Trump Calls for DOJ to Investigate Obama, Epstein Files Showdown, Ozzy Osbourne Dies: AM Update 7/23

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Good morning, everyone.

I'm Megan Kelly.

It's Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025, and this is your AM update.

Barack Hussein Obama.

Look, he's guilty.

It's not a question, this was treason.

This was every word you can think of.

They tried to steal the election.

President Trump calling for the DOJ to investigate President Obama and other high-ranking officials over recently declassified documents relating to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

It would be a very dangerous thing to put those people's names out or to do a release of information in a way that is haphazard.

House Speaker Mike Johnson battles with members of Congress attempting to force a vote compelling the DOJ to release all the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The House Oversight Committee votes to subpoena Epstein associate Ghelane Maxwell as the DOJ moves to interview her.

All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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President Trump on Tuesday hosting the President of the Philippines for a working meeting on trade and military cooperation, ultimately sealing a new trade deal.

Prior to the meeting, Mr.

Trump taking questions in the Oval covering a wide range of subjects.

The President weighing in on a recent report from Director of National Intelligence Telsey Gabbard relating to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Director Gabbard portraying the newly declassified set of documents as a plot within the highest levels of the U.S.

government to manufacture and politicize intelligence in an effort to sabotage the incoming Trump administration, referring the information to the DOJ for further investigation.

One reporter asking Mr.

Trump who he believes the DOJ should target in its inquiry, the president naming several high-ranking officials, including former President Obama.

Based on what I read, and I read pretty much what you read, it would be President Obama.

He started it.

And Biden was there with him, and Comey was there, and Clapper, the whole group was there.

Brennan, they were all there in a room, right here.

This was the room.

But you know what?

If you look at those papers, they have them stone cold, and it was President Obama.

Look, he's guilty.

It's not a question.

This was treason.

This was every word you can think of.

They tried to steal the election.

They tried to obfuscate the election.

And from what Tulsi told me, she's got thousands of additional documents coming.

So President Obama, it was his concept, his idea, but he also got it from crooked Hillary Clinton.

Crooked is a $3 bill.

Hillary Clinton and her group, the Democrats, spent $12 million to Christopher Steele to write up a report that was a total fake report.

The documents released by DNI Gabbard on Friday show that Intel officials, who had been prepared to hand President Obama a report in December 2016 that downplayed Russia's involvement in the presidential election, then reversed themselves, instead submitting a report that played up Russia's interference and did so at the request of President Obama.

The documents show that the intelligence community was prepared to report to the president that Russia did not use cyber attacks on election infrastructure, a conclusion that dovetailed with the conclusions of individual Intel officials reflected in the documents that Russia's attempted influence operations fit a rather unremarkable, quote, historical pattern of less sophisticated propaganda.

However, James Comey's FBI objected to the planned presidential daily brief, and a meeting was convened among Obama's national security officials.

And then those Intel agencies did a 180, instead, now determined to craft a new report on Russian election meddling, quote, per the president's request, making it clear for the first time that the change in Intel conclusions on what Russia actually did in our election came at the direction of the sitting president.

The new conclusion had to be justified and put in writing, and those involved appeared to settle on using the now totally discredited steel dossier, which they knew at the time was unreliable.

No sooner had the president requested a new assessment going in a new direction than the leaks started hitting the Washington Post and New York Times.

Quote, Russian hackers acted to aid Trump in election, U.S.

says.

Here's Matt Taibbi on The Megan Kelly Show Tuesday.

You can see on December 9th, there is an order from the Director of National Intelligence Office basically giving out directions on how to put together a new intelligence community assessment per the president's request.

But as they're giving out the assignment, the homework is already published in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

In other words, they hadn't even started work yet or group work on this assessment and they were already telling everybody in the media what the conclusion was.

So the entire work period of this had to be a sham.

Essentially, they pre-concluded what was going to be in the assessment and started leaking in advance.

A CIA report made public earlier this month revealing, quote, several aspects of tradecraft rigor were compromised as the Intel community worked to deliver the assessment Mr.

Obama had, quote, requested.

President Obama's office responded to the allegations in a statement Tuesday, quote, Our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response, but these claims are outrageous enough to merit one.

These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.

Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election, but did not successfully manipulate any votes.

Director Gabber Tuesday evening on Fox News calling this statement the art of deflection, saying, quote, Led by President Obama, there was an effort to create a document that would serve as a foundation for what would be a years-long coup against President Trump.

Mr.

Trump also responded at the event on Tuesday to a question about his would-be assassin, Thomas Crooks, who was killed in Butler, Pennsylvania, after firing multiple shots into a rally, killing one attendee and striking then-candidate Trump's ear with a bullet.

Little information about the shooter has been made available since that day.

We know more about two people at a Cold Play concert just hours after that viral video than we know of Thomas Crooks crooks one year after attempting to assassinate you what is holding back the investigation on thomas crooks well they've reported to me and they've told me things and they really uh

say they haven't found anything that was abnormal and i think they've learned and you know they went into him very you know in great detail they gave me the whole thing and

what can i do they say that it was just a nut job that was looking to do this and I spoke with the FBI, the new FBI.

I spoke to the FBI, who was the old FBI.

I wouldn't have believed a thing they said because the old FBI under Comey was crooked as hell.

President Trump also providing an update on the off-duty customs and border protection officer who was shot in the arm and face in New York City, allegedly by an illegal immigrant with a long wrap sheet.

We had a man shot yesterday, a police officer who was great gentleman, shot right here in the throat.

Probably won't be able to speak again, but he was brave and he shot the the other guy, and they ended up getting him.

And you saw the scene where his friend took him to a hospital and dumped him down on the sidewalk.

The whole thing was, the whole thing was crazy.

But why would anybody do to our country what these Democrats have done?

And honestly, we can never forget it.

We can never forget it.

What they have done, the damage that they've done to America, is very, very sad.

President Trump making news by hinting at a possible legislative priority of his to unleash the housing market as well.

We've got no tax on tests, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security.

How important is it we have no tax on home sales, capital gains, to unleash the housing market?

Well, we're thinking about that, but would also unleash it just by lowering the interest rates.

If the Fed would lower the rates, we wouldn't even have to do that.

But we are thinking about no tax on capital gains on houses.

I'm very impressed that you asked that question because nobody knew that.

How did you find that out?

There's a leaker.

There's a leaker.

Congress must pass either a new budget or a continuing resolution by the fall in order to avoid a government shutdown.

Coming up, Speaker Johnson calls a slightly earlier recess aiming to maintain control over congressional action on the Epstein case as one committee moved to subpoena Epstein associate Ghelane Maxwell.

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The House of Representatives set to begin summer recess this afternoon, a day early, in an apparent effort by Speaker Johnson to avoid holding votes to release files in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

This, as new attempts to hear from Gheline Maxwell, his associate, move forward in both Congress and the Justice Department.

Throughout the past week, the House agenda largely grinding to a halt as various factions demand action on releasing the Epstein files.

Republicans on the House Rules Committee opposing the advancement of any legislation to the floor as Democrats attempt to add amendments to new legislation that would compel the DOJ to release all Epstein-related information.

Democrats who did nothing to push for more transparency when they were in power now using the Epstein case as a political hammer to attack Republicans.

Some House members pushing a non-binding resolution, a symbolic call for the DOJ to release more information, but without any legal teeth behind it.

Speaker Johnson also blocking that move, explaining his position to reporters on Monday.

My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing.

And if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we'll look at that.

But I don't think we're at that point right now because we agree with the president.

Republican Congressman from Kentucky Thomas Massey, a regular thorn in President Trump's side, working with California Democrat Roe Conna to generate support for a discharge petition, a procedural maneuver which would bypass House leadership, forcing a vote legally compelling the DOJ to release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in its possession relating to the Epstein and Maxwell investigations.

The bill would have to be passed by the Senate and signed by the President in order to take effect.

To pull off such a move, Representatives Massey and Khanna need 218 signatures, which they claim they have, but they haven't had 218 people actually sign their names yet.

Congressman Massey telling C-SPAN on Tuesday, every Democrat is on board and Republican support for his petition is picking up.

I don't think this issue is going away over August.

I think that was the admonition of our speaker in there:

just sort of stick your head in the sand, let the administration maybe dissipate this by dribbling some stuff out.

I mean, I'm heavily paraphrasing.

I mean, people have wanted these files for years.

And then, you know, the president's staff, administration, his own children, his vice president have promised that these files would come out.

And now we're being told it's a hoax.

It just doesn't wash.

And whether it's Republican, Democrat, or Independent, across all those categories, it's only like 5 or 6% who don't want the files out.

Speaker Johnson, adamantly opposing a vote on the bill, citing concerns about the accidental release of information relating to Epstein's victims, which the DOJ says number more than a thousand.

Speaker Johnson on Tuesday.

It would be a very dangerous thing to put those people's names out or to do a release of information in a way that is haphazard where they could be easily unmasked.

And so you have to be very careful about how you do that.

I think we have a moral responsibility to do that.

We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody was involved in that.

Absolutely.

And we're resolved to do it.

But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent.

And that is a fine needle to thread.

And we could all give ourselves easy political cover and come out and do something in a haphazard fashion, but I would not be able to sleep at night because I know our legal responsibility.

Speaker Johnson going on to question Congressman Massey's motives.

I don't understand Thomas Massey's motivation.

I really don't.

I don't know how his mind works.

I don't know what he's thinking.

Thomas Massey could have brought his discharge petition anytime over the last four and a half years, over the last four years of the Biden administration.

He could have done that at any time.

And now he's clamoring as if there's some sort of timeline on it.

It's interesting to me that he chose the election of President Trump to bring this, to team up with the Democrats and bring this discharge petition.

So do I have some concern about that?

I do.

But you know, me and my way,

I try to follow Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment, never speak evil of another Republican.

My gosh, it's hard to do sometimes around here.

I also try to follow the scripture.

You know, it says, bless those who persecute you.

So let me just say about Thomas Massey, could you just accept my southern, bless his heart?

Okay.

I don't know what else to say about it.

The House is scheduled to resume September 2nd.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the House on Tuesday, the Oversight Committee voting to subpoena Epstein associate Ghelene Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex trafficking charges for her role in procuring underage girls for Epstein's sexual abuse.

The Daily Mail reporting last week Maxwell is willing to speak in front of Congress.

On Tuesday, the Oversight Committee unanimously agreeing by a voice vote to subpoena Maxwell.

A committee spokesperson telling us here at AM Update that Chairman James Comer will work as expeditiously as possible to issue the subpoena.

Maxwell is currently serving her sentence in Florida.

The Oversight Committee will work with the DOJ and Bureau of Prisons to schedule the deposition.

Also on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing the DOJ is in talks with Maxwell's counsel, seeking to speak with her regarding any further information she's willing to share about other potential Epstein associates.

In a statement, Deputy AG Blanche writing, quote, I anticipate meeting with Ms.

Maxwell in the coming days.

Until now, no administration on behalf of the department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government.

That changes now.

Deputy A.G.

Blanche also declaring, quote, the joint statement by the DOJ and FBI of July 6th remains as accurate today as it was when it was written, namely, that in the recent thorough review of the files maintained by the FBI in the Epstein case, no evidence was uncovered that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.

Ozzy Osborne, iconic heavy metal singer and Black Sabbath frontman, dead at age 76.

Osborne's family on Tuesday releasing this statement, quote, it is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.

He was with his family and surrounded by love.

We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time.

News of Osborne's death coming just two and a half weeks after Black Sabbath United for a farewell show.

Osborne, whose Parkinson's diagnosis was revealed in 2023, delivering his final performance from a leather throne as he could no longer stand.

Born John Michael Osborne, December 3rd, 1948, in Birmingham, England, Osborne dropped out of school at age 15, later joining a band that would go on to be the pioneering, though controversial, heavy metal band, Black Sabbath, debuting their first album in 1970.

Osborne's prolific drug and alcohol use leading to his firing from Black Sabbath in 1979.

In 1980, Osborne launching his solo career with the release of Blizzard of Oz featuring the hit Crazy Train, going on to release thirteen platinum albums.

In 2002, along with wife Sharon, the Osborne family pioneering another cultural phenomenon, celebrity reality television, opening their home to MTV cameras showing off a softer side of the Prince of Darkness in the show The Osbournes.

Osborne is survived by his wife, six children, and several grandchildren.

And that'll do it for your AM update.

I'm Megan Kelly.

Join me back here on the Megan Kelly Show, live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at Noon East, on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly and on all podcast platforms.

And happy birthday, Thatcher Brunt.

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