Epstein Questions Remain & Deadly Screwworm Dangers | 7.10.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary: Epstein Questions Remain & Deadly Screwworm Dangers | July 10, 2025

Presented by The Daily Wire’s Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and co-host Georgia Howe, Morning Wire delivers in-depth coverage of the latest developments in politics, culture, education, sports, and more. In the July 10, 2025 episode titled "Epstein Questions Remain & Deadly Screwworm Dangers," Howe and guest Cabot Phillips delve into the persistent controversies surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case, a pivotal Supreme Court decision affecting the federal bureaucracy, and a growing agricultural threat from deadly screwworms in Mexico.

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1. Ongoing Controversy Surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein Case

The episode opens with Georgia Howe addressing the mounting concerns over the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Public suspicion is intensifying, leading to increased calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s resignation.

Cabot Phillips criticizes the DOJ’s approach:
“Joke may be too soft of a term. It's really just terrible. It's an absolute disaster.” [00:14]

As the discussion unfolds, Tim Pierce highlights a significant Supreme Court decision that has implications for former President Trump’s agenda against the so-called "deep state." However, the focus soon shifts back to the Epstein case.

Tim Pierce explains the GOP’s frustration:
“This is one of those rare stories where the bulk of the outrage going against the White House seems to be coming more from the right than the left.” [02:26]

Cabot Phillips elaborates on the shortcomings of the investigation:
“They looked at the existing evidence gathered by an FBI, which is only one note. It doesn't include the intelligence community... The FBI didn't fully investigate Epstein.” [03:07]

Despite the Trump administration’s declaration that the Epstein investigation is closed, many Republicans remain unconvinced. Phil Kaufman notes that major figures within the GOP base are dissatisfied with the DOJ’s conclusion, emphasizing the unresolved questions about Epstein’s connections with global elites and potential co-conspirators.

Cabot Phillips underscores the broader implications:
“You had the richest and most powerful people in the world descending on an island where a known massive sex trafficker was... These are massive questions about the functioning of our country and the rule of law.” [03:51]

The credibility of Attorney General Pam Bondi is severely affected as she retracts her earlier statements about releasing evidence and co-conspirator names. Tim Pierce observes:
“Pam Bondi is on the hot seat from a PR perspective. This is the most outrage we've seen from the GOP base towards the Trump administration since the election.” [05:37]

The segment concludes with an acknowledgment of the broken promises and the deepening mistrust among Trump supporters regarding the DOJ's handling of the Epstein case.

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2. Supreme Court Ruling on Trump’s Federal Government Reduction Plans

Transitioning to a landmark Supreme Court decision, Tim Pierce introduces the discussion on President Trump’s efforts to reduce the federal bureaucracy. The Supreme Court has recently cleared the way for Trump’s plans to implement mass government layoffs, a move intended to dismantle the so-called "deep state."

Philip Kaufman breaks down the ruling:
“President Trump essentially ordered federal agencies to come up with ways to implement recommendations and to cut the size of the federal workforce... The Supreme Court disagreed with the lower court’s broad injunction.” [07:24]

Hans Von Spakovsky, Heritage Foundation’s senior legal fellow, explains the implications:
“What the Supreme Court has done is say we're staying that injunction... which means they can go forward, the administration can go forward with its plans for restructuring and reducing the federal workforce.” [07:58]

However, Kaufman and Von Spakovsky caution that legal challenges may continue:
“Legal challenges can still be filed. Very likely will be filed over specific reductions, but Trump will probably eventually carry those challenges.” [08:30]
“It does clear the way for the Trump administration to move forward... reductions in force, RIFs... Almost every president has done that.” [08:44]

The decision also highlights notable tensions within the Supreme Court, particularly among the liberal justices. Kaufman points out the internal conflicts:
“Justice Sotomayor signed a concurrence in favor of the decision and Justice Jackson signed a pretty pointed dissent... Justice Jackson called the majority decision 'not only truly unfortunate, but also hubristic and senseless.'” [09:40]

Von Spakovsky criticizes Justice Jackson’s dissent:
“She was a big mistake getting put on the court and that she just doesn't have the legal acumen to be on the court.” [10:00]

The segment underscores the deep ideological divides within the Supreme Court and the potential long-term impacts on administrative law and executive authority.

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3. Deadly Screwworm Threatens US Livestock

The final major topic addresses a significant agricultural threat: the resurgence of the New World Screwworm in Mexico, which poses a severe risk to US cattle and other livestock. Amanda Prestigiacomo reports on the situation, explaining how the screwworms, which had been eradicated in the US and other regions for decades, are now spreading rapidly.

Amanda Prestigiacomo details the threat:
“These parasitic flies are called New World Screwworm, and their larva infest warm-blooded animals like cattle... A screwworm infestation can kill a cow in a matter of days.” [11:22]

In response to the new outbreaks, the USDA took immediate action by suspending live animal imports from Mexico through US southern ports of entry on May 11. Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary, has been vocal about the threat:
“The United States has promised to be vigilant and after detecting this new screwworm case, we are pausing the planned port reopenings to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico.” [14:23]

The USDA’s eradication strategy involves an innovative approach of breeding and releasing billions of sterilized male flies to reduce the wild population. Philip Kaufman, professor and Department Head of Entomology at Texas A&M University, explains:
“We combat the screwworm problem through a number of approaches, including monitoring our animals... releasing sterilized male flies that mate with the wild females. That wild female cannot lay eggs that will hatch and over time we reduce that population.” [13:17]

The USDA’s efforts have included significant collaboration with Mexico, providing technical support and resources to contain the spread. However, recent developments forced the USDA to reverse earlier plans to reopen ports, much to the approval of ranchers and cattle groups who feared the economic devastation of an uncontrolled screwworm outbreak.

Amanda Prestigiacomo highlights the pushback from agricultural stakeholders:
“Ranchers who were concerned about the reopenings are pleased with the closure. The largest cattle producer association, R Calf USA, supports Secretary Rollins’ decision, emphasizing the importance of waiting until the pest is eradicated before resuming trade.” [14:52]

The episode concludes with an optimistic note on the USDA’s ongoing efforts to manage and eradicate the screwworm threat, ensuring the safety of the US livestock industry and food supply chain.

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Conclusion

In this episode of Morning Wire, Georgia Howe and Cabot Phillips provide a comprehensive analysis of critical issues impacting the nation, from the unresolved controversies in the Jeffrey Epstein case and significant Supreme Court decisions affecting federal governance, to urgent threats facing the agricultural sector. By presenting expert opinions, notable quotes, and detailed explanations, the podcast equips listeners with a nuanced understanding of these multifaceted topics.

Transcript

[Georgia Howe]

Questions mount over the DOJ and FBI's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, fueling public suspicion and calls for Pam Bondi to resign.

[Cabot Phillips]

Joke may be too soft of a term. It's really just terrible. It's an absolute disaster.

[Georgia Howe]

I'm Georgia Howe. John is on vacation, but we're joined by Cabot Phillips. Today is Thursday, July 10, and this is Morning Wire.

[Tim Pierce]

The Supreme Court clears the way for Trump's mass government layoffs. Will this finally end the so called deep state?

[Hans Von Spakovsky]

They're winning not only in some of the courts of appeal, but they keep winning at the Supreme Court.

[Georgia Howe]

And a deadly screw worm is spreading through cattle in Mexico. That screwworm had moved from within 1100 miles of our border to 700 miles of our border within a matter of weeks.

[Tim Pierce]

Thanks for waking up with Morning wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need.

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[Georgia Howe]

Days after the Trump administration declared the Epstein investigation closed, public outrage continues to grow. Now some Republicans are calling for the removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips has the latest. So Cavett, this story continues to dominate. It's not going anywhere. What's the latest?

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, this is one of those rare stories where the bulk of the outrage going against the White House seems to be coming More from the right than the left. Trump administration released that now infamous memo Sunday night saying the Epstein case was closed. But that is clearly not what many in the GOP base wanted to hear. Everyone from conservative radio hosts and influencers to even lawmakers on the Hill have made clear that they are not buying the official story because. And they want to know why the FBI and DOJ are essentially waving the white flag. Remember, that memo said that they had made this decision after reviewing the existing evidence in FBI possession. Critics want to know why they did not seek together more evidence. One of those critics on the right is Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project. Here's what he told me.

[Cabot Phillips]

They looked at the existing evidence gathered by an FBI, which is only one note. It doesn't include the intelligence community. I'm not surprised to hear that within the existing case files they didn't find anything to confirm because I don't think it was there. The point is the FBI didn't fulsomely investigate the the Epstein. And even in the event they came across incriminating information, which we've already seen over the course of the history of this case, it's the Federal Bureau of Investigations they should have investigated with this new leadership. And it appears that they just reviewed existing material.

[Tim Pierce]

Now look, there are plenty of Americans who might say that there are more important things to be discussing. And they're asking, you know, why are we still talking about this creep? That was even the message we heard from President Trump during this week's Cabinet meeting. But here's what Howell had to say when I asked him why this story still matters.

[Cabot Phillips]

You had the richest and most powerful people in the world descending on an island where a known massive sex trafficker was. This goes at the nature of the global elites and their relationship with the intelligence community and law enforcement, which appears to be very preferential. These are massive questions about the functioning of our country and the rule of law, not only the safety of young women. And so this just doesn't go away because it's over now. People have massive questions that'll persist.

[Tim Pierce]

And to that point, for many folks, especially in the GOP base, this story in a lot of ways cuts to the heart of the Donald Trump campaign. The promise to take on elites and expose what they view as the deep state. Trump and his allies in particular have for years now vowed to present evidence on this case to the American people. Both Trump and Vice President Vance, for example, said on the campaign trail that they would declassify the Epstein files. FBI head Cass Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino also vowed to do the exact same thing and bring transparency. And perhaps the most vocal of all was now Attorney General Pam Bondi, who not only promised to release the files, but turned heads with claims like this.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn and there are hundreds of victims.

[Tim Pierce]

And from there, she also repeatedly said that there were other co conspirators whose names would be released.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

And if people in that report are still fighting to keep their names private, Shawn, they have no legal basis to do so unless they're a child, a victim, or, or a cooperating defendant.

[Tim Pierce]

But now the Attorney General is saying that there's no evidence of co conspirators, meaning none of those names she alluded to will be released or even existed in the first place.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, how much has this damaged Pam Bondi's credibility?

[Tim Pierce]

Well, there's no doubt that she is on the hot seat from a PR perspective. It's not an exaggeration to say that this is the most outrage we've seen from the GOP base towards the Trump administration since the election. And it's worth noting, while the President has come to the defense of Patel and Bongino at the FBI, we have not seen him make similar reassurances regarding Bondi. That is never a good sign in Trump world.

[Georgia Howe]

Well, you can see why people would feel this is a major broken promise. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

[Tim Pierce]

Absolutely.

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[Georgia Howe]

The Supreme Court this week cleared the way for President Trump to move forward with plans to shrink the federal bureaucracy.

[Tim Pierce]

Here with more on the decision and what it reveals about tensions on the high court is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. Hey, Tim. So let's start with this ruling. What did the court decide?

[Philip Kaufman]

So, first at issue in this case was the Trump administration's plan to reduce the size of the federal government. And when I say plans, that's exactly what I mean. Just the plans, no actual reductions yet. President Trump essentially ordered federal agencies to come up with ways to implement doge recommendations and to cut the size of the federal workforce. The the Federal Employees Union sued, and a district court judge in California issued another one of these broad injunctions that said, you can't do that. Of course, the Supreme Court disagreed. We spoke with Heritage Foundation's senior legal fellow, Hans Von Spakovsky about it. Here's what he said.

[Hans Von Spakovsky]

What the Supreme Court has done is say we're staying that injunction. In other words, injunction has no force in effect while this case proceeds in the courts, which means they can go forward, the administration can go forward with its plans for restructuring and reducing the federal workforce. So it's not the end of the case, but it is a big win.

[Tim Pierce]

So talk to us about what this means moving forward. Will the Trump administration now have the path cleared for reducing the federal bureaucracy?

[Philip Kaufman]

Yes and no. It does clear the way for the Trump administration to move forward. But legal challenges can still be filed. Very likely will be filed over specific reductions, but Trump will probably eventually carry those challenges. Here's Von Spakovsky again.

[Hans Von Spakovsky]

I think there are going to be more lawsuits, but I do think he's got enough running room to really start going forward with this. You know what, what people ought to realize is how stupid so many of these lawsuits are. Reductions in force, riffs. Almost every president has done that. Heck, Obama did it. And nobody thought it was some kind of legal issue or problem until now when folks are raving about it and saying that President Trump is somehow doing something wrong.

[Philip Kaufman]

Von Spakovsky also pointed out that a lot of the rhetoric around these cuts, as far as their depth and the supposed damage they could do, has been overblown. At most, Trump's proposed cuts are equivalent to a reduction of just a few percentage points to a nearly 3 million person federal workforce.

[Tim Pierce]

Now, something that really stuck out about this particular ruling is that we saw a split among the more liberal justices. Tell us about that.

[Philip Kaufman]

Yeah, Justice Sotomayor signed a concurrence in favor of the decision and the court's most junior member, Justice Jackson, signed a pretty pointed dissent. And Justice Jackson used some really strong language. She called the majority decision here, quote, not only truly unfortunate, but also hubristic and senseless. I asked Von Spakovsky about what this says about the court, and here's what he said.

[Hans Von Spakovsky]

What it tells me is that Brown Jackson is really at the far end of the spectrum and that the other justices are getting tired of her. I mean, we've seen that in other cases. And the thing is, look, I disagree often with what Justice, Justice Kagan and Sotomayor put in their decisions, but they at least try to have a legal basis for what they're saying. I think it's just another sign that, frankly, she was a big mistake getting put on the court and that she just doesn't have the legal acumen to be on the court. Sotomayor, Kagan, they do, even though I think they're often wrong, but I don't think she does.

[Philip Kaufman]

So Jackson appears to be blazing her own trail way out in left field on some of these decisions.

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, certainly noteworthy to see those liberal justices taking aim at Jackson. Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Philip Kaufman]

Good to be on.

[Tim Pierce]

A flesh eating maggot has appeared in Mexico with outbreaks within 700 miles of the US border. The pests are now spiking fears about potential devastation to US Cattle and other livestock.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with more on the pests and the USDA's plan to eradicate them is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo. So, Amanda, first off, tell us about this insect and what kind of dangers they present.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

So these parasitic flies are called New World Screwworm, and their larva infest warm blooded animals like cattle, other livestock, and sometimes even humans. So far, there are dozens of human infections. They enter a host through open wounds or other openings like eyes or nostrils, and they cause infections that can be deadly if left untreated. A screwworm infestation can kill a cow in a matter of days. The pest popped up in Mexico late last year after they were eradicated in the US and other areas for decades. As Cabot mentioned, the spread has moved northward in Mexico and outbreaks have happened as close as 700 miles from the US border. Immediately after those outbreaks were detected, the Department of Agriculture suspended live cattle, horse and bison imports through U.S. ports of entry along the southern border with Mexico. That was on May 11. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has repeatedly said that screwworm poses a serious threat to our livestock industry, our economy, and our food supply chain. Here's Rollins taking questions from Mississippi rep. Trent KE about the screwworm Last month.

[Georgia Howe]

We shut down the ports of entry about two to three weeks ago. As you know, in the 1950s when it hit, it took 30 years for the livestock community to recover from that.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

After making those restrictions, the USDA announced its next step to eradicate these bugs, which was actually to breed billions of flies, sterilize them and then release them into Mexico and southern Texas. Sounds pretty out there, but this is how they were eradicated decades ago. And this method is said to be much safer, effective, more environmentally friendly than spraying the pests. Here's Dr. Philip Kaufman. He's a professor who heads the Department of Entomology at Texas A and M University. Explaining this process.

[Philip Kaufman]

We combat the screwworm problem through a number of approaches, including monitoring our animals.

[Cabot Phillips]

For infestations of the larvae. We set traps for the adult flies.

[Philip Kaufman]

Which allow us to reduce the population of the wildflies.

[Cabot Phillips]

And most importantly, we release sterilized male flies that mate with the wild females. That wild female cannot lay eggs that.

[Tim Pierce]

Will hatch and over time we reduce.

[Cabot Phillips]

That population in an area, ultimately eradicating it.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

The USDA is also monitoring Mexico's animal health controls and improving surveillance and detection of screwworm. That includes providing traps, lures and technical expertise to Mexico, among other measures. Now the USDA started to relax restrictions with Mexico. It reopened to Port on July 7 in Douglas, Arizona. The department said that these reopen starting to happen now since they were consistently conducting sterile fly dispersals, dropping More than 100 million flies each week. Other ports were set to slowly reopen too. However, late Wednesday night, Rollins announced that there was a report of northward spread of the screwworm in Mexico. So she ordered the closure of livestock trade through southern ports of entry effective immediately. Rollins said, quote, the United States has promised to be vigilant and after detecting this new screwworm case, we are pausing the planned port reopenings to further quarantine and target this deadly pest in Mexico. Now, this will please ranchers who were concerned about the reopenings. Before this latest development, 19 cattle groups had sent a letter to Rollins urging her to keep the ban on Mexican imports. Additionally, R Calf usa, which is the largest cattle producer only trade association, they say they support Trump, they support Rollins, but they don't want this reopening to happen so soon and they suggest that it's being done to help large agribusiness corporations.

[Tim Pierce]

We see no justifiable reason that our domestic cattle herd should be exposed to any additional risk until we know definitively that the pest can in fact be eradicated in Mexico. Now a big part of the push to reopen the Mexican border is coming from Big Ag who wants to achieve trade continuity, also known as trade normalization, which would enable them to regain access to lower cost Mexican cattle despite the higher risk. But waiting until the risk is completely neutralized is a better option.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

Rollins made this U turn late last night after this new case was detected and so far we're seeing a lot of comments online thanking the Secretary for closing these ports. We'll of course continue to monitor the spread of Screwworm and update listeners about any future plans to reopen ports, while.

[Georgia Howe]

Hopefully the sterilization method works. Amanda, thanks for reporting.

[Amanda Prestigiacomo]

You're welcome.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know. As a parent, snack time can be a battle.

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[Georgia Howe]

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