The Megyn Kelly Show - Noem vs. Dems, Abrego Garcia Released For Now, Tyler Robinson Smiles in Court： AM Update 12⧸12

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00:00:30.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Friday, December 12th, 2025, and this is your AM Update.

00:00:36.980 You are making America less safe.

00:00:40.280 You all should be fired in my viewpoint.

00:00:42.640 Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem clashing with Democrats in a fiery hearing on Capitol Hill.

00:00:48.400 Abrego Garcia is present in our country illegally. He is a proven human trafficker. 0.76

00:00:54.140 The infamous Maryland man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, scores a win from a U.S. district judge ordering his immediate release.

00:01:03.140 But the Trump administration says it's not over yet.

00:01:06.640 President Trump pushing for Lindsey Halligan's nomination for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia,

00:01:12.540 following a judge ruling her temporary appointment to the post, is invalid.

00:01:17.300 And Charlie Kirk's accused killer appearing in court yesterday for the first time, smiling.

00:01:22.740 All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

00:01:30.460 As President Trump is settling into his new administration,

00:01:34.180 one of the top Democrats in Congress aiming to undermine the Trump agenda is Senator Dick Durbin.

00:01:39.760 And according to our sponsor, the Electronic Payments Coalition,

00:01:43.000 Senator Durbin has a new scheme, a government takeover of your credit card.

00:01:47.880 Today, Americans have thousands of choices in credit cards,

00:01:50.400 but they say Senator Durbin's plan will result in less competition and less security.

00:01:55.620 And that means more risk for your credit and identity.

00:01:59.280 Learn more at guardyourcard.com

00:02:01.800 and consider telling your senators to stop Dick Durbin's government takeover of your credit card before it's too late.

00:02:08.220 Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top counterterrorism officials on the Hill

00:02:15.680 defending President Trump's strict immigration enforcement

00:02:18.980 in a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on threats to the nation.

00:02:23.320 The president's immigration crackdown, an attempt to conduct the largest mass deportation effort in history,

00:02:29.320 quickly becoming a top political target for Democrats

00:02:31.740 and drawing dozens of lawsuits throughout the nation.

00:02:34.660 Secretary Noem arguing the open border policies of the Biden administration necessitates the aggressive approach.

00:02:41.880 What keeps me up at night is that we don't necessarily know

00:02:45.720 all of the people that are in this country, who they are and what their intentions are.

00:02:50.420 We think up to 15 to 20 million people came in under the Biden administration

00:02:54.620 on the invasion over the southern border.

00:02:56.840 They were not vetted.

00:02:57.660 They were allowed to pour in.

00:03:00.240 Our parole programs, our asylum programs, our visa programs were all exploited.

00:03:05.500 And the integrity was demolished under Joe Biden and the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.

00:03:10.120 And frankly, the entire department was neglected.

00:03:13.180 And that is why we are so aggressive at making sure that we're going out

00:03:16.100 and doing investigative work, finding those violent criminals,

00:03:20.520 finding those people who shouldn't be in this country to begin with 1.00

00:03:22.860 and those that want to go after and to harm our American citizens.

00:03:26.220 Director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent,

00:03:30.040 with a stark warning on what counterterrorism analysts have uncovered.

00:03:34.600 What we have identified is alarming.

00:03:36.960 We just recently put out a warning, warning of the heightened risk of terrorist attacks

00:03:41.200 posed to the homeland by terrorists pretty much of all stripes,

00:03:45.000 but in particular from ISIS and from al-Qaeda.

00:03:48.200 NCTC has been crunching the numbers and going through the sheer volume

00:03:52.200 of known and suspected terrorists that are in the country

00:03:54.700 that came in under the Biden administration.

00:03:57.380 So far, NCTC has identified around 18,000 known and suspected terrorists.

00:04:03.020 These are individuals who, under normal circumstances,

00:04:05.980 would never be allowed to enter our country.

00:04:08.340 But yet, the Biden administration not only let them into the country

00:04:11.440 and in many cases facilitated their entry,

00:04:14.240 just like the entry of the Afghan terrorists who committed the terrorist attack

00:04:17.860 here just before Thanksgiving,

00:04:20.040 killing one of our National Guard members and wounding another.

00:04:22.480 Democratic lawmakers largely focusing on attacking Secretary Noem throughout the hearing.

00:04:27.960 You lied on the record and you lied to members of this committee.

00:04:30.760 Secretary Noem, you, Gregory Bovino, and your ICBP and DHS deputized agents

00:04:37.940 have waged an unaccountable, unlawful, unconstitutional war

00:04:42.980 against communities across the nation.

00:04:45.260 You are making America less safe.

00:04:48.880 Do a real service to the country and just resign.

00:04:52.500 It's clear you have no interest in countering real threats in the homeland.

00:04:57.580 You've devoted the past 11 months to violent raids,

00:05:00.980 anti-police policies, and non-stop photo ops.

00:05:05.180 In a moment of political theater, Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island

00:05:09.540 holding up an iPad with a man on Zoom to confront the secretary.

00:05:13.940 He is a United States Army combat veteran who was shot twice

00:05:18.540 while serving our country in Panama in 1989.

00:05:22.320 Like many veterans, he struggled with PTSD and substance abuse after his service.

00:05:27.480 He was arrested in the 1990s for some minor drug offenses, nothing serious.

00:05:31.940 Earlier this year, you deported him to Korea,

00:05:34.680 a country he hasn't lived in since he was seven years old.

00:05:38.920 Will you join me in thanking Mr. Park for his service to our country?

00:05:42.320 Sir, I'm grateful for every single person that has served our country and follows our laws.

00:05:46.940 Will you commit to at least looking at Mr. Park's case to see if you can help him find a pathway

00:05:51.240 back to this country that he sacrificed so much for?

00:05:54.360 I will absolutely look at his case.

00:05:56.680 Secretary Noem taking a moment to respond to the Democrats'

00:05:59.500 immigration enforcement efforts resistance.

00:06:02.540 Every day we're able to go out and encounter and bring to justice individuals

00:06:06.800 who are raping our children, murdering our mothers, our grandmothers, 1.00

00:06:11.660 our families are devastated by them. 0.98

00:06:13.920 And I'm shocked at the Democrats' constant defense of these individual criminals

00:06:18.380 over the American citizen.

00:06:20.320 I think it's shameful to see the defense of individuals who break our laws.

00:06:24.480 We are a nation of laws.

00:06:25.580 If we are not a nation of laws, we're no nation at all.

00:06:28.140 And that is what we are doing every day is following those.

00:06:30.520 If you guys don't like the law, go change it.

00:06:32.640 That's your job.

00:06:33.360 You all should be fired in my viewpoint.

00:06:36.900 A federal judge ordering the release of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia from ICE custody yesterday.

00:06:43.940 Some may know him better as Maryland Man.

00:06:46.780 Obama appointed judge for the District of Maryland, Paula Zinnis,

00:06:50.500 ordering the Salvadorans' immediate release from the Pennsylvania Detention Center,

00:06:55.200 where he has been held since August.

00:06:57.460 Abrego-Garcia entering the national spotlight back in March

00:07:00.460 when ICE agents arrested him at a traffic stop,

00:07:04.120 shortly thereafter putting him on a flight to El Salvador,

00:07:07.400 igniting a legal battle and international outcry

00:07:10.500 in support of the accused serial abuser the media affectionately calls Maryland Man.

00:07:17.000 Abrego-Garcia's team suing the government,

00:07:20.040 arguing he was unlawfully returned to his home country

00:07:23.060 in violation of a withholding of removal order.

00:07:26.500 ICE officials conceding Abrego-Garcia was inadvertently included on a flight manifest

00:07:32.400 that should have only included people cleared for deportation to El Salvador.

00:07:36.900 But in the months since this story began,

00:07:39.040 the DOJ providing heaps of documents clarifying Abrego-Garcia's status and deportability,

00:07:45.240 as they saw a third country to send him to.

00:07:48.300 The relevant facts, according to the DOJ,

00:07:50.200 Abrego-Garcia admits to illegally entering the country in 2011 at the age of 16.

00:07:56.580 In 2019, he was arrested while associating with known MS-13 gang members.

00:08:01.720 Prince George's County, Maryland police records from the arrest

00:08:04.420 describe Garcia as wearing gang-associated clothing

00:08:07.440 and a reliable informant identifying Mr. Abrego-Garcia as an active MS-13 member.

00:08:13.480 That same year, an immigration judge granting Abrego-Garcia withholding of removal to El Salvador,

00:08:20.600 which means he was deportable but could not be sent back to his home country

00:08:25.220 for fear of gang retaliation.

00:08:27.620 After months of legal back and forth, with even the Supreme Court weighing in,

00:08:31.960 the government of El Salvador in June returning Abrego-Garcia back to the U.S.

00:08:36.280 following a Tennessee arrest warrant charging him with alien smuggling

00:08:40.860 and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling.

00:08:44.160 The charges connected to a 2022 traffic stop

00:08:47.080 in which prosecutors say Abrego-Garcia was transporting

00:08:50.220 nine other Hispanic men, all without luggage,

00:08:54.420 claiming they were traveling from a construction site in St. Louis to Maryland.

00:08:59.300 No charges were pursued at that time as federal officials under the Biden administration

00:09:03.280 made the decision not to detain Abrego-Garcia.

00:09:06.840 Also, it turns out, Abrego-Garcia's wife previously sought multiple orders of protection

00:09:11.900 against him.

00:09:13.320 One 2020 filing claiming he bragged he could kill her and, quote,

00:09:17.160 no one could do anything to him.

00:09:19.220 In 2021, a separate protective order request.

00:09:22.760 This one alleging that Abrego-Garcia punched, scratched, and grabbed his wife,

00:09:27.260 leaving her bruised and bloodied.

00:09:29.440 Yesterday, Judge Zinnis, finding the government did not actually have

00:09:34.120 a valid final order of removal from the U.S.

00:09:38.100 Judge Zinnis outlining multiple hearings in which DOJ officials were asked to provide the order

00:09:43.940 allowing for the government to deport Abrego-Garcia to any country other than El Salvador,

00:09:49.580 writing, quote,

00:09:50.160 ICE officials whose job it is to effectuate removal orders,

00:09:54.440 candidly admitted to having never seen one for Abrego-Garcia.

00:09:58.780 The judge writing the government's argument that the prior withholding of removal decision

00:10:03.280 should be treated as, quote,

00:10:04.720 an implied order of removal does not hold up.

00:10:07.740 Attorney and senior counsel at the Article 3 project, Will Chamberlain,

00:10:12.060 posting to X, quote,

00:10:13.560 The ultimate getting off on a technicality.

00:10:16.620 Abrego-Garcia was awarded relief that required

00:10:19.420 there be an order of removal as a prerequisite, 1.00

00:10:23.680 but the idiot immigration judge, 1.00

00:10:25.920 who believed his sob story, 1.00

00:10:27.960 apparently never issued one.

00:10:30.560 Press Secretary Caroline Levitt yesterday slamming Judge Zinnis, 0.72

00:10:33.820 saying Abrego-Garcia's saga is far from over.

00:10:36.960 The White House, the administration,

00:10:39.120 opposed this activism from a judge who is really acting as a judicial activist,

00:10:44.520 which we've unfortunately seen in many cases across the country.

00:10:47.580 Abrego-Garcia is present in our country illegally. 0.78

00:10:50.920 He is a proven human trafficker. 0.94

00:10:53.460 He is a proven gang member.

00:10:55.520 The administration has evidence of that.

00:10:57.720 And as you saw from the Department of Homeland Security,

00:11:00.160 they issued a statement saying they'll continue to fight this legal battle in court.

00:11:03.560 Odds are, the government will just seek an order of removal from a new immigration court.

00:11:09.440 There's no doubt he's here illegally and is deportable. 1.00

00:11:12.920 Goodbye, Maryland man.

00:11:15.960 Coming up, President Trump pushing ahead with Lindsay Halligan's nomination

00:11:19.760 for U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia

00:11:22.440 after a judge ruled her acting appointment was unlawful.

00:11:26.260 And Charlie Kirk's accused killer appearing in person in a Utah courtroom for the first time

00:11:32.060 since his arrest.

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00:12:41.220 President Trump seeking to confirm Lindsay Halligan as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

00:12:47.720 Halligan yesterday submitting a 28-page questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee,

00:12:52.260 summarizing her background and professional qualifications,

00:12:55.920 the first step following her nomination to the post on September 30th.

00:12:59.680 Halligan filling the post in an acting capacity after her predecessor, Eric Siebert, left the position,

00:13:05.600 reportedly under pressure to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey

00:13:09.780 and New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

00:13:12.940 Within days of assuming the job, Halligan indicting Comey,

00:13:16.220 with just days left to spare under the statute of limitations relating to accusations he lied to Congress.

00:13:22.940 Letitia James later indicted on mortgage fraud charges. 0.93

00:13:26.520 Both indictments dismissed late last month,

00:13:29.400 the judge ruling in a pair of nearly identical opinions that Halligan was never lawfully appointed.

00:13:35.620 Halligan's nomination process already facing a steep uphill battle due to the Senate's blue-slip process,

00:13:41.580 a Senate tradition giving senators effective veto power over which judges and U.S. attorneys will be nominated in their state.

00:13:49.800 Without earning the blue slips, the nominee traditionally does not get a vote.

00:13:54.220 The two Virginia senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats,

00:13:58.280 already signaling they will not approve Halligan's nomination, effectively rendering it dead on arrival.

00:14:04.220 Senator Kaine telling Courthouse News,

00:14:05.720 She hadn't reached out to Warner and me.

00:14:08.420 This whole thing is an attempt to just end-run around the Senate and end-run the Judiciary Committee.

00:14:14.880 President Trump, yesterday on True Social, railing against the blue-slip process, saying,

00:14:19.780 Blue slips are making it impossible to get great Republican judges and U.S. attorneys approved

00:14:24.600 to serve in any state where there is even a single Democrat senator.

00:14:29.360 If they say no, then it is over for that very well-qualified Republican candidate.

00:14:33.840 The administration targeting the Senate tradition for months as it faces roadblocks in moving

00:14:39.500 through nominees in Dem-controlled states.

00:14:42.220 Last month on Fox, Vice President J.D. Vance saying as the administration moves ahead in

00:14:47.080 seeking accountability for the weaponized DOJ under the Obama and Biden administrations,

00:14:53.320 filling these positions will be crucial.

00:14:55.480 Eventually, we need certain subpoenas that have to be issued by a court.

00:14:59.960 Eventually, you need local prosecutors, U.S. attorneys, to go after some of these people

00:15:05.420 in a court of law.

00:15:06.860 If you can't get a U.S. attorney appointed because the Democrat won't give you a blue-slip,

00:15:13.060 or you can't get a judge confirmed because the Democrats are gumming up the work of the Senate,

00:15:18.600 Republicans have got to open up their perspective a little bit.

00:15:21.760 Why do we let the blue-slip process make it impossible for Donald Trump

00:15:25.660 to appoint a federal judge in California?

00:15:27.640 The Democrats are stalling that, and we're going to wake up in a couple of years if we

00:15:32.760 don't have more U.S. attorneys approved, if we don't have more judges approved, we're going

00:15:37.360 to wake up in a couple of years and realize that we've done a lot of great work at the

00:15:40.880 Trump administration, but justice is not being meted out as it should be because we don't

00:15:45.960 have the people on the ground.

00:15:47.820 Senate Majority Leader John Thune yesterday on Fox defending his record in moving nominees

00:15:52.800 through the process, saying blue-slips are here to stay. 0.79

00:15:56.280 We have moved his nominees through the process at a record rate.

00:16:00.540 We will, by the end of this year, have a record number of his nominees approved to the executive

00:16:04.800 branch, got his cabinet confirmed at the fastest rate possible.

00:16:08.260 We'll continue to work on the judiciary, Dana, but this is a procedure that's been in place

00:16:12.780 for a long time that both Republicans and Democrats support because it gives them some input,

00:16:18.260 particularly in those judges, the judicial appointments that are made in their individual

00:16:22.480 states, some input into that decision-making process.

00:16:25.300 So you don't anticipate changing it?

00:16:27.360 I don't think it's going to change.

00:16:28.580 It's been in place for a long time.

00:16:29.960 And like I said, there are Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and off the Judiciary

00:16:33.900 Committee, for that matter, who support this and support it strongly.

00:16:38.200 Truth Social Post coming.

00:16:41.560 Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with murdering Charlie Kirk on September 10th, appearing

00:16:47.540 in a Provo, Utah courtroom yesterday in person for the first time since his arrest the following

00:16:53.500 day.

00:16:54.540 Judge Tony Graff previously ordering that Robinson is allowed to appear in street clothes but

00:17:00.140 must remain shackled for security purposes.

00:17:03.380 Robinson, dressed in a light blue button-up shirt and matching tie, seen smiling at times

00:17:08.540 with his legal team, chatting and appearing relaxed while seated at the courtroom table.

00:17:12.940 The pre-trial hearing focusing on transparency and public access issues, beginning with how much

00:17:18.900 of a closed hearing from October should be made public.

00:17:22.200 The judge clearing the courtroom for that portion of the proceedings.

00:17:25.440 Upon returning to the record, Judge Graff noting a violation of media rules had occurred,

00:17:30.240 with the camera picking up Robinson's shackles on the live stream.

00:17:34.040 The defense also objecting, stating that their papers were potentially visible to the live

00:17:38.580 stream and their side conversations could be overheard on the feed.

00:17:42.780 Judge Graff determining the live stream would be allowed to continue for the day, but putting

00:17:47.140 the media on notice.

00:17:48.840 I find that excluding the cameras from the courtroom would be disproportionate for this hearing.

00:17:55.120 The transmission cannot begin until court is in session and must end as the court ends

00:18:03.960 the session and cannot be filmed before or after.

00:18:08.420 I want to immediately address any possible transmission of shackles, as previously stated by counsel,

00:18:16.080 and remove the possibility of capture of screens of the computers at defense counsel's table as well.

00:18:24.160 In addition, if there is further violations of the standing de quorum order, this court does have the right

00:18:30.800 and will exercise termination of broadcast of these proceedings.

00:18:36.200 This court takes this very seriously.

00:18:38.900 While the court believes in openness and transparency,

00:18:42.300 it needs to be balanced with the constitutional rights of all parties in this case.

00:18:48.360 The hearing also covering future media access and procedures.

00:18:52.000 With the question of cameras in the courtroom still outstanding.

00:18:55.680 Judge Graff announcing he will issue his decision on the outstanding issues

00:18:59.380 in a virtual hearing set for December 29th, with Robinson to appear remotely.

00:19:05.320 Erica Kirk, Charlie's widow, also recognized as the designated victim representative,

00:19:11.280 meaning she will serve as the official voice for Charlie in court,

00:19:15.080 just as she's been since he was murdered in September.

00:19:18.960 Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

00:19:20.800 He is charged with one count of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm,

00:19:26.060 obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering,

00:19:29.020 and commission of a violent offense in front of a child.

00:19:32.820 Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

00:19:34.940 The trial is tentatively set for January 2027.

00:19:38.260 And that'll do it for your AM update.

00:19:42.940 I'm Megan Kelly.

00:19:43.860 Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel,

00:19:48.000 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megankelly, and on all podcast platforms.

00:19:53.300 At FanDuel Casino, you get even more ways to play.

00:20:01.160 Dive into new and exciting games, and all of your favorite casino classics,

00:20:05.760 like slots, table games, and arcade games.

00:20:08.640 Get more on FanDuel Casino.

00:20:10.820 Download the app today.

00:20:12.180 Please play responsibly, 19 plus and physically located in Ontario.

00:20:15.120 If you have questions or concerned about your gambling or the gambling of someone close to you,

00:20:18.100 please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge.

The Megyn Kelly Show - December 12, 2025

Noem vs. Dems, Abrego Garcia Released For Now, Tyler Robinson Smiles in Court： AM Update 12⧸12

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