The Megyn Kelly Show - Trump Unveils Election Intel, Blanche Meets Epstein Victims, WH Betting Probe： AM Update 7⧸17

00:00:00.400 All right, full-time thoughts. Craig, who stood out?

00:00:02.880 Brazil's lime cheesecakes started bright, didn't let up.

00:00:05.400 Nah, for me, Italian cappuccino was the standout in the box.

00:00:08.480 But if we're talking decadent performance, that's all France.

00:00:11.300 Chocolate creme brulee had the richest finishes.

00:00:13.680 Canadian fireworks really showed up big too.

00:00:15.700 And Mexico's caramel churro ice cap.

00:00:18.060 Gave me chills.

00:00:19.200 We are, of course, talking about Tim's taste of the globe lineup.

00:00:22.080 New globally inspired Timbits and ice cap flavors,

00:00:24.640 available at Tim Hortons for a limited time.

00:00:26.460 Pick some up today, and while you're at it, check out Footy Prime Daily.

00:00:30.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party and the Megyn Kelly Wrap-Up

00:00:36.800 Show on SiriusXM Channel 111. It's Friday, July 17th, 2026, and this is your AM update.

00:00:42.780 The election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes to hacking,

00:00:50.180 exploitation, and foreign interference. President Trump unveiling newly declassified

00:00:55.560 intelligence he says exposes sweeping vulnerabilities in America's election system.

00:01:00.940 I expect that meeting to occur before I'm willing to vote out of this committee.

00:01:04.660 Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche meeting with women who say they were victimized by

00:01:08.520 Jeffrey Epstein as he works to secure the support of key Republican senators.

00:01:13.260 President Trump's longtime teleprompter operator accused of cashing in on advanced access to the

00:01:19.220 president's speeches and a damaging new report about Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona

00:01:24.840 alleging affairs with congressional staffers

00:01:27.420 and raising new questions about what else may be out there.

00:01:31.160 All that and more coming up in just a moment

00:01:32.960 on your AM Update.

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00:02:53.820 TakeLean.com. President Trump delivering a primetime address last night focused on what

00:03:00.960 he describes as serious vulnerabilities across the nation's election systems. The president

00:03:05.440 speaking for nearly half an hour from the White House, outlining several areas he argues leave

00:03:10.260 U.S. elections exposed to foreign interference and illegal voting. Mr. Trump, beginning with

00:03:15.840 the announcement that his administration is releasing previously classified intelligence

00:03:20.060 collected by a new White House task force. This evidence shows that the election system we have

00:03:25.900 dangerously exposes and really exposes like levels never thought possible to hacking,

00:03:34.960 exploitation, and foreign interference. Just as disturbingly this vital information has for many

00:03:42.400 years been covered up and hidden from you. The American people are beautiful, are great American

00:03:48.800 people. But that all changes right now. The documents we will release starting tonight

00:03:55.860 have been gathered by the White House Government Transparency Task Force. You can see these

00:04:02.180 documents for yourself at whitehouse.gov. That's whitehouse.gov. Go check it out.

00:04:09.320 The president organizing the newly released intel into what he called, quote, five major areas of concern, beginning with an alleged Chinese breach involving the personal information of hundreds of millions of American voters.

00:04:21.480 Over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People's Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China's illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files.

00:04:42.800 That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences, and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, which is exactly what was happening.

00:04:59.780 This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare.

00:05:05.120 President Trump adding that raw intelligence obtained by the FBI in 2020 alleged China

00:05:09.960 attempted to manufacture illegal ballots for Joe Biden, while accusing officials inside

00:05:14.860 the intelligence community of suppressing reports about Beijing's activities and withholding

00:05:19.500 them from his presidential briefings.

00:05:21.700 Mr. Trump turning next to a Department of Homeland Security review, he says, offers

00:05:25.640 further evidence that weaknesses extend beyond foreign interference.

00:05:29.280 State voter rolls and public records, they identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens who are registered to vote in federal elections.

00:05:40.980 Since Democrat states refuse to share their voter files, the real number is actually much higher than that.

00:05:48.820 Yet, even this limited analysis found more than a quarter of a million foreigners illegally registered to vote.

00:05:56.880 put together these disclosures, reveal an election system so broken and so vulnerable

00:06:02.640 that no one can possibly defend it. It is not defensible.

00:06:08.100 The president then outlining the federal response to the declassified findings.

00:06:12.620 In light of the brand new and irrefutable information I have revealed tonight,

00:06:18.400 my administration is in the process of notifying the states whose election data was compromised by

00:06:25.760 the People's Republic of China and many others. We will be working closely to mitigate any harm,

00:06:33.180 and we're taking swift action to ensure that sensitive voter data is better protected

00:06:38.760 so we can never be bought, we can never be hacked, and we can never watch a stolen election again.

00:06:47.900 The president ending his remarks with a call to action.

00:06:50.920 Congress must pass the Safe America Act. How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat?

00:07:00.480 The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way. 0.60

00:07:12.320 This landmark bill requires that all voters must show photo voter ID.

00:07:19.700 These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I've mentioned.

00:07:25.180 To all Americans, I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives in the House and Senate,

00:07:31.520 and demand that they pass the Save America Act without delay.

00:07:37.100 Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche meeting yesterday afternoon with women who say they

00:07:43.180 were victimized by Jeffrey Epstein after a key Republican senator made the sit-down a condition

00:07:48.680 of supporting Blanche's nomination to permanently lead the DOJ. Several of the women seen arriving 0.99

00:07:54.540 at Justice Department headquarters for the private meeting with Blanche. It was not immediately clear

00:07:59.580 whether their attorneys joined them inside. The meeting coming just hours after GOP Senator Tom

00:08:04.920 Tillis of North Carolina announced he would not vote to advance Blanche's nomination until the

00:08:10.700 acting attorney general personally heard from the women or met with them through their counsel.

00:08:15.440 Senator Tillis delivering the ultimatum during yesterday morning's second day of confirmation

00:08:19.720 proceedings as Republican and Democrat witnesses testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

00:08:25.280 Mr. Blanche said very quickly yesterday that he would meet with the victims, the Epstein victims

00:08:33.120 today if it could be arranged. I understand the restriction. The council has to be present. I

00:08:38.880 expect that meeting to occur before I'm willing to vote out of this committee. And I'm trying to

00:08:43.540 get to yes, but this is a very important part of getting to yes. There should not be any reason

00:08:51.100 why, based on what Mr. Blanche said yesterday, if he said that he would do it today, then he can

00:08:56.560 certainly do it over the next two weeks. Blanche cannot afford to lose Republican support on the

00:09:01.580 committee. Senator Tillis's opposition would leave him without enough votes to advance if

00:09:06.260 every Democrat votes against him, as they are expected to do. Blanche facing pressure over

00:09:11.640 the issue during Wednesday's hearing, telling Democrat Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois that

00:09:16.560 DOJ ethics rules limited his ability to communicate directly with Epstein victims.

00:09:22.340 Will you meet with these 10 survivors? I'm asking you on the record.

00:09:25.920 If they have lawyers, as you know, I'm prohibited from meeting directly with them.

00:09:29.940 I have met with counsel for survivors, as has many people in the Department of Justice, over 30.

00:09:36.020 But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel.

00:09:39.040 If they don't have a lawyer, I will certainly make arrangements to make sure the right people at the Department of Justice meet with them.

00:09:44.640 Will you get it done within the next 30 days?

00:09:47.680 I will get it done today if that's necessary.

00:09:50.680 My point is there's somebody here who can meet with them today, get their information, and arrange to meet with them.

00:09:56.160 The committee is expected to vote on Blanche's nomination at its next meeting in roughly two weeks.

00:10:03.280 Coming up, a White House staffer placed on unpaid leave after allegedly using inside access to President Trump's speeches to make a six-figure profit on prediction markets.

00:10:15.180 And Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego accused of sleeping with congressional staffers during his years in the House as fresh questions about his judgment threaten his 2028 ambitions.

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00:11:34.380 President Trump's longtime teleprompter operator accused of turning advanced access to the

00:11:39.840 president's speeches into more than $100,000 in prediction market winnings. ABC News reporting

00:11:46.300 Gabriel Perez is negotiating a potential settlement with federal regulators over

00:11:50.920 allegations he used inside knowledge to bet on the words President Trump would mention in more

00:11:55.740 than a dozen speeches. Perez operating Mr. Trump's teleprompter since his first presidential campaign

00:12:02.020 in 2016 and, according to ABC sources, is often among the final staff members to review the

00:12:08.440 president's prepared remarks and receive his last-minute changes. The wager is taking place

00:12:13.460 on Kalshi's so-called mentions markets, where users can bet on whether a public figure will

00:12:18.580 use particular words, phrases, or subjects during an appearance. The New York Times reporting Perez

00:12:24.020 wagered on relatively common material, including country names and economic terms. Investigators

00:12:29.980 reportedly finding Perez sometimes sold his position while a speech was underway if President

00:12:35.040 Trump skipped a section containing a word Perez had bet would appear. A lawyer representing

00:12:40.520 Calci says its surveillance team identified the suspicious trading and referred it to the

00:12:44.820 Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, which regulates the platform. Perez is reportedly

00:12:50.320 cooperating with the investigation. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, back from

00:12:54.920 maternity leave, addressing the report yesterday. Who is running the teleprompter tonight after

00:13:00.220 this report that the other guy is now under investigation for making money off of reading

00:13:04.940 the president's speech? Obviously, I'm aware of the report. The president is too. I spoke with

00:13:09.660 him about it. He believes it's deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace. The White House

00:13:14.720 has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this. This individual

00:13:20.980 will no longer be here. He'll be on paid administrative leave. I'm sorry, without pay.

00:13:26.380 The administrative leave is unpaid, to be very clear. That was a decision by the president. So

00:13:31.580 I think that speaks for itself. The alleged bet spanning more than a dozen presidential

00:13:36.020 speeches over roughly three months, including February's State of the Union, a December

00:13:40.600 primetime address, Mr. Trump's January appearance at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland,

00:13:45.780 and a Medal of Honor ceremony in March, according to ABC. The White House later warning staff in a

00:13:51.060 March 24th email against using their government positions or non-public information to place bets,

00:13:56.740 Perez reportedly acknowledging some of the trades during an interview with regulators in recent

00:14:00.880 months, the CFTC also referring the case to federal prosecutors in Manhattan who declined

00:14:06.160 to open a criminal investigation.

00:14:08.320 Regulators now reportedly discussing a settlement

00:14:10.600 that would require Perez to surrender his profits

00:14:13.140 and agree not to make similar trades in the future.

00:14:16.640 Calci prohibits users from trading on information

00:14:19.240 obtained through their jobs

00:14:20.520 and began requiring customers

00:14:22.340 to disclose their employers last month.

00:14:24.480 The CFTC declined to comment on the investigation.

00:14:29.520 Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona

00:14:32.100 accused of having consensual sexual relationships

00:14:34.760 with at least two congressional staffers during his decade in the House,

00:14:38.780 according to a new report from the New York Post.

00:14:41.460 Sources telling the Post both women worked for Texas Democrats

00:14:44.460 and the relationships occurred while Gallego represented Phoenix in the House between 2015 and 2025.

00:14:50.880 The outlet reporting Gallego acknowledged both relationships to one source,

00:14:54.880 while another source confirmed one of the alleged relationships,

00:14:57.920 saying both relationships are believed to have occurred while he was unmarried.

00:15:02.340 The senator confronted by an NBC News reporter on Capitol Hill shortly after the story was published.

00:15:07.880 Senator Gallego replying, quote, I'm not going to engage in gossip.

00:15:12.060 One source describing the relationship to the Post as part of a broader, quote, pattern of mistakes and missteps and judgment calls,

00:15:18.840 noting one woman who was in her 20s and much younger than Gallego at the time and asking, quote, what else could there be out there?

00:15:25.860 Gallego divorcing his first wife, Kate, in December 2016 while she was nine months pregnant

00:15:30.760 and marrying his current wife, Sydney, in June 2021.

00:15:34.700 The report arriving less than three weeks after the Bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee

00:15:39.000 dismissed a complaint filed by Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida

00:15:43.420 alleging campaign finance violations and inappropriate conduct of asexual nature.

00:15:49.500 The committee saying it found no evidence that Senator Gallego violated federal law,

00:15:53.380 Senate rules or standards of conduct. An unnamed source telling the Post, the committee apparently

00:15:58.540 did not ask about the two reported staffer relationships because investigators were

00:16:02.920 unaware of them and remained focused on the claims Congresswoman Luna submitted. Congresswoman Luna

00:16:08.600 publicly alleging in April that she had heard from four women describing uncomfortable or

00:16:13.480 inappropriate advances, comments, or touching by Gallego, allegations the senator has denied.

00:16:18.820 The scrutiny also following the April resignation of Senator Gallego's former best friend in

00:16:24.200 Congress, Democrat Eric Swalwell of California, amid multiple allegations of sexual assault and

00:16:30.300 harassment that Swalwell denies. Senator Gallego abandoning his longtime ally after Swalwell's

00:16:36.260 resignation, blaming their friendship for his failure to take years of rumors seriously.

00:16:41.880 The Post reporting some Democrats fear further disclosures could complicate Gallego's future

00:16:46.800 political aspirations, as the 46-year-old senator considers a possible run for president in

00:16:52.000 2028. And of course, depending on what else emerges, could jeopardize his current position as well.

00:17:01.120 That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party.

00:17:04.820 Go and check out more at afterpartyemily.com. Catch The Megyn Kelly Show later today,

00:17:09.900 live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash megynkelly,

00:17:15.080 and all podcast platforms.

00:17:22.160 All right, full-time thoughts.

00:17:23.680 Craig, who stood out?

00:17:24.660 Brazil's lime cheesecake started bright, didn't let up.

00:17:27.200 Nah, for me, Italian cappuccino was the standout in the box.

00:17:30.260 But if we're talking decadent performance, that's all France.

00:17:33.100 Chocolate creme brulee had the richest finishes.

00:17:35.500 Canadian fireworks really showed up big too.

00:17:37.480 And Mexico's caramel churro ice cap.

00:17:39.840 Gave me chills.

00:17:41.000 We are, of course, talking about Tim's taste of the globe lineup.

00:17:43.740 New globally inspired 10 bits and ice cap flavors available at Tim Hortons for a limited time.

00:17:48.400 Pick some up today and while you're at it, check out Footy Prime Daily.

The Megyn Kelly Show - July 17, 2026

Trump Unveils Election Intel, Blanche Meets Epstein Victims, WH Betting Probe： AM Update 7⧸17

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