Blanche’s Fiery Hearing, Trump Reverses ICE Vehicle Rule, Daylight Saving Time Vote: AM Update 7/16

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Serta.

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We make the world's best mattress. Good morning everyone. I'm Emily Jaszynski, host of Afterparty and the Megyn Kelly Wrap Up show on Sirius XM channel 111. It's Thursday, July 16, 2026 and this is your AM update.

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What happened to the prosecutor who said that there wouldn't be a whif political partisanship and then prosecutes the President's enemies over seashells?

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche clashing with Democrat senators at a contentious confirmation hearing as one undecided Republican could determine whether President Trump's nominee advances.

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So it becomes a lot safer to do it that way versus going into a house, knocking on a door, not know really who, knowing who's in that house.

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President Trump abruptly reversing DHS restrictions on ICE vehicle stops a former Arizona Democrat Party official arrest after allegedly confronting an ex partner with a knife and black tape and the House voting to end the twice yearly clock change advancing President Trump's push to make Daylight Saving time permanent. All that and more coming up in just a moment. On your AM Update.

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President Trump's nominee for attorney general clashing with Democrat senators yesterday while facing potentially decisive questions from a key Republican. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, defending his leadership of the DOJ during a largely contentious Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing. Blanche's nomination now facing an exceptionally narrow path through the committee. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham's sudden death over the weekend, leaving Republicans with just one vote to lose, as every Democrat is expected to oppose the nomination. GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas emerging as the pivotal undecided vote. More on that in a minute. Democrat Senator Maisie Hirono of Hawaii opening with a familiar yet still bizarre line of questioning.

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Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?

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No, Senator.

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Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement relating to this kind of conduct?

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No, Senator.

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Among Blanche's sharper exchanges, a clash with Democrat Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey over his attendance at a dinner hosted by Paramount CEO David Ellison. Senator Booker noting the dinner took place the same day Paramount shareholders approved a merger still under Justice Department review, pressing Blanche on whether this attendance crossed ethical lines.

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The Justice Department ethics rules are very clear about, approved about, about avoiding the appearance of impropriety in a case like this. I don't think that's appearance of impropriety. I think that's improper, that the connected and the powerful are getting a chance to rub shoulders. It would seem appropriate that you avoid those kind of appearances and dinners like that.

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Every appearance or dinner or speech that I give are cleared by ethics officials.

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So your attendance at that dinner was cleared by ethics officials.

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Everything that I do.

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I didn't ask you. Everything you do was your appearance at that dinner.

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You can ask the questions, but you cannot control my answers. I'm under oath, and I can answer the questions. I choose to answer them.

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Blanche delivering another forceful response after Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode island launched a series of personal attacks against FBI Director Cash Patel.

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How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character? Are you good with his airplane jaunts? Are you confident he's not drinking on the job? Are you sure none of his travel is a pretext for vacation activities like snorkeling, Olympics and visiting girlfriends? Are you sure he knows what he's doing? Do you vouch for him? Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?

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That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator. And I have full faith in Director Patel and the work that he's doing every day.

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Democrat Senator Adam Schiff of California taking the questioning in an especially personal direction. Senator Schiff himself censored by the House and blocked from returning to the Intelligence Committee over his conduct during the Trump Russia investigations. And now facing allegations of mortgage fraud that he denies, nevertheless accusing Blanche of compromising his principles.

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What happened to the prosecutor who said that there wouldn't be a whiff of political partisanship? And then prosecutes the president's enemies over seashells and cases, over making a video stating the plain law and Constitution? What happened to you, Todd Blanche? It is a sad story that we have seen from Trump appointee after appointee after appointee. We have seen people compromise themselves little by little and then a lot by a lot, until they're sitting before this committee and trying to justify the unjustifiable.

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You ask me what happened to Todd Blanche? I am still here. I am the same exact person I was when I was a federal prosecutor in the sdny, which is do the right thing and do everything you can to keep communities safe. So when I was a line prosecutor, when I was a supervisor, when I was the head of a division, my motivation and my goal was the same thing with the people who worked with me and worked for me, which is do the right thing, enforce the laws and put bad guys in jail.

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Blanche, who was President Trump's personal attorney before joining the administration, confirming during Senator Schiff's questioning that he has recused himself from any remaining DOJ work connected to the three now concluded criminal cases against the president, the New York business records prosecution, the January 6 investigation, and the classified documents case at Mar a Lago. The hearing taking a potentially more consequential turn with questions from Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who lost his reelection bid to Republican primary challenger Ken Paxton and is now the pivotal undecided vote on Blanche's nomination. Senator Cornyn pressing Blanche over the now abandoned Anti Weaponization fund, a nearly $1.8 billion pool created through the settlement of President Trump's lawsuit over the leaking of his tax records, intended to compensate people who claimed they had been unfairly targeted by the justice system. The proposal drawing bipartisan resistance over concerns it could steer taxpayer monies to political allies through a process controlled by the administration. Cornyn, probing whether the administration had fully closed the door on the fund.

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First of all, I believe you have said that the weaponization fund is a moot issue. Is that your position?

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Yes, it is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund. The weaponization fund is dead. It's not moving forward. I've talked extensively with you and other colleagues about potentially codifying. So there's no weaponization fund, which is certainly something that could be done.

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But just to be clear, the President of the United States, who was a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the weaponization fund. And there's no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs might raise that issue by way of a lawsuit and a breach of contract lawsuit in the future?

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Well, Senator, the plaintiffs have no power over the fund. The fund was administered solely by the by the five commissioners and through the Department of Justice. So no, they don't have any power with respect to the fund at all. I suppose they could bring a lawsuit and then we would litigate it. But even if we were litigating it, there's no fund.

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Senator Cornyn declining to say which way he is leaning after the hearing, telling reporters he does not have to make a decision yet, but adding he thought Blanche did a, quote, pretty good job. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina also expressing concerns about whether the fund had been permanently eliminated, but signaling he is leaning towards supporting Blanche. A separate hearing scheduled for later this morning with Democrat and Republican witnesses expected to testify on Blanche's nomination. President Trump reversing a short lived restriction on ICE vehicle stops yesterday, directing immigration officers to resume using what he called one of the agency's most effective enforcement tools. The reversal coming one day after the Department of Homeland Security ordered ICE officers to halt most vehicle stops nationwide following two fatal shootings during immigration operations in less than one week. DHS imposing the temporary restriction Tuesday after the deadly encounters in Houston, Texas and Biddeford, Maine. Neither man killed was the target. Agents had initially set out to arrest, though federal officials allege both weaponized their vehicles against authorities. Another deadly encounter unfolding in Florida on Tuesday morning. Authorities say a 28 year old Mexican national ran from immigration authorities at a gas station near St. Augustine, crossing a busy road when he was struck and killed by a semi. Later on Tuesday, DHS ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops while carrying out operations across the country. A memo obtained by Fox News and sent to ICE field office directors declaring, quote, effective immediately, all enforcement and removal operations initiated. Enforcement vehicle stops are suspended until further notice. The memo allowing an exception when officers were executing a criminal warrant against a target inside a vehicle, though ICE personnel were instructed to work with a partner agency to initiate the stop. Less than 24 hours after DHS imposed the pause, President Trump abruptly overruling the department. Early yesterday morning, Mr. Trump writing on Truth Social, quote, we cannot give up one of ice's most important and effective crime fighting tools, the traffic stop. Once we do, we are playing right into the criminal's hands. The radical left Democrats would like to see this done, but it won't happen on my watch. Ice, be judicious, fair and smart and go back and do your very important job. Dhs Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen, who entered the job promising to get ICE out of the headlines after the fatal shootings of anti ICE protesters Renee Goode and Alex Preddy in January fueled weeks of protests and clashes backing the president's reversal. Secretary Mullen posting in response, quote, our number one goal is to keep our officers safe and get criminals off our streets. Illegal aliens will be arrested and deported wherever they are. We spoke with former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf about the rapid policy reversal.

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I think you can do both. I think you can look at the training, you can look at the procedures, you can do a variety of things while those vehicle stops continue as well. So you know the two aren't mutually exclusive.

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Wolf explains how ICE typically carries out a vehicle stop and why agents often prefer them to arrests at homes or

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workplaces that's almost always targeted. So you know, a nice, a group of ICE agents and officers will likely surveil an individual, whether they're at their house, their employment, whatever it might be, and then they'll watch him or her, the target, get in a vehicle, get to a sort of a, I'm not going to say a safe space, but a place where there's not a lot of people around. And then they'll make the targeted stop, the targeted vehicle stop in that case. And they do that because largely they've got, they should have a lot of information because they can start running license plates, they can see who the car is registered to and then determine whether or not the person driving it is the registered vehicle owner and see who else is in the car. And so it becomes a lot safer to do it that way versus going into a house, knocking on a door, not know really who, knowing who's in that house, if there are weapons in that house.

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Coming up, a former Arizona Democrat Party official accused of forcing his way into an ex partner's home with a knife and black tape before offering police an explanation almost too bizarre to believe. And the twice a year clock change could finally be running out of time after a major vote in Congress.

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a former Arizona Democrat Party official and so called transgender activists facing felony charges after police say he forced his way into an ex partner's home carrying a knife and black tape. 41 year old Brianna Westbrook a man living as a woman arrested Friday and charged with burglary and aggravated assault following an alleged role playing confrontation his former partner insists she never agreed to. Westbrook later offering investigators an extraordinary explanation, claiming he believed the encounter was a consensual bondage scene arranged through a subliminal message on Instagram. Westbrook previously serving as a vice chair of the Arizona Democrat Party and chairing the party's LGBTQ caucus. He also previously held leadership positions with the Democratic Socialists of America, including serving as an officer in the group's Phoenix chapter and working with its national immigrant rights organization. Westbrook unsuccessfully seeking elected office several times as a Democrat running for Congress in 2018 in an election ultimately won by Republican Congresswoman Debbie Lesko in 2022. Westbrook losing the Democratic primary race for Arizona's 5th legislative district. Westbrook coming out as transgender in his late 20s and documenting his transition on a YouTube channel that reportedly attracted thousands of subscribers before it was deleted. Westbrook making his transgender identity a central theme of his 2018 campaign.

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The most powerful gift that I could give someone that's coming out is the courage to do it. The most powerful gift that I could give someone that is listening to someone coming out is unconditional love. Love to love that person regardless of who they love or who they are becoming.

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Phoenix police responding shortly after 6:00 clock Friday evening to the home of a woman who identified Westbrook as her former partner. The woman reportedly telling officers she heard a knock and opened the door believing her son had arrived, according to the Phoenix New Times. Instead, she would find Westbrook outside holding a knife in one hand and black tape in the other. Police say Westbrook pushed his way into the residence and began wrestling with his former partner before forcing her onto a couch and ordering her not to move. The woman screaming for help, causing her sister to rush into the living room. Police detaining Westbrook at his downtown Phoenix home after he walked outside and reportedly began describing the incident as a, quote, big misunderstanding. Westbrook admitting he went to his former partner's home carrying tape and what he claimed was a fake knife, telling investigators the two had previously participated in BDSM and had agreed to recreate a frightening scene to help the woman confront childhood trauma. Westbrook's former partner rejecting that explanation, telling officers she never agreed to a BDSM encounter or any form of reenactment. Police later recovered a knife, tape and gloves while searching Westbrook's residence, according to the Phoenix New Times. Westbrook charged with third degree burglary and aggravated assault using a simulated deadly weapon, both felonies. He's also facing a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. Permanent Daylight Saving Time now one step closer to reality. The House passing the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act Tuesday by a vote of 308 to 117, advancing President Trump's push to end the twice yearly clock change. The bill would keep most of the country on Daylight Saving Time year round, meaning Americans would spring forward in March and never fall back again in November. Summer evenings would remain unchanged, while winter mornings would stay darker an hour longer and sunsets would arrive an hour later. Supporters argued the extra evening sunlight would encourage outdoor activity and boost businesses, while opponents warned some children and commuters could begin winter mornings in total darkness. The measure now heading to the Senate, where its prospects remain uncertain despite the chamber passing a similar proposal in 2022. President Trump promising to work, quote, very hard to get the bill signed into law. Writing on Truth Social it will be, quote, a very nice win for the Republican Party. Take it. We are going with a far more popular alternative, saving daylight, which gives you a longer, brighter day. And who can be against that? This is an easy one. This could prove to be one of the stranger major fights President Trump has ahead in his second term, as opinions vary widely and strongly to the measure that'll do it. For your AM Update, I'm Emily Jaszynski, host of After Party. Go and check out more@afterpartyemily.com catch the Megyn Kelly show later today live on SiriusXM's the Megyn Kelly Channel 111 at noon east on YouTube.com Megyn Kelly and all podcast platforms.

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