Megan Kelly reports on a New York Times investigation revealing the Biden administration used an auto pen to grant thousands of commutations, sparking accusations of cognitive decline and a "tremendous scandal" from President Trump. The segment details internal FBI conflicts over the Jeffrey Epstein case mediated by JD Vance, with conservatives demanding unsealed grand jury testimony. Finally, Trump announces a $10 billion weapons sale policy for NATO allies to supply Ukraine, asserting the equipment was essential since the war began. Ultimately, these reports highlight deepening political fractures regarding executive power and transparency in both administrations. [Automatically generated summary]
It's Tuesday, July 15th, 2025, and this is your AM update.
There's a reason you do an interview like that with a place like the New York Times because the evidence is starting to come out and it doesn't look so good.
President Biden raising more questions than answers in a brief interview with the New York Times regarding the auto pen.
I believe that there will probably be more coming on this, and I believe anything that they are able to release, I believe they'll probably try to get out sooner rather than later.
The Epstein story lives on following massive outcry from Trump allies.
New reporting indicates more disclosures may be on the way.
And President Trump announces a dramatic shift in U.S. policy towards supplying Ukraine with weapons.
All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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Late Sunday night, the New York Times dropping a bombshell in the Biden Auto Pen story.
During the final weeks of the Biden administration, the White House granting commutations and pardons to thousands of individuals.
These acts of clemency all signed with the Auto Pen, a mechanical device used to replicate the president's signature.
The lone exception was the unprecedented Hunter Biden blanket pardon, which the president personally signed.
At present, there are multiple investigations into the extensive use of the Auto Pen within the Biden White House.
Critics pointing to clear signs of Mr. Biden's cognitive decline and raising questions about who was making key decisions in his administration.
Former President Biden, in an apparent attempt to defend himself from these accusations, raising even more questions with the Times.
From the report, quote, Mr. Biden said that he had orally granted all the pardons and commutations issued at the end of his term, calling President Trump and other Republicans liars for claiming his aides had used an auto pen to do so without his authorization.
The Biden White House targeting thousands for commutations, including reducing the prison time of about 2,500 so-called non-violent drug offenders and turning 37 death sentences to life without parole.
And of course, a set of preemptive pardons for the members of the staff of the January 6th House Select Committee, Dr. Fauci, General Mark Milley, and certain members of the Biden family.
The Times finding the AutoPen was managed by White House staff secretary Stephanie Feldman after assistance to key Biden aides, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zeintz and White House Counsel Ed Siskel would draft, quote, blurbs describing President Biden's instructions.
The Times noting, quote, the assistants who drafted the blurbs were not themselves in the room with Mr. Biden, according to the lists of meeting participants.
The emails from the Biden White House imply that Mr. Siskel and Mr. Zeintz relayed what Mr. Biden had said to the assistants who then documented it.
In other words, for pardons like that of Dr. Fauci and the January 6th committee, there is no direct written proof that former President Biden approved and directed them.
Meanwhile, the Times reporting one former aide saying the list of inmates provided by the Bureau of Prisons kept changing.
And quote, rather than ask Mr. Biden to keep signing revised versions, his staff waited and then ran the final version through the Auto Pen, which they saw as routine procedure.
President Trump, who previously ordered an investigation into the Biden White House's use of the Auto Pen on Monday from the Oval Office reacting to the latest reporting.
The AutoPen, I think, is maybe one of the biggest scandals that we've had in 50 to 100 years.
This is a tremendous scandal.
I guarantee he knew nothing about what he was signing.
I guarantee it.
We spoke to Mike Howell, president of nonprofit governmental watchdog, the Oversight Project, the group responsible for discovering the widespread use of the AutoPen, about these latest revelations.
Howell says nothing about the Biden White House's auto pen process was routine.
There's nothing routine about the frequency of auto pen usage in the Biden administration, and there's nothing routine about the level of incapacitation we saw out of President Biden, which the whole country witnessed when he malfunctioned on stage, had the debate when they finally let him out unsupervised for a couple hours.
And there's also nothing routine about President Biden being in the White House and signing some things and not signing others.
There's nothing routine about Neera Tandon's testimony where she said as staff secretary, she would rarely even see the president when she was the one in charge of moving the paper and limiting legal liability and things like this massive scandal of the century.
There's nothing routine about sending up quote-unquote decision memos to the president and then getting an initial back without seeing the president actually approve it and then spitting out an executive order, which for all we know may not have even matched what was in the decision memo.
You know, President Trump has said maybe Biden didn't even know he opened the border.
And I think, you know, when you have this kind of process, that really buttresses the argument that maybe he didn't actually know what was spitting out of these executive orders.
The New York Times separately releasing a write-up containing excerpts of its 10-minute phone call with President Biden.
The short blurbs containing many verbal stumbles and fragmented thoughts.
Howell accuses the Times of running cover for Mr. Biden.
It's like a 10-minute interview.
I wonder why the New York Times didn't publish the audio of it.
That's pretty curious of them.
I would love to know how President Biden sounded in that because also a key element here is his capacity altogether.
You know, it's his awareness of what was being done is one separate question from the fact of whether he was mentally there to sign off on those things.
And so they don't address that issue whatsoever.
And I think them not publishing the 10-minute audio of the interview probably leads any reasonable person to believe he probably didn't sound too sharp in that.
MK Media star Mark Halperin, host of Next Up with Mark Halperin, questioning why the Times did not round out its piece with reaction from the appropriate people.
It's like that's basic journalism 101.
Biden is now taking the position that he could delegate pardons, right?
That's the position they took in the story.
Everything else is fine.
That's the one thing.
So what do law professors think about that?
What do Republicans think about that?
It's absent from the story.
I don't understand that as a matter of journalism.
And I guarantee if it were Republican, they'd have both those things.
They have some hysterical law professor saying this is an impeachable offense.
And they have a Republican saying this needs to be investigated.
It's absent from the story.
It's madness.
Mike Howell also says the New York Times reporting vindicates the Oversight Project's investigation, which the Times has criticized in the past.
In March, the New York Times published a piece calling us our investigation and conspiracy theory.
And so last night, I guess they did a full 180, admitted we were right and they were wrong.
I mean, it's clear their intent in that piece was trying to control the damage to the Biden legacy, but I don't think it was effective in that.
I think this is absolute validation.
You know, you can't get better validation than when the opposition says you were right.
I mean, I knew we were right from day one, but when even the New York Times says you were right, it's, you know, you kind of dismiss any objections that may remain out there.
They're just trying to say, oh, well, now we do admit it would happen, but we just don't think it was that bad.
There's a reason you do an interview like that with a place like the New York Times.
It's because people, the evidence is starting to come out and it doesn't look so good for what's left of the legacy of President Biden.
Coming up, the Jeffrey Epstein story takes on a new twist and President Trump announcing a new arrangement in supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Bongino Bondi Conflict Explained00:07:05
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The Jeffrey Epstein story isn't going anywhere, not anytime soon, at least, despite the unsigned leaked DOJ memo indicating the case is closed and that there will be no further disclosures.
CNN reporting two sources confirm FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino did report to work on Monday, though Bongino's long-term future as deputy director appears uncertain.
Bongino reportedly taking a personal day on Friday following clashes with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein story.
Vice President JD Vance reportedly spending the weekend mediating between A.G. Bondi and Bongino.
On Sunday, President Trump praising Bongino on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.
Oh, I think so.
I did.
I spoke to him today.
Dan Bongino is a very good guy.
I've known him a long time.
I've done his show many, many times.
And he sounded terrific, actually.
No, I think he's in good shape.
The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro discussing Monday on the Megan Kelly show the nature of the conflict between Deputy Director Bongino and A.G. Bondi.
My understanding is that the actual outcome of the DOJ investigation is properly stated in that memo.
he's upset about is if you oversell the story and you create a deliverable for the FBI and then the FBI doesn't deliver, then that falls on Kash Patel and Dan Bongino.
And so Pam Bondi basically did that.
She went out there and ran her mouth without the actual goods to back it up.
And then when it turns out that it's Geraldo Rivera safe, then of course it makes Dan look bad, it makes cash look bad, it makes the president look bad and all the rest.
That's my understanding of this dispute.
And if that's the nature of the dispute, then obviously I'm very much on Dan Bongino's side and Kash Patel's side because, again, I think that Pam Bondi pretty clearly to the public made a bunch of statements that were unrepresentative of the final DOJ FBI memo that was released.
There is no way that Pam Bondi should not be doing a press conference where she at least answers that question.
At the very least, I need to hear it from their mouth, that we're releasing everything that can be released.
Many Trump allies concurring with Shapiro's view that A.G. Bondi could quell much of this criticism by holding an exhaustive press conference or sitting with someone like your humble reporter.
Turning point USA founder and informal advisor to President Trump Charlie Kirk Monday on his show offering some leniency to the administration after a weekend of people criticizing them at his turning point event, but stressing that the administration's handling of the Epstein matter so far falls short.
Plenty was said this last weekend at our event about Epstein.
Honestly, I'm done talking about Epstein for the time being.
I'm going to trust my friends in the administration.
I'm going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it.
Ball's in their hands.
But let me just say this again.
Everyone knows my opinion about the Epstein thing, the messaging fumble.
I would love to see the DOJ move to unseal the grand jury testimony.
I think that would be a big win.
I would love to see that.
And I'm going to trust my friends, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, my friend Pam Bondi, all these guys.
I'm going to, Todd Blanche, I'm going to trust them to solve it.
Ball's in their court.
I think that there was plenty of, let's say, speeches that were directed towards this topic this last weekend.
Monday afternoon on the Benny Johnson show, President Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, teasing more information will be released.
I do think that there needs to be more transparency on this.
And I think that that will happen.
I mean, look, I don't know what truly exists there, but I know that this is something that's important to the president as well.
He does want transparency on all these fronts, that everything we're talking about, because it's frustrated him as well.
As it relates to the president, I know that this is probably not his number one thing he's focused on, but he hears all the noise and he hears all of the consternation out there.
And I think he's going to want to set things right as well.
So I believe that there will probably be more coming on this.
And I believe anything that they are able to release that doesn't damage any witnesses or anyone underage or anything like that, I believe they'll probably try to get out sooner rather than later because they hear it and they understand it.
Last night, Benny Johnson posting on X, quote, just got off the phone with top federal law enforcement contact.
The change in approach to Epstein has been dramatic.
Expect more disclosures.
Some very powerful people inside administration are now pushing for a special counsel and a full press briefing on Epstein findings.
We'll have new reporting on this today on the Megan Kelly show and throughout the week.
President Trump announcing a shift in U.S. policy towards supplying arms to Ukraine.
The U.S. will begin selling weapons to NATO allies who will then send those supplies to Ukraine.
Axios reporting the first wave of purchases will be worth about $10 billion, including missiles, air defense weaponry, and artillery shells.
President Trump on Monday from the Oval with NATO Secretary General Mark Ruta signaling a shift in favor of Ukraine with this new deal.
The purpose of this is to say that this is a very big deal we've made.
This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, et cetera.
That's going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.
Ukraine will take it up.
And, you know, say what you want about Ukraine.
When the war started, they had no chance.
And they still would have had no chance if the equipment, they had the best equipment, because we do make the best planes and missiles, and we make the best military equipment in the world by far.
And that'll do it for your AM update.
I'm Megan Kelly.
Join me back here for the Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at Noon East, on youtube.com/slash Megan Kelly, and on all Podcast platforms.