This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review Podcast for Friday, August 8th, 2025. This week, we have gerrymandering, grand juries and Jasmine Crockett, Oh My! That and more coming up on the Week in Review.
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00:33:22 The Entertaining Side of Trump’s Presidency
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It’s Friday, August the 8th, 2025. This week we have gerrymandering, grand juries, and Jasmine Crockett. Oh my! We begin with the announcement that a grand jury will convene to investigate the growing scandal over the Russia hoax. There’s also news, besides this ghoulish example of a media melting down, Look, they’re nervous about this whole Russia collusion thing. Real nervous. Here’s a Fox News Channel report yesterday that Pam Bondi is reportedly going to convene a grand jury to prepare indictments in the Obama-Clinton-Biden treasonous conspiracy.
SPEAKER 06 :
Fox News can confirm that Attorney General Pam Bondi today signed an order directing an unnamed U.S. federal prosecutor to take evidence to a grand jury relating to an alleged conspiracy to tie then-2016 candidate Donald Trump to the country of Russia. Now, Fox News reviewed the one-page order. Just hours ago, signed by the attorney general, a source familiar with the probe confirms this as well. While a DOJ spokesperson declined to comment on this report of an investigation, Fox is told Attorney General Bondi is taking the referrals from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, quote, very seriously. The spokesperson says that Bondi believes there is, quote, clear cause for deep concern, end quote, and a need for the next steps. Now, this move, Will, comes just a couple of weeks after the director of national intelligence, you see her right there, Tulsi Gabbard, sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department regarding what she says proves there was a conspiracy to undermine Trump’s candidacy and later his first term in office. Now, to be clear today, there are no charges that have been filed, no indictments. This is incredibly early in the process.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now, President Trump, incidentally, I want to get in here. Trump has just issued a statement on Truth Social saying the truth always wins out. Will the truth be revealed here with this Russia hoax? I mean, you’ve probably seen as much material as I have. It looks very damning. It looks horrifying. And I think the left… is truly frightened. Now, you just heard the way Fox News reported on the news. I thought it would be kind of instructed to listen to the way MSNBC covers this. Check out one of the worst of the worst over there, Nicole Wallace, who is just awful. I mean, she is terrible. She is hateful, and she’s the worst kind because she’s a former Republican. These former Republicans who run into the arms of MSNBC and CNN are some of the most despicable voices in America. Well, she’s no exception. She’s bad. You can see the look on her face. If you’re watching now on Salem News Channel, check out the constipated look on her face, and you’ll hear it in her voice if you’re listening. It looks and sounds like she’s ready to throw up.
SPEAKER 01 :
Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a grand jury investigation into the so-called Russiagate conspiracy allegations made by the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. The senior Trump administration official confirms to NBC News that investigation was first reported by Fox News. These are unsubstantiated and largely debunked allegations by the Trump administration. that former President Barack Obama and his aides in the intelligence community ordered a probe into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to ruin his chances of becoming president.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, Swami, look into your crystal ball and call me. What’s going to happen to this? Do you think there’s going to be indictments? Are there going to be arrests? Is there going to be accountability if it’s true that they all knew that this was a hoax and they tried to dupe the American people into not voting for their preferred candidate if they actually and literally and even technically attempted to interfere with the outcome of an election, which is truly a threat to democracy, as the Democrats love to shriek about? Will there be a reckoning? Will there be accountability once and for all? Or do you think this is all just performance art? It’s all theater? Ah, there’s hints of a grand jury. Pam Bondi won’t do anything. Are you confident or are you cynical? 800-655-MIKE. I want you to flood my phone lines with your reaction to this reporting statement. on Pam Bondi and the possibility of a grand jury being convened to consider indictments in the Obama-Clinton-Democrat-Russia hoax. Do you see maybe light at the end of the tunnel? Do you think it’s possible? Is it possible that finally there can be a reckoning? That we might actually see Brennan, Comey, Clapper, others arrested? The Russia hoax scandal has everybody talking this week. Perhaps nobody is all over this massive story like the founder of Just the News, the one and only John Solomon. So much has exploded over the deep state. So much has happened. It really has. And you’ve been all over and over on Just the News. Look, I’ve been reading over the weekend that Biden was really the first major Democrat, and a lot of people forget this, in the summer of 2016 to publicly try to link Trump to Vladimir Putin. I mean, this goes all the way to the top. Can you give us your latest? As we sit here on a Monday, August the 4th, 2025, where does your reporting lead you about the deep state, about the Russia collusion hoax, about Obama’s role, about Comey, Brennan, Clapper? Give us sort of an overview, as only John Solomon can.
SPEAKER 03 :
I’ll give my best shout out. Let’s work on the big five. Let’s start with Hillary Clinton. Today, Hillary Clinton seems to suggest that. The Russian intercept of an alleged plan to hang a Russian shingle, a fake Russian shingle, on Donald Trump’s campaign house is just disinformation. Now, how many times have we heard Russian disinformation turn out to be true, like the Hunter Biden laptop? They have to take it with a grain of salt. But this morning, my colleague Jerry Dunleavy did something really valuable. He went back to all the books, all the op-eds, all the interviews that Hillary Clinton and her top leaders gave during and after the 2016 election. And guess what? They confessed to exactly what the Russians allegedly intercepted. They acknowledged that in late July, Hillary Clinton herself admits that she approved a plan. to start portraying Donald Trump as a Russian stooge of Vladimir Putin. Then all of her lieutenants would go out and echo that. They worked the media. They went out with Christopher Steele’s dossier and the bogus Alfa Bank allegations that were distributed by a Democratic lawyer named Michael Sussman. And so the denials now literally contradict what she said. Right now, what she said back in 16 and 17, what her aides said back in 16 and 17 matches the Russian intel. And what seems to be disinformation now are the denials that we’re hearing from her. When that plan gets put into place, the first guy that comes out of the chute saying Donald Trump’s got a Russia problem is the vice president, Joe Biden. He goes out on the 26th, 27th, 28th. In fact, makes a big part of his speech at the Democratic National Convention. Donald Trump has a Russia problem. So he’s the first guy out of the block. And by the way. The John Durham report, right after it looked at the Russian intercept that suggested that Hillary Clinton approved this plan, he went and got text messages. And sure as heck, those text messages said that Hillary Clinton’s first overture was to Joe Biden’s office to see if he’ll get out of the box and run the Russia scam for us. That is now confirmed in text messages. So Joe Biden comes out of the box roaring, and then the rest of the Hillary Clinton team follows him and takes his lead. Meanwhile, let’s go to the third big name in this. That is John Brennan. John Brennan is alerted in late July that the CIA has intercepted information that the Russians have appeared to know about a Hillary Clinton plan to use Russia collusion to try to take— Get rid of the email scandal that’s dominating the news and flip through Donald Trump’s liability. And he is so concerned about it, he goes to the fourth big person we should be focused on, Barack Obama. Barack Obama is briefed, and then the entire leadership team of the Obama administration is briefed by early August. that the Russians seem to know what Hillary Clinton is up to. Despite all of that, the fifth major player in this drama, the former FBI director, James Comey, allows his FBI to open up and authenticate and create credibility to what is a complete political dirty trick, a fake narrative invented by Hillary Clinton and her team simply to get the negative limelight off of her emails. So your big five guys, or at least the five that are being looked at, all of them, that is their role. And by the way, the evidence is pretty strong.
SPEAKER 02 :
When Texas Democrats were faced with a fight over Republican redistricting in their state, they did what any proud, brave, principled party leader would do. They literally ran away and hid in Chicago. Democrats have had their way with us for so long when it comes to redistricting and gerrymandering. Illinois is one of the most gerrymandered states in America in favor of the Democrats. They’ve pulled this game for years. Well, now Republicans are giving them a dose of their own medicine. And now Republicans are redistricting. It’s happening in Texas, Florida, Ohio. States all over America are redistricting because they can redistrict. Elections have consequences. And if and when that happens, and if the Supreme Court, which is on the verge of making a decision about a Louisiana case. And whether the 1965 Voting Rights Act still justifies creating separate congressional districts that are designed to elect black or Hispanic representatives. That is by definition what Democrats have been doing with gerrymandering. Creating congressional districts that are specifically designed to elect black or Hispanic representatives. The Supreme Court is about to hear this Louisiana case and decide whether racial considerations can play a role in redrawing electoral maps. If the Supreme Court rules with common sense that of course it’s racist and of course this is bizarre and of course it’s outrageous, the Democrats are going to maybe never get a chance to ever get the House of Representatives back again. And they know it. And they know it. So they’re panicking. Here’s Jasmine Crockett. I’m more and more convinced that Jasmine Crockett is like a crisis actor. I don’t even think she’s an actual representative. There’s no way this lady is real. So here’s Jasmine Crockett off in Phoenix at some progressive conference somewhere. describing the 45th and 47th president of the United States as a piece of S. Here’s Jasmine Crockett, this Rhodes Scholar of the United States House of Representatives, doing Texas proud.
SPEAKER 08 :
Because the Supreme Court has paved the way for half the stuff that we see that’s going on. Listen, Donald Trump is a piece of… Okay, we know that. Yes, yes. He is. He is. He is. But… In a functioning democracy, he still would not be able to get away with this. But he’s been able to get away with this because the House Republicans are complicit. He’s been able to get away with this because Senate Republicans are complicit. But most importantly… The courts, especially the Supreme Court, is complicit. And so I think one of the places that we have to start is we are absolutely, they are the highest court in the land, and they have no ethics guardrails. Now you go down to the lower courts, and they do. How much sense does that make? When we know that they’re taking money, we have the paper trail, and they refuse to put guardrails on themselves, so it’s time for us to do it for them.
SPEAKER 02 :
There you go. That’s the Democrat Party in 2025. She’s so popular that they brought her to Phoenix to speak like that. She’s so successful. She’s a rising star. One of the best and brightest of the 2025 Democrat Party. There is the Democrat Party in a nutshell. Calling Trump a piece of S. Because they got nothing. Look, if Jasmine Crockett is the best they’ve got, they don’t have much. The deportations of illegals continues unabated in our country, despite the hysterical protests from the left. Now, if you’re unclear of the law that supports the Trump administration policy here, we were happy to offer you some clarity on the matter. There continues to be hand-wringing over the mass deportation effort currently underway in the United States involving what the mainstream media likes to call non-criminal ICE arrests. Here’s an article from Axios today, Axios, Florida. ICE arrests… recently surged in Florida of people without criminal charges or convictions. Now, this is an interesting issue to me because I was talking to a friend of mine earlier about how people are responding to somebody who doesn’t have a criminal conviction other than having committed the crime of illegal immigration and they’re being deported and how people don’t seem to like that. Here’s what Axios writes. In the month of June, people without criminal charges or convictions made up more than a third of arrests in ICE’s Miami field office region. Nationally, people without criminal charges or convictions made up an average of 47% of daily ICE arrests. And the article suggests this is not what Trump promised. In other words, the mainstream media narrative seems to be, we thought they were only going to deport like robbers and murderers and rapists. We thought mass deportation meant gangbangers. That’s it. Now, I don’t think anybody was stupid enough to believe that, but that seems to be the emerging narrative. So there was a line in the article about whether or not being here illegally is a crime. The article says context. Axios does that a lot. They’ll say, you know, big picture, you know, by the numbers, why it matters. And one of the categories is context. Being in the United States is a civil, not criminal, violation. And I was giving that some thought. I thought, wait a minute. That’s not how I understand it. You could be deported for being here quite clearly with all transparency. What’s the punishment for being here illegally? And I Googled it. I looked at Wikipedia. I just looked at the normal legacy sites. I mean, if you Google the question, is illegal immigration… a civil or criminal offense. Here’s the AI overview. Generally, illegal entry into the United States is a civil offense, specifically a violation of civil immigration law. However, certain actions related to illegal entry, like reentering the U.S. after deportation or making false statements during entry, can be considered criminal offenses. But then it goes on to detail under the civil offense category, being present in the U.S. without legal authorization is primarily a civil violation, meaning it can lead to deportation proceedings and fines. Well, that’s what we’re doing. So, I mean, Axios attempts to say, well, it’s not really a crime crime. It’s kind of a crime. How many illegal immigrants are truthful? How many illegal immigrants have told the truth with officials and authorities as they snuck across and swam across the Rio Grande to come into the United States of America in the middle of the night? I believe that Americans are absolutely fine with the mass deportations. I believe Trump’s approval rating is going up. Every day I get to tell you how portions of our show are sponsored by MyPillow. A big retail store canceled a huge order, leaving MyPillow with a ton of extra MyPillows. You want to go back to the beginning? You want a classic MyPillow? How about $17.98 for a standard MyPillow? $17.98, and for a limited time, not only will they offer the standard MyPillow for only $17.98 with promo code MyG, they’re going to offer their entire classic collection at wholesale prices. For Mike Gallagher audience members. Get queen size MyPillows for just $22.98. Upgrade to a king size for only $24.98. Get the body pillows. Want to sleep with a MyPillow a whole body length?
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SPEAKER 02 :
Promo code MikeG. This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. Former CNN reporter Jim Acosta has his own podcast these days. What he did recently on his show should sicken and disgust everyone. Jim Acosta is a veteran CNN reporter who got bounced, I guess, finally from CNN. Now he’s doing his thing. And, you know, he’s in that brave new podcast world, I guess. He’s got his own site. I don’t know anything about, you know, the branding. I just know he’s still around. How do I know he’s still around? Because he pulled something yesterday that is so sick, that’s so demented. that is actually demonic. And I guess he thought it was a good idea. He’s, of course, a big gun control advocate. The Democrats want to take away your guns. They want to absolutely eradicate the right to keep and bear arms. They would eviscerate the Second Amendment if they had any chance to do so. they were ever given the opportunity and they try in big blue cities it’s why so many people get killed in big blue cities because the democrat run cities don’t allow ordinary citizens, law-abiding citizens, to defend themselves by keeping and bearing arms. Try to get a gun in New York. That’s why a guy with a long gun in New York City can just stroll up to a big office building on Park Avenue and slaughter a bunch of people, including an NYPD officer, because nobody around him is armed. None of the citizenry has an opportunity. They don’t have a chance in a place like New York or L.A., There’s good luck, okay? So Jim Acosta is fully committed, naturally, to that agenda of taking away the right to keep and bear arms. So what does he do yesterday? This is one of the most horrifying things that people have seen. And in a way, it’s kind of gratifying to see both people on the right and the left equally disgusted by his stunt. What was the stunt? Jim Acosta announced he had a one-of-a-kind interview that he wanted to share with his viewers and his audience on his podcast or whatever the heck it is. The one-of-a-kind interview was with a young man. Young man, you know, got a little beanie hat on, nice-looking kid, looks like kind of your ordinary teenager. But see, he isn’t an ordinary teenager. This young man, Joaquin Oliver, was murdered at the age of 17 by that mass shooter in the Parkland area. high school massacre. So Acosta, according to Mediaite, shocked and horrified social media users. after publishing his interview with an AI replica of this murdered young man. He took an AI version, brought this kid to life, and pretended to interview him.
SPEAKER 07 :
Here’s what it looked like. Joaquin, I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence. Great question. I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that? I think that’s a great idea, Joaquin.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, my Lord. Oh, my Lord, he’s talking to the AI avatar. I think that’s a great idea. That was the CNN legend, Jim Acosta. That was the guy who brags about prowling the halls of the White House for years. That’s the guy who once came up to Seb Gorka and me and looked up at Seb and me and then muttered, this room, the White House press briefing room, is reserved for real journalists only. That’s Jim Acosta. Same guy. That’s a good point, Joaquin. Hello, Joaquin. Welcome to the Jim Acosta podcast. And he’s talking to a kid who was murdered in 2018, only brought to life by his father’s creation of his son as an AI figure. And look, I don’t want to find any fault with the family of this kid. They get to grieve however they want. if bringing their dead son to life through AI to give him a voice for gun control, if that’s something they want to do to try to bring some solace and comfort to their lives, I’m not going to fault them. I can’t imagine the horror of losing your son that way. But for Jim Acosta to say, sure, I’ll interview your dead son, we’ll pretend he’s alive through AI, and I’ll ask him about gun control, Oh, my Lord. I’m telling you, there are days when words fail me. Speaking of CNN, analysts there this week discussed the most influential presidents of the 21st century. Guess who took first place? Did you see Harry Enten over the weekend? There’s a meltdown over the latest CNN Data Guru’s proclamation. You ready for this one? This is definitely not AI. Amy Klobuchar over on my ex-account at Gallagher’s show, that might be AI. We think it is. We’re not sure. We think it is. But this is most definitely not.
SPEAKER 05 :
The Donald Trump administration is arguably the most influential this century and probably as well dating back a good portion of the last century as well. Love it, like it, lump it. Trump is remaking the United States of America. Let’s talk about tariffs first, right? There’s all this talk that Donald Trump always chickens out when it comes to tariffs. Uh-uh. No tacos for Trump. The effective tariff rate. Get this. It’s 18%, the highest, the highest since the FDR administration in the 1930s, up from, get this, just 2% last year. From just 2% last year, we’re talking about a level, an effective tariff rate level, get this, nine times as high this year. than last year. But it’s not just on tariffs, which of course Donald Trump ran on, in which you’re seeing a tremendously influential presidency. What about immigration? Of course, Trump ran and has always run on a very hawkish immigration platform. Get this, 2025 net migration in the United States down at least 60% from last year. In fact, we may be heading for the first time in at least 50 years in which we have net negative, net negative migration into the United States. And last year, of course, in 2024, the net migration in the U.S. was 2.8 million. This year, we might be talking about negative net migration. My goodness gracious. Now, of course, this is part of The larger story, as I was mentioning, we’re talking about immigration, net migration. We’re talking about the effective tariff rate. But get this. How is Donald Trump doing it? Well, he is signing a ton of executive orders. Get this, 180.
SPEAKER 02 :
The most influential president this century and maybe in the last century, too, for good measure. That is CNN. Many of us decided on careers in media many years ago when we heard people like the great Paul Harvey on our radios. His words are as powerful today as they were all those years ago. Young executive last week in New York City, Blackstone CEO. She gets gunned down. A mother, a wife, a daughter. a friend, a beloved woman. Because she was the CEO of Blackstone, people on the left were cheering her murder. Luigi Mangione has a gazillion dollars in his GoFundMe account. People are paying for his legal defense. He gunned down, according to the authorities, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. And because people don’t like healthcare insurers, somehow they think brutally slaying a husband and father is admirable. Evil is being characterized as good. And so with that in mind, I wanted to play for you the classic Paul Harvey essay called If I Were the Devil. Now, just keep in mind, as you hear the late, great Paul Harvey’s words, This came from 1965. In 1965, that’s 60 years ago, Paul Harvey delivered one of his most eloquent monologues. You tell me if 60 years later, his words don’t ring true today anymore. Maybe even now more than 1965. I give you the classic Paul Harvey’s If I Were the Devil.
SPEAKER 04 :
If I were the devil. If I were the prince of darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population. But I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree. The devil. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first. I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve. Do as you please. To the young I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good and what’s good is square. And the old I would teach to pray after me, our father, which art in Washington. And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves, until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions. Just let those run wild. Until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money. If I were the devil, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas. A bottle. If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what’ll you bet? I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes. in hard work in patriotism in moral conduct i would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned that swinging is more fun that what you see on tv is the way to be and thus i could undress you in public and i could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing. Wow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow. Isn’t that powerful? And finally, you may love Trump, you may hate him, but one thing is undeniable, he is quite possibly the most entertaining and unorthodox person to ever hold political office. Meanwhile, Trump’s up on the roof looking down at the reporters. They’re asking, what are you doing up there? It was the funniest thing yesterday. In the middle of the show, Tracy, my producer, comes running in. She says, Trump’s up on the roof. I said, what are you talking about? Our roof? What roof? No, he’s on the roof of the White House. I said, what’s he doing up on the roof of the White House? She said, I don’t know. This is what it sounded like.
SPEAKER 08 :
Mr. President, what are you doing up there?
SPEAKER 07 :
Come down and talk to us. Are you considering more renovations, sir?
SPEAKER 02 :
I mean, this is one, and you can barely hear him, so I can’t play the whole thing. You know what he was saying? You can barely hear it. If you’ve got AirPods in or earbuds, you can hear what he said probably if you’re listening to the show that way. He said, I’m just taking a little walk. I’m just taking a little walk. Can you imagine any other president strolling around on the roof of the White House? The only reason Biden would have been up on the White House is they got lost and took a wrong turn when he forgot to take his meds. This is hysterical. And incidentally, you know what somebody pointed out yesterday that Trump reminded us of being up on the roof? You know who else is up on the roof? Batman. Batman is up on the top of the building, peering down over the city that he has sworn to protect and serve. Mark Davis and I were talking about it this morning. And we were joking about which Batman Trump would be. You know, Mark said, would he be the Michael Keaton Batman or would he be the Christian Bale Batman? Well, Christian Russell on our team pointed something out that’s the perfect Batman. You know which Batman Donald Trump is, right? He’s Adam West. He’s the TV Batman. There’s plenty of humor. There’s some camp. There’s trolling. There’s comedy. But there’s strength. He is Adam West’s Batman. Up on the roof yesterday. And that wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, August 8th. Be sure to subscribe to all our podcasts. Follow us on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like our show, be sure to share it with a friend. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
