The Epstein Files (with Ben Wittes)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, Politics, Government, News

4.8 • 32.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Deputy AG Todd Blanche met with Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. How unusual is that and where does this development fit within the ongoing Epstein files saga? This is an excerpt from this week’s Insider episode, where Preet Bharara is joined by Lawfare editor-in-chief Ben Wittes, while Joyce is out. In the full episode, Preet and Ben break down: – The battle over unsealing grand jury testimony in the Epstein case; – The firing of Maurene Comey, an SDNY prosecutor and daughter of former FBI director Jim Comey; – Whether there’s any merit to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s allegations that President Obama committed “treason” in the 2016 Russian election interference matter; and – The Department of Defense’s findings that the information shared erroneously by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth via Signal was indeed classified. CAFE Insiders click HERE to listen to the full analysis. Not an Insider? Now more than ever, it’s critical to stay tuned. To join a community of reasoned voices in unreasonable times, become an Insider today. You’ll get access to full episodes of the podcast and other exclusive content. Head to cafe.com/insider or staytuned.substack.com/subscribe. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. This podcast is brought to you by CAFE and Vox Media Podcast Network. Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Supervising Producer: Jake Kaplan; Associate Producer: Claudia Hernández; Audio Producer: Nat Weiner; Deputy Editor: Celine Rohr; CAFE Team: David Tatasciore, Matthew Billy, Noa Azulai, and Liana Greenway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey folks, Preet Bharara here.
0:03.3	Joyce is out this week, so I'm joined by a very special guest, my friend Ben Wittis, for a new episode of The Insider podcast.
0:11.7	Ben is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Lawfare and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
0:17.4	Ben joins me to break down the developing legal drama involving Jeffrey Epstein, including
0:22.0	Deputy A.G. Todd Blanche's meeting with Galane Maxwell and the battle over unsealing grand jury
0:27.3	testimony. Then we discuss why Trump may have fired Epstein prosecutor Maureen Comey, daughter of
0:33.0	former FBI director Jim Comey. And why director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is accusing President
0:38.9	Obama of treason. Finally, we try to make sense of the new developments in the Signalgate scandal.
0:44.9	If you're a member of Cafe Insider, head to the insider feed or click the link in the show notes of
0:49.0	this podcast to hear the full analysis. Stay tuned, listeners. Stick around for an excerpt from our conversation.
0:57.0	Members of Insider help support our work
0:58.8	and get access to full episodes
1:00.4	and other subscriber benefits.
1:02.9	We're living in unreasonable times.
1:05.2	Join our community of reasonable voices
1:07.1	trying to make sense of what's happening.
1:09.3	Head to cafe.com slash insider or stay tuned.
1:13.4	Dot substack.com. Now onto the show. I'm very excited to have you on, Ben, because people have
1:22.3	heard me and Joyce talk about the Epstein Matter. At some length, there have been a lot of
1:26.6	developments in the last week. You have fairly strong views. I want to get to those in a second. Why don't we start with
1:32.8	this business of my former colleague and President Trump's former personal criminal defense lawyer,
1:40.0	Todd Blanche, the current Deputy Attorney General, going to spend two days with Galane Maxwell
	...

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