Inside Trump’s Epstein Panic: Who Leaked the Situation Room?

Tara Palmeri is joined by attorney Michael Popok of Legal AF to break down the explosive new reporting from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan — an excerpt from their book "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump" that pulls back the curtain on the White House's "summer of Epstein." While the administration publicly dismissed the Epstein story as a hoax and a "Democratic witch hunt," Haberman and Swan reveal that Trump's top officials were repeatedly huddling in the Situation Room — the SCIF normally reserved for major raids like the killing of Osama bin Laden — trying to contain the fallout. Tara and Michael walk through who was in the room (Todd Blanche, Susie Wiles, Kash Patel, JD Vance) and who wasn't (Trump himself; Bondi and Patel phoning in), and unpack the verbatim quotes that suggest someone was taking meticulous notes or recording — and the mole hunt that will follow. They get into Todd Blanche floating a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, JD Vance pushing to put her on the record with Tucker Carlson, Dan Bongino calling it Trump's "Iran-Contra" and threatening to quit, and Kash Patel blaming Pam Bondi. Tara explains how Washington really works — how operatives take notes, keep journals, and manage their images so history paints them as the heroes — and why the sworn FBI 302 alleging abuse by Trump made this a crisis the White House couldn't simply bury. As Haberman and Swan write: Trump could break institutions and bend the world's richest men to his will — "but he could not, it turned out, make Jeffrey Epstein disappear." Thanks to Ground News for sponsoring the show! Only by using my link, you can get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan! Go to https://www.groundnews.com/tara! #politics #epsteinfiles 0:00 – The "summer of Epstein": the White House freak-out in the Situation Room 2:21 – The new Haberman/Swan book "Regime Change" and the on-the-record quotes 3:24 – Michael Popok joins the show 5:05 – Bondi's "case closed," Bongino's fury, and the leaks already flying 6:48 – Could anyone record inside a SCIF? What a SCIF actually is 8:22 – Not a conspiracy theory: JD Vance pushes transparency with an eye on 2028 9:06 – The sworn FBI 302: an allegation against Trump, and witness Sarah Ransome 10:12 – A word from this episode's sponsor, Ground News 11:51 – Washington's viper's nest: why officials take notes and write their own history 13:14 – Recording laws, consent, and the SCIF question Tara Palmeri is one of the most feared and fearless reporters covering power and politics. She has 15 years of experience covering national politics and foreign affairs. She was formerly a White House Correspondent for ABC News where she covered the first Trump administration. She was the chief National Correspondent for POLITICO during the Biden administration. She has been a political analyst for CNBC, CBS and CNN. She started her career as a columnist for the Washington Examiner and then went on to report for the New York Post. She was a foreign correspondent for POLITICO Europe, where she covered international affairs, including Brexit. She hosted the Ringer's political podcast "Somebody's Gotta Win" and wrote a column for Puck. Tara also hosted two acclaimed podcasts on Jeffrey Epstein, "Broken: Jeffrey Epstein" and "Power: The Maxwells." Tara currently hosts the Tara Palmeri Show. For more of her reporting, subscribe to her weekly newsletter, "The Red Letter." https://tarapalmeri.substack.com/ https://www.tarapalmeri.com/subscribe The latest from the 'Red Letter': https://www.tarapalmeri.com/p/is-it-time-to-take-the-oligarchy https://www.tarapalmeri.com/p/gen-z-guru-rachel-janfaza-on-whether https://www.tarapalmeri.com/p/is-big-gretch-cooked To support her mission of independent journalism, consider donating to her GoFundMe account: https://gofund.me/0c46f9a5 Listen to the 'Tara Palmeri Show': Apple https://apple.co/4lWeFuo iHeartRadio https://iheart.com/podcast/273622585/ Amazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cdfe747e-54a2-47ae-9ec5-15957642e533/the-tara-palmeri-show Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3kgamV3lbZIGIHW2H0XUTR?si=1ffdbb566a964bc1 Follow Tara: https://www.instagram.com/tarapalmeri/ https://x.com/tarapalmeri https://www.tiktok.com/@tarapalmeri For inquiries, email: TaraPalmeriInfo@gmail.com