Rep. Andy Biggs tells Mueller to end 'witch hunt'

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Rep. Andy Biggs tells Mueller to end 'witch hunt'

Congressional Republicans continue to call out bias in the Russia investigation.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," December 27, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DAVID WEBB, GUEST HOST: Welcome to "Hannity." I'm David Webb, in for Sean tonight. Major, major break-in news about the fake news anti-Trump dossier. Byron York from the Washington Examiner now reporting that House Intelligence Chairman, Devin Nunes, is issuing a subpoena to David Kramer who is a former "State Department" employer with ties to Senator John McCain and according to York, Kramer traveled to London in November of 2016 to meet with then dossier author Christopher Steele.

Kramer then gave the dossier to Senator McCain when he returned to the U.S. And Byron also reporting that during a December interview with House investigations Kramer said he knew the Russian sources Steele used in the dossier key point but refused to name them.

Also, tonight congressional Republicans continue to call out the bias in the Russia investigation. Congressman Andy Biggs penned an oped for USA Today with a title, "Mr. Mueller, End The Witch Hunt."

And joining us now that aforementioned congressman, Andy Biggs joining me. Congressman, great to see you.

REP. ANDREW BIGGS, R-ARIZ..: Thanks, David. Good to be with you.

WEBB: All right. Let's dive right in to this. The timeline matters here in the travel to collect the information to bring it back to the United States, hand it off. So, with the new subpoena and the subpoena powers of Devin Nunes, do we see connecting the dots as a part of this strategy?

BIGGS: Well, I think so. I mean, Chairman Nunes is doing a great job by issuing that subpoena and demanding answers and we, in Congress, have to keep ratcheting this up because we know there's bias. We know there is conflict. We know that -- I mean, with 10,000 emails that got taken away from the Trump transition team, we know that those weren't really gone through with a normal due process.

This is just one more piece of evidence to indicate that this Mueller investigation is just kind of spun outs of control. And it's widespread and it's broad. And this may be the scandal of our time, quite frankly. And we've got to get to the bottom of it.

WEBB: So, how do you connect the dots here? Obviously, you have you this compendium of information. The emails, the text messages, and you pull this all together.

But now, you've got to make the connection. Is that the next step? Because with a lot of smoke, you've got to be able to see how the fire started.

BIGGS: Absolutely. And that's part of why Chairman Nunes' subpoenas are so important. We've got to see what's going on over there.

But we have to get some of this people back before congress to actually answer the questions. Because as you may have seen, they just keep deferring and saying well, the inspector general's looking at it and we'll just -- we'll just come along after the inspector general.

We need to get the Inspector General to hurry up with his report, give us the information, because what we've have seen is the Democrats have changed their tune, completely. You recall, they were asking for Russian -- they're accusing Trump with Russian collusion.

Now, we don't hear that anymore. What we're hearing is obstruction of Justice. This has got to be brought back to a focused investigation so we can see whether there was collusion.

Because what we're seeing now is the collusion came from the DNC and Hillary Clinton. What we're seeing is that there were actually people at the highest level of our government trying to manipulate the election. That's what it appears to be.

So, we have to connect the dots. We need to keep bringing these people in and we have to put it together. And right now they're refusing to answer our questions with the cover of, "oh, this is under the inspector general's investigation. That's a real problem for us.

WEBB: Going back to the genesis of this, it began -- of course, the Russians, we know because they tried to tried to interfere with elections all around the world. That said, that's kind of an established fact for many years.

But this began as a counterintelligence operation, looking into Russian interference. That means that any and all in the campaigns, whoever were touched by this, should be investigated. Are we going to see Chairman Nunes now looking to this, not just the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign, the Sanders campaign, any campaign that was out there that may have been touched or attempted to be influenced by the Russians?

In other words, is this going to go back to what it really is about?

BIGGS: Well, right now, it's kind of spun out of control. And frankly, the judiciary committee has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice and we should be bringing these people in. You know, we're finding out, maybe, Jill Stein's campaign was involved somehow.

I mean, this has really spun far beyond what Mr. Mueller's authority should have been limited to and we have to bring it back in. We have to be focused.

And the real question is how did the Russians impact the election? If they did, let's find out and let's take care of that. But reality is, this become so partisan with my friends across the aisle that that isn't what they're even looking at anymore. They're looking at any way to get President Trump out of office. That's what they want to do.

They want to delegitimize and they want to stain President Trump instead of saying let's see what's gone on here with -- how did Mr. Mueller get so out of control? Well, because nobody's overseeing him. How did he get all these biased people? Well, because there is no vetting procedure in place.

And so, we have to bring that back into control, and then we can get back on focusing on the real question which is what did Russia do with our election? And we have a pretty good idea. But that, you know, this dossier is really the smoking gun and we have to really uncover everything we can about that.

WEBB: A pointed question on this, Congressman, and something that has not been brought up, I think, and looked into. It needs to be looked into some more.

James Comey, whether he violated presidential privilege, leaking the documents to the Columbia professor and his friend and the fact that if he did violate the law, can he be charged? Do you think he should be looked into? And, if possible, charged for violating the law?

BIGGS: Well, absolutely. I think he should be looked into.

I mean, he took information that he had access to, unique access to, may have been privileged information, and to manipulate the appointment of Robert Mueller as a special counsel, he leaked it to his buddy who, with the instructions, you know, let's get it into the media. Hey, that's a real problem.

And that goes to the whole underlying reason why six months ago, I started saying Mr. Mueller should not be the special counsel because of what Comey did. But we keep asking the questions about that. We keep being told inspector general is looking into that.

And we did get commitments from Director Wray and from the Attorney General that they would reopen that if the inspector general felt that that was a problem. I think it is a problem.

WEBB: Well, we'll wait for the inspector general's report then congressman and see what comes out. See what action is taken by you and the Republicans in Congress and Chairman Nunes.

Congressman Biggs, thank you.

BIGGS: Thanks, David. Good to be with you.

WEBB: Now, while the Republicans continue to turn up the heat on the bias on the Russian investigation, of course, the media and the liberals, they're doing their best to change the subject by attacking President Trump. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The key word in all of this that he keeps using is tainted. There' only one institution that really has been tainted through these months and that is the Trump presidency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, MSNBC: You've got him attacking the judiciary. You have him attacking the CIA. You have him attacking the Department of Justice, the FBI.

I mean, this is the conduct of someone who could become a tyrant if we don't step in and speak out against them.

SAMANTHA, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO NSA: The FBI is a key part of the fair and transparent legal process that defines our democracy. So, every time the president tweets against the FBI or tweets against the Department of Justice, he's making the Russian's job a lot easier.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

WEBB: Joining us with reaction to all of this. Salem nationally syndicated radio host, Larry Elder. Former press secretary for Vice President Pence, Marc Lotter, and Fox News Legal Analyst, Gregg Jarett here with me in the studio.

Gregg, I want to go to you first and take off of what Congressman Biggs said. The reason they elicited, you've been very clear in your writings about the law on this and how this investigation was started.

But this started, as I said, as counterintelligence in operation to find out what the Russians did. Do you think we're going to get back to that point and how can we get back to that?

GREGG JARRETT, LEGAL ANALYST, FOX NEWS: Well, the entire set of investigations were all based on one fictitious document. This dossier was used to launch the Trump/Russia investigation --

WEBB: Admitted by Director Comey in the end.

JARRETT: Yes. Which then morphed into the Mueller investigation. It was also used, apparently, for FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign.

So, if it turns out that after a year and a half, the FBI and the Department of Justice can't verify the authenticity or contents of the dossier. Then what you have is inherently a fraudulent investigation.

What struck me about what the congressman said is James Comey's role in all of this. He may have committed several crimes, not only in converting government property for his own use in leaking it to trigger the investigation by Robert Mueller, but you will find out.

I guarantee this, that James Comey also had a direct role in selecting his long-time friend and ally and former partner, Robert Mueller, which is unconscionable since Comey is a key witness in the case and any potential obstructions --

WEBB: So, there's an ethical issue as well.

JARRETT: Yes.

WEBB: All right. So, one quick question, Gregg, before we bring the rest of the panel in. Yes or no. Whether James Comey used a personal laptop or a government laptop, is it still the same violation?

JARRETT: It is. He was acting in the course of -- the scope of his job as FBI director when he wrote it. It is government property. It's not his.

He is not allowed to take it with him. And there are pretty significant reports that on those seven presidential memos are classified materials which means that Comey taking them home is a crime just like Hillary Clinton committed crimes, in my judgment, by having 110 classified e-mails on her home personal unauthorized unsecured server.

WEBB: All right. Let's bring the panel back in on this in full view.

Larry, good to see you. Marc, good to see you.

Larry, let me go out to the West Coast. I mean, the politics of this is there. The media we talked about that. That aspect is there.

But the Republicans have to come together and launch a true investigative process. You do a lot of political analysis. Do you see them doing these or do you see the typical Washington Commission that postures as they go through their time?

LARRY ELDER, RADIO HOST, SALEM RADIO NETWORK: I think, David, at this point, there's been so much as Donald Trump put a taint on this investigation that most Republicans right now are content to let the thing play out.

All of these problems regarding the bias, the people that were involved in the investigation, this phony dossier that Gregg was talking about, let this thing play out. Republicans are not going to believe it. Democrats already want him impeached. Independents are sort of in the middle. You're not going to find two-thirds senators willing to throw Donald Trump out of the office in the unlikely event that Democrats take over the house and impeach him.

So, let it go. Let Donald Trump stick to the knitting which is to get this economy humming along at four percent GDP. And in 2020, he'll be overwhelmingly reelected.

I think that's how most Republicans are playing this right now. And I think it's a perfectly valid and sensible way of playing it. Let it play out.

WEBB: All right. Let's take it right inside the White House or former, in this case.

Marc, you and I have talked about this on my radio show, a host of topics. Looking at it from the administration's point of view and you've been there for both POTUS and VPOTUS, how do you take this if you're the administration? How do you approach this? Do you let it play out as Larry said?

MARC LOTTER, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY TO THE VICE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. The White House continues to cooperate fully with the special counsel through all of that process and they're looking forward to this being done in a expeditious fashion.

But one of the key things that we've also found out here just recently and some very good reporting by The Washington Post was that the Obama administration knew years ago about the warning signs that were developing of what Russia was planning to do, how they were planning to attack election integrity with cyber warfare, and they did nothing about it.

So, here's, once again, another case where the feckless leadership of the former administration led to the problems that Donald Trump is having to clean up as president whether it's funding Hezbollah through cocaine and turning a blind eye to that, now we've got them looking the other way on this. This shows you that Democrats don't have a message. This is all a witch-hunt to cover President Obama's failures.

WEBB: All right, guys. Let's go around the table. I'm going to go back to Gregg Jarrett. I always look to you for the legal aspects of this and, you know, Marc just mentioned something, the extension of this if they find out there was undue influence exerted by the administration or with some 30 agencies as being reported by politico of all things, involved in this operation, Project Cassandra.

Are these adjunct to this investigation?

JARRETT: Don't expect Robert Mueller to prosecute his long-time friend, James Comey, or anybody within the FBI of which Mueller used to be the director. This requires a second special counsel.

If it turns out that people for political reasons, senior management and the FBI to some extent to the Department of Justice, fixed it so Hillary Clinton was absolved and then went after Donald Trump targeting him as the so-called insurance policy launching a fraudulent investigation against him, all of that would constitute, arguably, obstruction of justice by several people.

That demands -- don't count on Jeff Sessions to do this. It requires and commands a second special counselor.

WEBB: All right. So, back to Larry Elder. Larry, on the politics of this, on the extension, on the expansion of this investigation, you know, I keep coming back to how do we narrow this back to the issue and bring out the bad actors and charge them.

And, you know, my friend, again, I am skeptical of the of the ability of Washington to focus given the deep state existence of many in the top echelon, and this is not about the line agents, this is suits versus boots and the suits and the political that had been made permanent, I think, that's where a lot of this problem lies.

ELDER: Well, this is all about the allegation that Trump is in bed with Putin. The person that ought to be -- we ought to be looking at in terms of being in bed with Putin was Barack Obama. One of Obama's first acts as president was to ditch the deal that George W. Bush had negotiated for a defense of Poland and the Czech Republic because he wanted to curry favor with the Russians to do the Iran deal.

It was Obama on hot mike told Medvedev that after the election I have more flexibility. It was Obama who slammed Mitt Romney for suggesting Russia was a big geopolitical problem.

So, if anybody wants to talk about who was cozying up with Russia and with Putin, we ought to be talking about Obama, not Trump.

WEBB: All right. So, Marc, we can't go back in time, unfortunately. We can talk about it. We can look in the actions taken by the previous administration. We can look at Project Cassandra. We can look at all of these.

But, you know, you've got to move the ball forward on this. And does examining the Obama administration's actions bring us any closer to exposing what's going on inside the deep state within the liberal quarters or the Washington quarters or the bureaucratic quarters?

LOTTER: Obviously, if you are going to influence elections or come up with insurance policies, that needs to be looked at because there could be -- and I'll trust Gregg on that if there's potential criminality there -- but meanwhile, the president, the vice president, the entire White House, they're focused on doing the job of the American people.

They've got tax cuts done. That money is going to be in people's pockets in a couple months. Next, it's on the immigration, infrastructure, and possibly even entitlement reform. There's a lot on the table. The president's not even -- he's just barely getting started right now.

And so, they'll keep focused on that and we'll leave the history and looking for criminality to those who do it best.

WEBB: All right. Gentlemen, Gregg, Marc, Larry, thank you so much. There's a lot more and we know this is only the beginning of a new line, not just a new year coming up. Thank you very much.

All right. Vanity Fair just released a tongue-in-cheek video and guess what? It's targeting Hillary Clinton. I know you are surprised about that.

And many on the left predictably, I can't say this with a straight face, they're triggered. We'll explain next. Stay with us.

WEBB: Welcome back to "Hannity." Vanity Fair just sailing into unchartered waters and that from mainstream media, just two days before Christmas. The magazine actually posted an online video poking fun of Democrats or a democrat, specifically, Hillary Clinton.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time to start working on your sequel to your book, "What Happened." What the hell happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get someone on your tech staffs to disable autofill on your iPhone so that typing an F doesn't become Form Explore Committee for 2020.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know on "Anderson Cooper" you were telling him about alternate nostril breathing, you seem really adept. You should try teaching a class.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take more photos in the woods. How else are you going to meet unsuspecting hikers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take up a new hobby in the New Year, volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy, literally anything that will keep you from running again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To finally put away your James Comey voodoo doll, that we all know you think that James Comey cost you the election, he might have, but so did a handful of other things. It's a year later and time to move on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, cheers to you, Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheers to you, Hillary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cheers to you, Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: As can you probably imagine, easily offended liberals were on Twitter with outrage, some calling the skit sexist. How do you do that? It's a woman suggesting knitting. We'll get into that.

Actress Patricia Arquette particularly provoked, tweeting, quote, "Hey, stop telling women what the bleep they should do or can do. Get over your mommy issues."

Unfortunately, Arquette and her fellow, so-called feminists, have been much less willing to come to the defense of First Lady Melania Trump after Newsweek posted this extremely, extremely, misleading headline, quote, "Melania Trump orders removal of the near 200-year-old tree from the White House." Melania did, in fact, order the removal of the Jackson magnolia but only on the advice of experts who fear that the tree could fall at any moment.

Currently, because the facts matter here, it's relying on the support of a metal pole and intricate system of wires to keep it standing. Joining us now, former Secret Service agent, Dan Bongino, who's probably been under this magnolia tree at some time, probably lounging on his afternoon off and Fox News contributor Tomi Lahren. Good to see you both.

Dan, by the way, have you been under the magnolia tree? Have you lounged?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: I have. and I'm glad she took it down because it was about to fall down and maybe mow down all the people in the Press Corps. And listen, I'm no fan of the press but I don't want a magnolia tree to fall on them. So, thank you, Melania, for making the sound move. That was a good move. So, thumbs up.

WEBB: All right. So, Tomi, you know, the tree hugger corps, they didn't consider that an arborist or someone who's an expert might have been consulted on this. And on top of this, from, you know, another point of view I've gone up and down the garden district in New Orleans and other parts of the country, they often trim these trees, they grow out, they become heavy, narrow trunks -- I hate to tell you folks, I pay attention to trees occasionally.

But, Tomi, this this attack on the First Lady vastly different than the triggered left and so-called feminine defenders.

TOMI LAHREN, FOX NEWS INSIDER: Well, let's compare them.

In the first, you have Vanity Fair making a joke about Hillary Clinton. In the second story, you have have actual fake news that people are going to believe. So, the two, you cannot compare.

But going back to that first thing, I am just so happy that the mainstream media, the leftist mainstream media, might I add, "Vanity Fair" actually decided to make fun of Hillary Clinton. I give them some credit four that because they are not really quick to do that and they're going to take some heat for it but I applaud them. Finally, they're coming to their senses and they got a sense of humor.

WEBB: All right. So, I got to have a sense of humor about this, guys, and I'm about to bring back something that will make my Uncle Chuck very happy. Knitting, right? It's supposedly sexist because according to Vanity Fair and the woman who suggested it in the video, it's sexist to suggest that to Hillary Clinton. Men do knit and here's Rosey Grier to prove that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR)

ROSEY GRIER, AMERICAN ACTOR: You like working with your hands? Well, they're not going to work for you without training and help. Well, you can can get that training and help right now at the Job Corps.

No, I'm not talking about needle point. I'm talking about training in over 100 different well-paying skills and trades. Don't worry about people laughing at you. Get your training at the Job Corps.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rosey, you're so smart.

GRIER: I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: All right. So, whether it's knitting or it's needlepoint or what -- look, I don't know the difference but guys do it, too. The whole point is I'm mocking them a little bit here because the idea that it's sexist and you're triggered then just because you use the word is where the left -- you know, they put us in boxes.

BONGINO: Yes. Yes, David, a couple of things. Number one, if you're going to put out a video like this and subject yourself to the far left social media mob and their outrage campaigns, make it funny. I'm sorry, it wasn't that funny. It was kind of stupid.

But, secondly, yes, I do applaud them, though, for finally, you know, opening themselves up to humor on the other side. But remember, it was a joke, liberals. A joke. J-O-K-E.

Or if Joe Biden was spelling it, J-O-K-E-E. You get it? You see how we do that? It's a joke. Laugh a little bit.

You know, you don't have to be victims all the time. I get it. You can't leave your safe spaces and put your Colorforms down and your magic markers.

But smile. Turn that frown upside down. Laugh a little bit. Not everything is Manichean and is the end of the world.

Gosh, these people are the worst.

WEBB: All right. So, Tomi, and you've taken a lot of heat in the media yourself as a conservative woman. You know, are they going to change their behavior or is it really that far gone on the left that the so-called feminine defenders will not defend women first but separate them by their political categories?

And by the way, the first lady, by all accounts successful. She speaks five languages. She is accomplished. This is someone who should be a story.

LAHREN: Well, it's a very selective brand of feminism the left likes to use time and time again. Do I expect it to change? Absolutely not.

But going back to the humor of the whole thing. You know, this is the left. This is a group of people. Kathy Griffin included who thought it would be funny. Thought it would be a joke to decapitate President Trump and post for art.

But now, if we make fun of Hillary Clinton going in the woods or going to Whole Foods suddenly that that's below the belt? I'm sorry. I don't quite see it the way they do. I don't expect them to change but I love triggering them because I just get really a kick out of it.

WEBB: Well, we've definitely created several microaggressions right here for many on the left. I'm OK with that.

All right, guys. Let's look a little bit ahead to 2018. You know, the strategy seems to be as Obama did, as liberals do, put everything in boxes, tell them this is your interest. Dan, first to you, is this successful strategy for them?

BONGINO: You know, it was in the past, David, when the Walter Cronkite, you know, Tom Brokaw era, when they had a monopoly over media. But the problem with the strategy that in essence is this, don't vote for us. Vote against the Republicans because they hate you.

That's the Democrat's motto when it's always been their motto. The problem with that is as the monopoly starts to breakdown and information is disseminated through channel, that focuses' more fair and balanced stuff. You know, Breitbart, Conservative Review, The Daily Caller, people are getting their information from different sources.

So, the short answer is, no, it's not the short answer is no it's not going to work in the future. Their information monopoly is breaking down and breaking down fast.

WEBB: So, Tomi, to take that and go further, do the Democrats have another strategy in place going into 2018 and looking at the midterms?

LAHREN: They don't. They absolutely do not. Let's think about what they've done in 2017. They've protested. They've resisted. They voted against a tax break for 80% of Americans.

Let's see. They voted to pardon illegal immigrants in California or their leaders have decided to make those decisions. So, they really have no platform. They have no agenda. All they want to do is resist.

It's going to be really hard to win an election in 2018 or 2020 when the only thing that you have, the only thing your promoting is identity politics and resistance. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is winning for all Americans. I'm really excited to see how these next elections are going to come out.

WEBB: Dan, Tomi, great to see you. And we'll do this again soon.

BONGINO: Good to see you.

WEBB: Thanks.

BONGINO: You got it.

WEBB: All right. Coming up, the Democrats continue to go way, I mean, way, way off the deep end in their attacks against President Trump. You won't believe the latest example coming from failed Presidential Candidate Howard Dean. He wrote (ph) the famous scream, he won't go away either. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And now you can go back to work and do your jobs in the case of builders, in the case of farmers and so many others. They can now go back and do their jobs. So, we have the all-time record for stopping ridiculous regulations and we're very proud of that record. That's one of the reasons the stock market is at a record level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: Welcome back to "Hannity." President Trump earlier today touting the actions he's taken on the economy and helped the stock market reach all- time highs.

You won't hear most Democrats acknowledge accomplishments like this. They've spent the year relentlessly attacking the president. Some pushing for his impeachment, others have gone as far as calling him a criminal. take a look at what former DNC Chairman Howard Dean said about President Trump last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: It's pretty clear that he is shaking down foreign governments or his staff is shaking down foreign governments who have moved their events to his hotel in Washington at somebody's request in order to get favors.

You know this guy, I've said for a long time, I think he is running a criminal enterprise out of the White House and I think that's what Bob Mueller on the track of.

WEBB: Well, I think he missed the court decision last week on that issue about the hotel and who stays there. But after comments like that, former Democratic congressman, Dennis Kucinich, urging the party to change its message. Watch what he said earlier on "America's Newsroom."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS KUCINICH, FORMER OHIO CONGRESSMAN: We want to bring Democrats back who may have voted for Donald Trump. And a way to do that, instead of focusing on replacing President Trump and bringing in a President Pence, we ought to be focusing on the things that attract people to the Democratic party, jobs, wages, health care, education, retirement security. That will get people excited about voting Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: All right. I'm writing notes as fast as I can from Dennis's little rattled off list there.

Joining us for reaction, Fox News contributor, Washington Times columnist, Charlie Hurt. Fox News contributor, Rachel Campos-Duffy.

I got to tell you, watching Dennis Kucinich rattle off the list, Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, the party of taxes, lower taxes, they just voted against them. They wouldn't help. the party of the middleclass, the middle class left and the blue wall voted for President Trump. Really? And all they've got is impeachment and he is a criminal without proof?

CHARLIE HURT, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON TIMES: Yes. Exactly. It's a real reminder just how much Donald Trump stole Democrats lunches in the last election.

You know, all of the things that they claim to be for, it turned out that Donald Trump was for and a lot more effective at selling it. The Democrats going into next year's elections. They're in a terrible situation and that they basically have to bank on the economy being terrible and things tanking in this country.

And, you know, not just the tax cuts, we're also talking about all the regulation like President Trump was talking about at that firehouse, talking about cutting all the regulations that all of that is a boon to the economy. If the economy picks up the way a lot of people are anticipating it to pick up, you know, Democrats aren't going to have anything to run on except, oh it's not as good as you think it is.

WEBB: All right. So, Rachel, by the way, if Democrats have their way, your husband's going to be out of office next year because they're looking to take back the Congress no matter what. Let's put the numbers aside on that.

Let's talk about what really needs to happen here. The Democrats are going to sell their narrative and I go back to what we do. We got to play our game better on the right.

Do you see the congressional actions backing up the president? He's done something amazing, as I see it, by asking Congress to do their constitutional job as prescribed and the roles that they play in legislation. He's done the executive orders, pushing things back to Congress. Is this the next step for the Republicans? Do they have to do this in the House?

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, FOX NEWS: Well, first of all, I just want to say, talk a little bit about what Dennis Kucinich said because he's absolutely right on. The task for Democrats right now is to win back the blue collar working class, union Democrats, white voters, that they lost in the last election to Donald Trump.

And by talking about impeachment, by being in a constant perpetual state of outrage, they're not having the conversation they need to have with them. In fact, what they're doing is they're insulting them. They're saying your president, the president you voted for is stupid and you're stupid and that's not the way to start a respectful conversation with people woo back.

You want to say, hey, listen, I understand why you voted for him. You were frustrated. We lost you. We want to win you back. But impeachment just says you're stupid and we're going to undo what happened in the last election.

Back to the Republican Congress, look, they pulled together on this tax reform, probably having failed on healthcare. Really forced them to actually go, whoa, this is do or die. And let's give credit where credit is due. They passed tax reform and they actually, very sneakily, stuck in in the repeal of the Obamacare mandate which essentially does kill Obamacare.

So, they've got the wind on their back. I think Donald Trump wants to start with infrastructure which is a bipartisan move. I know other Republicans wanted to go into entitlement reform. But look, they're starting the new year with a lot of good stuff on their side of the ledger and Charlie is right. The Democrats have to count on all of these tax cuts and all the other good stuff that the Republicans are doing for the economy that it won't work.

WEBB: All right. So, Charlie, we hear this a lot. Midterm elections, typically the party with the white house loses seats.

HURT: Sure.

WEBB: But the thing that's changed here is the electorate. The electorate is in a new generation economically. And to some degree, a new generation economically. And to some degree, a new voting generating. The millennials are getting a little bit older, the blue wall, those blue collar, those independents, women voters that kind of change how they analyze votes and the anti-failure group out there in America from every ethnicity that says government hasn't delivered. How do the Democrats make a case, given what Rachel just said, when the success comes from Republican legislation and that can continue to compound?

Can you make the case for the Democrats? Is it possible?

HURT: Well, and I think to a large degree, that's why Donald Trump won is because he sort of sidestepped to the entire democratic argument and as Rachel was pointing out, you know, not only did they start with them insulting, you know, campaign, but then they immediately go to this sort of old worn-out thing where you divide voters by race and gender and religion which is that's the only way that Democrats ever manage to win anything.

And Donald Trump really did -- he sort of -- he kind of figured out a way around that like no other Republican has before him, partly because he's not afraid of it. He doesn't care. He doesn't mind getting into these fights with them about this stuff.

He calls them on their nonsense. And so, you know, if Democrats have to resort to that yet again, and like I said, if the economy goes as it ought to go with these tax cuts and the cuts in regulation and things like that, they just end up looking like silly racialists and genderists and whatever else ists. You know, it's --

(CROSSTALK)

WEBB: You know, Rachel, let me go to the middle of the country where you are and what Charlie just said. The folks out there, they're not on the wings, they are not listening to the elite media. A lot of people in the - - the 65 percent chunk of this country. They're looking at their kitchen table issues. You do it.

And the risk-averse Republican, congressman and senators up there, do they need a little bit more Trump? You know, let Trump be Trump, to borrow the tittle of the book. But also, do the Republicans need a little more trump?

CAMPOS-DUFFY: What they need to do is when this economy is doing well, if this rocket fuel from this tax reform goes, they need to own it because believe me, as soon as things go really great, the Democrats are going to say, oh, Obama set the stage for this.

No, Donald Trump deregulated this economy. The Republicans passed tax reform and that's why we are enjoying the recovery we are enjoying. And remember, it's the economy, stupid. When people feel good -- or remember Nancy Pelosi just said that this tax reform, quote-unquote, was Armageddon.

When these tax reforms produced the results, they're going to look like false prophets. And, again, there's so much outrage fatigue. I don't think anyone is believing them.

They are talking about impeachment. They're talking about Russia. They are not trying to win back the people they lost. And they are leaving a huge opening for the Republicans who are focused on the economy, on making people's lives better.

WEBB: All right. If we win those kitchen table issues, that's what people care about.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: That's right.

WEBB: That's how I like to put it.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: That is what matters.

WEBB: Charlie and Rachel, great to see you both.

HURT: Thank you.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Thank you.

WEBB: Coming up. President Trump keeping another major campaign promise by decimating ISIS. But the mainstream media, you know, they barely cover it.

Lieutenant Colonel Tony Shaffer and David Clark will have a reaction. Stay with us. Right here on Hannity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to knock out ISIS so violently and so fast. America will also be a safe society. We will protect our borders at home. We will defeat ISIS overseas.

ISIS is carrying out a genocide against Christians in the middle east. We cannot let this evil continue.

ISIS must be destroyed.

We're getting rid of is. we are getting rid of ISIS.

(APPLAUSE]

ISIS is -- we have no choice.

WEBB: Welcome back to "Hannity." President Trump on the campaign trail throughout 2016, promising the American people that his administration would crush ISIS if he was elected and it looks like he's kept his promise.

According to U.S. military officials, the Islamic military group has lost almost all of its territory, 98 percent to be exact, half of that territory having been recaptured since President Trump took office, less than one year ago.

Also, the latest American intelligence assessment states that fewer than 1,000 ISIS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria. That's down from a peak of nearly 45,000 two years ago.

President Trump praise the U.S. military's campaign against ISIS just a few days ago. Let's take a look at.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And our military has been doing a fantastic job in so many ways with ISIS. We've made tremendous strides, obviously, in Syria, with ISIS.

We've taken back, virtually, all of the caliphate. All of the land. Same thing in Iraq and we are making tremendous strides. It's sort of the unwritten story right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: All right. Here with reaction, former Senior Intelligence Officer, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer. And American First Action spokesman and Senior Advisor, former Milwaukee Sheriff, David Clarke.

Guys, great to see you tonight. Let's dive right in.

And, Tony, I'll go to you first on this. Where we are with ISIS? They have evolved, as is expected. If you take away land, they expand into those ungoverned spaces.

What are they and what do we expect next and they - they're given out threat about New Year's Eve.

LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, RETIRED U.S. ARMY RESERVE: Well, that's a thing. I mean, we've defeated them where they lived. That doesn't mean it's over. We've made great progress.

And as you've said in the run-off, Dave, the Pentagon has done what it's supposed to do. It's done its job and done it extraordinarily well. What we need to do now is allow the pentagon to continue to do its job.

Prior to President Trump coming in, I was part of the transition team. I was part of those discussions where the president made it very clear, you know, I want you to go out and do your job. So, the big thing now, David, is for the president to continue to allow Col. Joe Dunford and Jim Mattis to do their job. Joe's been very good about this By, With and Through Strategy working through allies and folks who were there on the ground.

We need to expand that and we have to go after ISIS everywhere they are now which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, and other places. But the bottom line is we're making solid progress.

WEBB: All right. So, you know, David, bringing this home to the American home front, what Tony talks about involves other aspects of human intelligence. We've got counterintelligence operations.

But here on the ground. Sheriffs like yourself, the law enforcement community in this country are responsible for the people in their communities. Let's bring that aspect into us. What we can do When ISIS goes into those ungoverned spaces. When they inspire others on the internet or someone takes up that flag such as it is.

DAVID CLARKE, SPOKESMAN AND SENIOR ADVISOR, AMERICAN FIRST ACTION: Well, first of all, there has to be an effective counter strategy to their rhetoric, to their recruitment, things like that. But, you know, I get too far into that, it's been incredible, the progress made with ISIS. We went from a president who called them - and Obama calling them the jayvee terror organizations to being a worldwide threat and then we have a commander in chief now in Donald Trump whose rhetoric packs a punch.

Look, these are enemies. They're afraid of this guy. They're afraid of this country. Again, Donald Trump has taken the gloves off of the United States military. He's changed the rules of engagement. And he has used the military for what they are designed to do and what they're designed to do well as to fight and win wars.

So, couple that with the efforts here at home. And it's always going to be a challenging. There are always going to be threats.

Look, we are an open society. We are target-rich environment. But I tell you what, these folks, over there, these terrorists will be thinking twice about attacking the interior of the United States because there will be severe consequences when they do.

WEBB: You know, Tony, there are other areas and this is a larger ideological problem, not just related to ISIS. The decimation, the loss of that caliphate in the desert that they wanted to build as a symbol, call it their version of their Mecca, their world view.

But also, they're expanding. They're in Myanmar. Radicals are operating around the world. We have an attack in Russia that's being looked into as a possible terrorist attack earlier today.

So, what about taking on that issue?

SHAFFER: Well, as Sheriff Clarke said, look, we've got to get ahead of this regarding human intelligence. We have to -- to defeat a network, you have to penetrate a network.

And to your point, David, I work with Sheriff Dave Decatur down in Stafford County here at Virginia. I'm his homeland security adviser. We have to figure out a way to bridge the understanding of that threat from foreigh sources to the United States. How radicalization happens both through migration and through online assault, essentially. The conversion.

So, this is something, now, we have to go to the next level. OK. We deprived them of the space. We're on their tail. We're going to beat them.

But we have to defeat the ideology. And that's where we have to go next with this. And that has to be both foreign and the domestic effort to do that.

WEBB: All right. So, David, Sheriff Clarke, I got to tell you. Part of the problem that I see is how we deal with the terrorists in this country, be they American citizens or not.

I'm not for violating the United States constitution in any way, but there needs to be a serious discussion about designating them as enemy combatants from the law enforcement perspective, someone who's upheld that shield, what do you say to that?

CLARKE: It's long been my position. Look, there's one or two ways we can approach this. Either that these things are criminal acts which I do not think they are or they're acts of war, believe they are acts of war. And so, there are different rules that apply to enemy combatants. I think Gitmo needs to be used when these individuals are here in the United States.

I think you need to isolate them from the American justice system. It's a higher standard to try to overcome when you try to convict these individuals and you don't want them mixed in with the American prison population where they can use it as recruiting ground and they can convert American prisoners over to their side.

So, well, that's something that, you know, between the president of the United States, Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump, the Pentagon, the State Department, also the decisions of Congress, too, plays a role in this as to how we're going to handle this. But I think it needs to be reviewed.

WEBB: All right, gentleman. I've got about a minute left and I have to throw this topic in there because it puts a little bit of a smile on my face and it will drive the left absolutely nuts. They're naming a train station Israel build right there near the Western Wall after President Donald John Trump.

Tony, first to you.

SHAFFER: We could see a bipartisan vote in Congress saying they support this. This has been - you know, the Democrats are talking out of both sides of their mouth. So, this is a good thing.

WEBB: All right. David? Do you?

CLARKE: How cool is that? The Trump train on the wall over in Israel. Just goes to show the respect they have for Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump who has made it clear during the campaign.

He said, we will also be on the side of Israel. He doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk. This is great.

WEBB: Gentlemen, it is great. I tell you --

(CROSSTALK)

WEBB: And as Minister Katz says, they felt this was the appropriate thing to do. David Clarke, Tony Shaffer, guys, great to talk to you.

CLARKE: Thanks, David. Happy New Year.

WEBB: Coming up, more "Hannity" after the break. Stay with us.

Welcome back to "Hannity." Unfortunately, that's all the time we have this evening. Thanks for being with us.

Don't forget to set your DVR. You do that so you never, ever miss an episode of "Hannity." You can listen to my radio show, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM Patriot, Channel 125. Follow me on Twitter, @davidwebbshow.

Pete Hegseth, by the way, filling in live for Laura Ingraham tonight.

And on another note, I'll be here all day tomorrow. I'm moving in, as a matter of fact, Pete. I'll be here for "The Five" tomorrow that I'm going over to the business channel with my friend Charles Payne and right back here tomorrow night.

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