Did Pelosi know? She was the first to call for his resignation
19:11 – TMZ enters Washington: more congressmembers will be exposed
20:14 – Amanda Angara update: not backing down, Tara working to verify explosive claims
21:03 – The modeling-trafficking pipeline: visas, dorms, and girls with no power
24:04 – Fashion TV, Paolo's company, and how young these girls looked
25:17 – The Tyra Banks documentary: the full spectrum from Epstein to supermodel
26:07 – Victoria's Secret, Les Wexner, and MC Squared's Einstein visas
29:12 – Closing: Swalwell's campaign is dead, donors are furious, and there are more to come
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices