Where to find Trump’s Alt-Establishment during the White House Correspondents' dinner

My friend Virginia Giuffre...

Tara Palmeri on the road reporting with Epstein survivors Virginia Guiffre and Marijke Chartouni

Welcome back to The Red Letter.

Before we get into the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, I want to reflect on some news that broke late last night about my very good friend Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide at 41. She and I became very close four years ago when we traveled around the country hunting down witnesses who could corroborate the abuse she and so many other women suffered under Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and the many other men and women who were involved in their massive sex trafficking ring of minors. So many of the people that we spoke to, like Epstein’s house manager Juan Alessi, ended up testifying in the case that led to Maxwell’s conviction. To this day, I believe it has been the most important work of my nearly 15-year journalism career. It was incredibly hard to get people to speak up and do the right thing after years of looking away, when they knew that minors were being sexually abused right under their noses. It made me incredibly depressed at times, but I remember driving around Palm Beach with Giuffre, blasting “Let it Go” from Frozen as we both sang at the top of our lungs, hoping for more from humanity. She really did hope for more, believing in a mission greater than herself. For that, I so admired her.

The team on the “Broken: Jeffrey Epstein” podcast couldn’t have done this type of critical investigative journalism, which you can listen to here or read here, without Giuffre and her relentless drive to bring justice for all of the women who suffered. She understood that her story was bigger than her, even if the people that she was abused by included the most powerful men in the world, such as Prince Andrew. Giuffre was incredibly generous with her time and her energy. Her passion for justice helped fight off the demons that she battled because of a lifetime of sexual abuse. The last time we spoke was in February when Attorney General Pam Bondi released a bunch of meaningless binders about the Jeffrey Epstein case, claiming that they contained highly classified, bombshell information, but they were just court documents from Giuffre’s case already known to the public. She told me it was difficult for her to see her story politicized like that, even though she hoped President Trump would pursue the case more aggressively, and release the files.

I blame Epstein for her death, as well as the number of powerful men and women who looked at her like she was just a poor girl from the wrong side of the Palm Beach Intracoastal, whose body and mind was equivalent to that of a tissue. As Maxwell would say, You can just throw them away. They had these women all wrong. I’m devastated to know that Giuffre is gone, but she left such a profound impact on this world. She brought justice. She is the reason we even know about the Epstein case. For so many years, she beat the drum while others refused to believe her.

Rest in peace, sweet Virginia.

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The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner weekend feels lame this year, probably the least exciting night of the year since I first attended back in 2009 and was seated at The Daily Beast’s table next to Donatella Versace and Ben Silverman. It was President Obama’s first year, Hollywood was infatuated with him, and I was a young reporter at the Washington Examiner covering the intersection of power, politics, and celebrity, so of course, I was crashing parties everywhere. It’s almost strange to actually be invited 15 years later, but don’t worry, I’ll try to crash a few parties tonight for old times’ sake.

What feels so off —aside from the fact that the president or a representative from the administration won’t be on the dais, or the fact that there won’t be entertainment because the comedian was axed—is the feeling that if you are a Republican who wants to stay on the good side of Trump, then you absolutely cannot attend the dinner.

So, where can you find the most powerful people in this town tonight? Where will the most senior members of Trump’s alt-establishment be (because whether they, like it or not, are in power and are therefore establishment themselves)?

I’ve learned that there are two parties