The Tara Palmeri Show

Investigative reporter Scott MacFarlane — fresh off leaving CBS News to go independent — joins Tara for his first appearance on The Red Letter. They cover the DOJ's credibility crisis under acting AG Todd Blanche (who said "I love you" to the president on national TV), the Epstein files stonewalling, Pam Bondi dodging her congressional deposition, RFK Jr.'s new podcast and the measles surge, Trump framing the Iran war as a holy war, and a 25-point Democratic swing in Marjorie Taylor Greene's former district that signals real trouble for Republicans heading into the midterms.

Scott McFarlane is a veteran investigative journalist who spent 25 years covering the Justice Department and Capitol Hill, most recently at CBS News. He recently launched Scott McFarlane Reports as an independent outlet.

0:00 – Intro: Scott McFarlane goes independent after 25 years in network news

1:44 – Why indie media feels more authentic than legacy TV

2:32 – The DOJ has become the president's personal law firm

3:50 – Todd Blanche says "I love you" to Trump on national television

4:58 – The Epstein files: DOJ credibility crisis and survivor exposure

7:19 – Will a whistleblower ever release the full Epstein files?

10:45 – RFK Jr. launches a podcast — and Scott can only last six seconds of it

12:17 – Measles surging as vaccination rates drop 3% since 2020

14:34 – West Virginia's legislature gridlocked over vaccine requirements

17:15 – MAGA base is upset: Trump over-promised and under-delivered

19:53 – JD Vance and Kushner head to Islamabad — can anyone take this seriously?

20:52 – Invoking God to justify war: "you're begging for trouble"

23:04 – Georgia special election: 25-point Democratic swing in deep MAGA country

25:48 – The future of independent journalism and closing

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Tara Palmeri Joins Abby Phillips to discuss why the Iran War is the last straw for some of core of Trumps base.
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George Conway — once a Republican who cried tears of joy when Trump won in 2016, now a Democrat running for Congress in Manhattan — joins Tara to make his case for a third impeachment of Donald Trump. The former Federalist Society member and ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway argues this time is different: with a Democratic Senate setting the rules, a real trial with live witnesses could finally expose the corruption. They get into why he thinks impeachment can work now, how he'd pursue the Epstein files if elected, his evolution from Reagan Republican to registered Democrat, and Trump's accidental confession that the Iran conflict is a war he never got Congress to authorize.

0:00 – Cold open: "Does America have the appetite for a third impeachment?"
2:13 – Ad break
3:03 – Why Congress needs lawyers who can cross-examine, not give speeches
5:58 – Epstein: should they drag the lawyers back to testify on the Jane Doe settlement?
8:33 – The DOJ cover-up: Ghislaine Maxwell's transfer, withheld files, and malfeasance
12:54 – Impeach, remove, legislate safeguards — then document everything
13:07 – But impeachment hasn't worked before — why is this time different?
15:08 – A real Senate trial with live witnesses, not political speeches
16:47 – "Give them JD Vance" — Conway says Vance could be impeached too
18:09 – Won't impeachment talk activate Trump's base?
23:07 – The race: Conway vs. Jack Schlossberg in New York's 12th
24:49 – Political dynasties vs. fresh faces — the Democratic Party's best moments
27:09 – Substance vs. brand: Schlossberg is a TikTok star, Conway is a litigator
28:02 – The polls: Schlossberg 25%, Conway 16%, Undecided 33%
29:23 – "Why am I a Republican?" — Conway's ideological journey since 2018
35:14 – Roe v. Wade: Conway's position and the Women's Health Protection Act
39:36 – Trump calls the war a "military operation" — Conway says that's a confession
42:16 – Audience comment: a conservative looking for a label that fits his ethics
42:53 – Outro and thanks
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Former Navy pilot Ken Harbaugh — who flew recon missions as a mission commander over the Strait of Hormuz — joins Tara to break down Trump's address to the nation and what it actually means on the ground. Ken calls the speech alarming, says the Pentagon has no plan, and explains why Iran doesn't need a navy or air force to win this war. Ken's final answer: we're closer to something much bigger.

0:53 – Trump's address: contradictions on "nearing completion" vs. "major escalation"

1:52 – Total lack of a plan — and no one around Trump will say so

4:04 – Mission accomplished vibes — and why Iraq's military collapsed in minutes but the war lasted years

6:22 – Mining the strait: fishing boats vs. the U.S. Navy

8:36 – Iran will come out of this with a better deal than Obama's JCPoA

10:47 – Russia is providing targeting intel to Iran

12:14 – Why the U.S. is losing the drone war — and Ukraine offered to help

14:02 – China is laughing — and learning every lesson we're missing

15:24 – Ad break: Noble Mobile

17:16 – "Bomb them back to the Stone Age" — why it doesn't work

18:30 – Ground troops: the 82nd Airborne and the Kharg Island problem

21:53 – What does victory even look like now?

25:46 – Was it Israel? Total lack of coordination either way

27:01 – Do the Iranians even want to negotiate?

30:33 – 100,000 hardened IRGC fighters with weapons we can't counter

30:57 – Outro: subscribe and support independent journalism

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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/
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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

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