The Megyn Kelly Show - Trump Backs Bondi Over Epstein Actions, Shocking New Butler Report, Noem vs CA Judge: AM Update 7/14

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

President Trump publicly defends Attorney General Pam Bondi as MAGA world infighting erupts over the botched Epstein files rollout and internal DOJ tensions. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blasts a California judge’s ruling against ICE, calling the judge “an idiot” and vowing to continue mass deportation operations. A new Congressional report reveals serious Secret Service lapses, including ignored warnings, inexperienced agents, and failed drone detection, before the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump.Lean: Visit https://TakeLean.com & use code MK20 for 20% offHerald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com

Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, July 14th, 2025. And this is your AM update. President Trump publicly backing Attorney General Pam Bondi in the wake of her botched handling of the Epstein files rollout and calls from voices within MAGA for her to resign. Yeah, he's an idiot. I mean, he's, he's frankly an idiot. None of our operations are going to change. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slamming a California judge accusing ICE agents of making indiscriminate arrests.

What is so stunning is not only the fact that the president was nearly killed, but the fact that a man with a weapon got that close. A damning new report outlines the Secret Service's many failures one year ago in Butler, Pennsylvania, that nearly led to the assassination of then-candidate Donald Trump. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update. Celebrate Independence Day with an epic July 4th sale. Stock up on supplements from BrickHouseNutrition.com and save big. 25% off everything with code FIREWORKS25.

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wake of the disastrous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein file story. Many in MAGA were deeply frustrated and furious with the DOJ's lack of transparency following months of AG Bondi teasing the pending release of more information, including names of Epstein associates, only then for there to be a leak of an unsigned memo to Axios on a Sunday night proclaiming the case closed, saying there will be no more charges and no more information released. A sampling here of voices from the right at the weekend's Turning Point Student Action Summit in Tampa. She also brought in some of our best influencers, people that I care about deeply. Jack Pasobic,

who's incredible, Libs of TikTok, Chaya, DC Drano. And she gave them these binders and she humiliated them. She is the reason that things are unraveling around this story right now that virtually all the Republican Party cares deeply about. She had made the binders. She bragged about making the cover sheet that read Epstein files, phase one, and she handed them out. Don't let anybody insult you, anybody, and I mean anybody ever, get away with insulting you instead of answering a legitimate question, okay? Ever.

This is a party, this is a movement that is so transparent that even their cover-ups are transparent. They're not even trying. The New York Post and others reporting Friday on clashes between A.G. Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino last week. Deputy Director Bongino reportedly taking a personal day on Friday, considering resignation. This journalist's reporting backs this up. That Bongino made clear either Bondi must leave or he will, though my sources say there may be a softening on that front depending on how things are handled in the coming days. An unnamed Justice Department official telling The Post,

Director Cash Patel may follow if Bongino resigns, however Patel countering that narrative on X over the weekend. Your humble correspondence information is that Cash Patel is not threatening to leave and there's no danger of that. President Trump posting to Truth Social on Saturday, quote, what's going on with my boys and in some cases, gals? They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a fantastic job. We're on one team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. We have a perfect administration, the talk of the world, and selfish people are trying

to hurt it all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it's Epstein over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the losers and criminals of the Biden administration? They created the Epstein files, just like they created the fake Hillary Clinton Christopher Steele dossier that they used on me. And now my so-called friends are playing right into their hands. Why didn't these radical left lunatics release the Epstein files?

If there was anything in there that could have hurt the MAGA movement, why didn't they use it? Cash Patel and the FBI must be focused on investigating voter fraud, political corruption, ActBlue, the rigged and stolen election of 2020, and arresting thugs and criminals, instead of spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old radical left-inspired documents on Jeffrey Epstein. Let Pam Bondi do her job. She's great. It must be noted here that many in the president's orbit pushed the Epstein case and promised transparency if Trump were elected, including people like Dan Bongino, Cash Patel, and Don Jr. Patel posting to X Saturday afternoon, quote, the conspiracy theories just aren't true, never

have been. It's an honor to serve the president of the United States, Donald Trump, and I'll continue to do so for as long as he calls on me. Democrats, who have spent the last six years accusing anyone interested in the Jeffrey Epstein story of being a conspiracy theorist now suddenly piling on criticizing the Trump administration for failing to deliver on promises of transparency. California governor Gavin Newsom and US Senator John Ossoff of Georgia separately here.

Really Trump? Show us. What do you gotff of Georgia separately here. Really, Trump? Show us. What do you got? Where's the transparency? What carnies? What flim-flammers? What music men? What bullshit artists these guys are?

Not even good ones either. Not even good ones. He promised to release the Epstein files. Did anyone really think the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein was going to release the Epstein files? U.S. Congressman of Maryland, Jamie Raskin, Friday on MSNBC, suddenly super interested in Jeffrey Epstein calling for hearings. Of course, as a Democrat in the House minority, he can't actually mandate one.

It'd be much better for everybody to come clean and let's vindicate the public interest here. I'm going to be asking Chairman Jordan to call for a hearing where we subpoena the attorney general and Dan Bongino and Cash Patel to come in and tell us everything that we know, because this thing is really spinning out of control at this point. And there's one way to put it to rest, which is to come clean, as President Trump promised he would during the campaign. Republican Congresswoman from Florida, Anna Paulina Luna, a member of the House Oversight Committee and a MAGA ally, saying on Fox News, her task force on declassification of federal

secrets will continue looking for answers. I believe the reason why Americans are so frustrated with this process is because of the way that there has been conflicting information out of the Department of Justice. And so what I'm going to be doing along with my task force is requesting information not pertaining to victims, not pertaining to CCAM, that should be out there for the American people to decide. I will say that the way that the administration rolled out the JFK files, of which, by the way, there has been groundbreaking discoveries in those rollouts is literally the gold standard for declassification. And there is trust in transparency. And so I will encourage them to continue to do that. This story is far from over. Our reporting continues this week on the Megyn Kelly show. Coming up, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem slamming a Biden-appointed judge's ruling accusing ICE

of conducting indiscriminate roundups in its mass deportation efforts. And a brand new report shedding light on the Secret Service's stunning failures one year ago in Butler, Pennsylvania, when congressman says more accountability is still needed. As President Trump is settling into his new administration, one of the top Democrats in needed. As President Trump is settling into his new administration, one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois. And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition, Senator Durbin has a new plan, a government takeover of your credit card.

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On Friday, a Biden-appointed judge in California, Mame Uesie Mensah Frimpong, who is American with parents from Ghana, ruling some aspects of the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts in the state are likely unconstitutional. The ACLU of Southern California leading the lawsuit, along with other immigrant advocacy groups, on behalf of individuals who have been arrested in recent weeks. These groups accusing the government of conducting, quote, roving patrols, indiscriminately rounding up individuals without reasonable suspicion, they say, then denying access to legal representation. In her 52-page order, the judge stating ICE agents may not rely on the following factors when making arrests, quote, apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or speaking English with

an accent, presence at a particular location, bus stop, car wash, tow yard, day labor pickup site, agricultural site, etc. or the type of work one does. U.S. District Attorney for Central California Bill Aseley posting on X, quote, We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and maintain that our agents have never detained individuals without proper legal justification. Our federal agents will continue to enforce the law and abide by the U.S. Constitution. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Saturday press briefing, going a step further in reacting to this judge, who she mistakenly refers to here as a he.

Yeah, he's an idiot. I mean, he's frankly an idiot. We have all the right in the world to go out on the streets and to uphold the law and to do what we're going to do. So none of our operations are going to change. He made claims that were absolutely false. We are building cases. We are going in on doing our operations and planning them against individuals

that we know are dangerous, that are violent, that have criminal activity, that they've been involved in. And that's how we're building our cases. So he's making up garbage, filing decisions. And we're going to appeal it. And we're going to win. Just to follow up though, before the appeal decisions, and we're going to appeal it and we're going to win. What's just followed up before the kill, you said you're going to continue those operations are.

Yeah, our operations will continue. We will we will be in compliance with all federal judges orders. But what he said that we couldn't do is go out and target people based on other qualifications that he made up. We're going to continue to do our investigations on criminal activity and uphold the law. On Thursday, one day prior to this order, ICE officials arresting more than 300 illegal immigrants at a marijuana farm in California. Protesters churning out, clashing with ICE agents in a chaotic scene. The FBI currently offering a $50,000 reward for the capture of one protester appearing

to fire a gun toward ICE agents amid the unrest. One farm worker climbing onto a greenhouse roof, then falling off and later dying from his injuries. On Sunday, Secretary Noem on NBC describing some of the people detained in the marijuana farm operation. People have heard the president say over and over again about how important it is that we continue to go after the worst of the worst. This week we've got murderers off the street, rapists, child pedophiles.

If you look at that marijuana grow facility that we recently just did an operation on, over 319 individuals were brought into custody and 14 unaccompanied children that are children that means that they don't have their parents with them. They're working in a facility where they could be exploited, trafficked, maybe sex trafficked. And then we've got individuals there who are working at the same facility who are creating, distributing, and taking advantage of children for child pornography. So this is something that President Trump has taken seriously. President Trump posting to Truth Social on Friday evening, quote, I am on my way back from Texas and watched in disbelief as thugs were violently throwing rocks and bricks at

ICE officers while they were moving down a roadway in their car and or official vehicle. I'm directing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan to instruct all ICE, Homeland Security or any other law enforcement officer who's on the receiving end of thrown rocks, bricks or any other form of assault to stop their car and arrest these slimeballs. A brand new report from the Government Accountability Office shining new light on the colossal security failures leading up to the Butler, Pennsylvania rally one year ago yesterday that nearly cost then-candidate Trump his life. Among several

key findings of the report ordered by U.S. Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley, senior-level Secret Service agents were alerted 10 days before the rally of a classified threat to President Trump. From the report, quote, this information was not specific to the July 13 rally or gunman. Nonetheless, due to the Secret Service's siloed practice for sharing classified threat information, Secret Service and local law enforcement personnel central to developing site security plans for the rally were unaware of the threat.

The report also concluding key roles were filled by inexperienced agents. The agent responsible for identifying vulnerabilities at the site was new to the job. The Butler rally being, quote, her first time planning and securing a large outdoor event as the site agent. Former New York State Homeland Security Advisor Michael Balboni on Fox News calling out the stunning severity of these lapses. Outlander report is this failure of sharing the intelligence. That is absolutely crucial. The way the Secret Service works,

that I've been involved in several national security events, is they work directly hand in hand with local law enforcement. Everything from the law enforcement handling traffic, being able to handle traffic, a pedestrian flow within the venue. Very, very important to have that kind of support. But crucial is also sharing intelligence. To not do that and then to have the site agent who is supposed

to be doing a vulnerability assessment, not having the experience. I mean, this is at the time the candidate for president, but a former president. And frankly, in an incredibly, in one of the most polarized political situations that we have ever witnessed in the United States, and to put somebody who's new for this type of site in charge of this is an abject failure. What is so stunning is not only the fact that the president was nearly killed, but the fact that a man with a weapon got that close. That in and of itself, that's where the failure began, you know, to not be able to secure that perimeter. The report also revealing requests for additional security measures were not fulfilled, including

an advanced counter drone system. The agent in charge of the counter drone detection equipment on that day telling investigators he only had one hour of training. The equipment malfunctioning in the hours leading up to the rally as the shooter was able to fly a drone over the venue undetected. The Secret Service last week releasing a one-year later review confirming six agents received brief suspensions for failures on that day. Critics say it was a slap on the wrist.

Republican Congressman from Arizona Andy Biggs, Sunday on Fox, suggesting more reforms and disciplinary action may be necessary. We expected some of these findings, the 10 day window that they knew that there was going to be a threat on President Trump's life, it was in jeopardy. And they didn't bother to communicate that to any of their partners, that's inexcusable. You have somebody who's inexperienced trying to run the scene, that doesn't make sense. The fact that you don't have any kind of, their communications was inadequate

between the different agencies. The fact that the co-training was inadequate is amazing. The fact that you don't have a drone, the fact that President Trump's team requested additional security and they didn't get that. All of these things, not to mention the actual things that were happening that day, this was just a disastrous performance.

And I am surprised, quite frankly, that you have six people on the ground who become the fall guys for this. I wonder how high up we should have gone and who should be held accountable even above those six. But I'm not sure still that we have all the answers that we need to end, nor have we seen the changes that are necessary to improve this agency where it needs to be.

President Trump's Saturday on Fox News offering a more forgiving response to the Secret Service in an interview with his daughter-in-law, Laura Trump. So they briefed me in numerous times, the FBI, the Secret Service, sort of everybody. DOJ, Pamela's doing a fantastic, I think she's doing a fantastic job. But they briefed me and I'm satisfied with it.

I'm satisfied with it. They should have had somebody in the building. That was a mistake. They should have had somebody in the building. That was a mistake. They should have had communications with the local police. They weren't tied in. And they should have been tied in. So there were mistakes made. And that shouldn't have happened.

And that building was a prime building in terms of what they were trying to do. But I was satisfied in terms of the bigger plot, the larger plot. I was satisfied. And, you know, I have great confidence in these people. I know the people and they're very talented, very capable. They had a bad day and I think they'll admit that at the end of a rough day. This is a very dangerous job being president.

Meanwhile, one year later, we still know relatively little about the shooter, Thomas Crooks, age 20, who was killed in Butler by the Secret Service. He left no manifesto and his parents have never spoken publicly about him. Hours after the assassination attempt, a federal agent reportedly spoke to Crooks' father, who claimed, quote, I don't know anything about my son. Crooks had no known criminal record, nor any documented mental health issues, though the New York Times reports he was engaging in bizarre behavior prior to the shooting and was searching online for things like, quote,

depression crisis. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent himself, recently telling Fox News, quote, the there you're looking for is not there. If it was, we would have told you. And that'll do it for your AM Update. I'm Megyn Kelly. Join me back here for The Megyn Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon East, on youtube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.