'Hannity' on Rittenhouse rush to judgment, Biden blunders

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Hannity: Media mob rushing to judgment

Sean Hannity shows how Kyle Rittenhouse is the latest in a long line of victims of Democrats' premature judgment on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on November 17, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: And welcome to HANNITY.

Day two of jury deliberations and the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. It is now officially in the books and still no verdict. Now, earlier, today an explosive new development from the courthouse and it all surrounds this drone footage showing Kyle Rittenhouse shooting Joseph Rosenbaum in what looks like a clear act of self defense.

According to one eyewitness account, Rosenbaum threatened Rittenhouse, telling him, quote, I'm going to bleeping kill you. Oh that would be a threat. Then as you can see, right there, Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse, threw an object at his head, cornered him against a group of parked cars and then lunged for the Rittenhouse's weapon before Rittenhouse discharged his firearm, killing Rosenbaum.

Now, a new reason for a potential mistrial is that the defense team did not get this high quality video until it was shown in court. Instead, during discovery, they were emailed a compressed low-quality version and what the prosecution is calling, quote, a bid to undermine Rittenhouse's self- defense. This is now the second mistrial request, one with prejudice and one without, under consideration by the judge.

Now, keep in mind, the judge will not likely make a decision until after a verdict has been rendered. So there's a big question mark here. If Rittenhouse is found not guilty, there will be no point in declaring a mistrial. Ultimately, there are now multiple legitimate reasons for a possible mistrial with several instances of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, including criticizing the defendant's right to remain silent, maligning the defendant's right to face his accusers, violating an order banning prior gun comments and now failure to turn over video evidence as the law requires.

Our very own Gregg Jarrett who will join us in a moment, he'll have a lot more detail on why a mistrial is a definite possibility in this case. And meanwhile, according to the mob and the media, top Democrats, Kyle Rittenhouse is already guilty. He was guilty from day one -- no trial, no due process, no presumption of innocence. Just lock them up throw away the key.

According to Joy Reid over at MSDNC, Rittenhouse does not deserve the presumption of innocence because of his white male tears. What? NBC News actually said this? Apparently they did.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: In America, there's a thing about both white vigilantism and white tears, particularly male white tears. Really white tears in general because that's what carrots are, right? They carry out and then as soon as you get caught, green water works. Why white men can get away with that too.

It's stunning, Katie, this feels like those cases in the 1950s where it was in and out, in and out, you know, somebody white male killed someone and they were in and out fast and acquitted. That's how it feels to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Yikes. But there is more. Joy Reid also went on the attack against the judge and impugned his character. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFEID MALE: But as long as the judge appears to be tipping the scales of justice in Rittenhouse's favor, the public may not have confidence in the process or the verdict.

REID: Well, that is a question I've had too, Kate. I mean is there any recourse? This judge has done everything but, you know, offered to adopt Kyle Rittenhouse. Like he seems so clearly on his side. Does the prosecution have any recourse if it seems so clear that the judge has already made up his mind that Kyle Rittenhouse -- he's on this -- it seems at least to the to the layperson out there that he's completely on his side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: The hysteria and anger, the rush to judgment from Joy Reid, many of her colleagues and the media mob, is so bad that today the judge addressed this very issue in court. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA TRIAL COURT: When I talked about problems with the media when this trial started, that's the -- we're there in part - - not fully -- but in part because of grossly irresponsible handling of what comes out of this trial.

I will tell you this -- I'm going to think long and hard about live television, a trial again, next time. I don't know. I've always been a firm believer in it because I think the people should be able to see what's going on, but when I see what's being done is really quite frightening. Frightening, that's the right word for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: There are reports tonight that the judge has received hundreds of vile messages since this trial has begun, including death threats to his entire family. And then to make matters worse, all week long, a crowd of protesters gathered outside of the courthouse, many of them pledging to riot and commit acts of violence if Rittenhouse is found not guilt -- is not found guilty.

Now after what we witnessed in 2020, we have no reason to believe that they won't back up that threat. Now just imagine for a second how terrifying this has got to be for members of this jury that are trying to be fair trying to follow the law, to law abiding Americans fulfilling a constitutional duty taking it with all the seriousness they can. They now are face to face with an angry mob, that in all likelihood they're hearing with their very own ears.

This is what happens when powerful people in the media, in Washington, in the swamp, when they rush to judgment. And sadly, it happens every single time over and over again, the same cast of characters.

The media mob, they get it wrong, and innocent people, they pay the price. Richard Jewell, Darren Wilson, George Zimmerman, Duke Lacrosse, UVA, Baltimore, Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington high school kids, and on and on and on, same people, same people every single time. Americans smeared, besmirch, their character assassinated their lives ruined, all because liberals care more about optics and a political narrative than they care about something called truth and justice and our Constitution. And I don't know what is going to happen in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse. You really can't ever judge what a jury is going to do.

But for my position based on all the video evidence, all the eyewitness testimony, this looks like a very clear-cut case of self-defense according to Wisconsin law. And now, it is in the hands of the jury. They will render a verdict.

Any violence, any rioting that follows -- well, you can thank the media mob, you can even thank Joe Biden, the president of the United States. He recklessly referred to Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist months before the trial ever started with not an iota of evidence to back up that claim. He's never apologized either.

Our own Sara Carter, tonight, she's on the ground. She is in Kenosha, in Wisconsin, where the scene has been extremely tense all day.

Sara, what's been going on?

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Sean, I can tell you this -- just as you mentioned in your monologue, tensions were not only high inside the courtroom between the defense and prosecution, as well as just Judge Bruce Schroeder. But they were high out here. We had a scuffle outside the Kenosha courthouse earlier today, even the cold weather couldn't keep the young people from coming here and protesting basically chanting that they wanted justice, that things were going to get worse if Kyle Rittenhouse wasn't found guilty.

And it got to the point where people were pushing and shoving and people got arrested. Watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

CARTER: Sean, residents here in Kenosha, Wisconsin, really want to get the message out that they hope -- that they hope that the young people who are out here protesting, that they don't escalate the violence in the upcoming days. They're concerned about their businesses. They're concerned about how this will reflect on the rest of the nation.

And for the most part, the people that I've spoken with say let's just wait for the verdict, let's wait and see what the jury does. You know, there are seven female jurors, five male jurors that are debating this. They have not been sequestered. Of course, that's a big concern here as well as the protesters are outside chanting -- I'm sure that many of these jurors know what is going on.

And as for Judge Schroeder, those threats to his family, there's a lot of concern here about that as well -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Sara Carter, on the ground in Kenosha, Wisconsin, tonight, thank you.

And now here with legal analysis, the author of "The Case for Vaccine Mandates," Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, along with FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.

Gregg, let's look at this videotape, the drone videotape, and the copy that was given to the defense is different than the copy that the prosecution had. It is a matter of law that this they're required to hand over all evidence that they have. That would also mean I would imagine the same quality of evidence.

There are now two cases where the defense are requesting a mistrial, one with prejudice, one without. You have laid out a number of scenarios where that in fact can happen. What is your reaction?

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it was always highly suspicious that suddenly at the 11th hour, just before the close of the evidence in the case, suddenly and magically, this drone video that has been enhanced by prosecutors with AI technology suddenly surfaces. The problem is that's not what they gave the defense. This isn't like Perry Mason where there's surprises at every turn. No. You know, under the rules of the court and the law, you're supposed to hand over to the defense in advance the evidence you're going to use, whether it's exculpatory or not.

What they gave the defense was a lesser version, low quality than the high definition. The other problem is that the computer program the high def computer program literally says it's not reliable enough and shouldn't be used forensically in a court of law for investigative purposes only, because they insert images and coloring that tends to distort the real event. And yet the judge allowed it.

And today appear to have sort of judicial remorse saying to the prosecutors and frustrations, you're the guys who wanted it, you got it and now we have this mess with a motion for a mistrial, the fourth motion for a mistrial by the defense.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: Yeah.

HANNITY: Professor, I'd love to get your take. Why wouldn't the prosecution hand over the same quality of video as they are required to do by law, such a fundamental you know part of the law? This is 101. I mean, this is stuff you would have been teaching first-year law students.

DERSHOWITZ: Right, and I've handled probably 35 cases of claims where the government failed to turn over relevant material. If I were a defense attorney in this case, I would be furious, you want to see the actual footage that's going to be used so that you can make a decision about how to deal with it, how to cross-examine, whether to put somebody on the stand or not to put somebody on the stand, whether to ask to have it unenhanced and go back to the original.

The defense was denied many, many opportunities to do the kinds of things that defense attorneys do all the time. And this is the key point and the point that many, many of the pundits have missed the Supreme Court has said it doesn't matter whether it was intentional, deliberate or accidental. The prosecution has an absolute obligation to turn over everything it has.

It cannot have an advantage over the defense and it doesn't matter that it was shown in court. That was too late. At that point, the defense couldn't do anything about it. So I think this is a strong case for a mistrial.

If you watch CNN, they laugh at it. They laugh at anything that might provide the defense. They laugh at anything the judge did because they're not reporting on this case, they're advocating for a verdict.

They want a conviction, and they want everybody out there to be upset if there isn't a conviction, and they are the vigilantes and they will be responsible for violence and riots if there were to be an acquittal and the people out there listening to CNN say, oh my God, how could that have happened? It must be fixed. It must be the judge, because they haven't shown the viewers the reality.

HANNITY: It's an unbelievable thing. Should we glean anything? I'll give you 45 seconds each, should we glean anything from day two, no verdict, do you glean anything from that, Greg Jarrett?

JARRETT: Well, the defendant is probably worried and concerned along with his lawyers. But I don't see any red flags her. There have been no messages from the jury that they don't understand one of the jury instructions on the law. They're not confused. They haven't said we're stuck on this. They haven't asked for a clarification of evidence. They haven't said we're hopelessly deadlocked.

No, they appear to be very methodical and deliberate. They wanted to review the videotape evidence. There's loads of it. That is not at all unusual.

You know, look they realize this is an important case because -- not just to the community of Kenosha -- but the defendant, his life hangs in the balance of convicted on the top count, life behind bars. So they take their job very seriously. They're very deliberate about going about their business and you know, I would urge everybody to just be patient. Let them do their job.

DERSHOWITZ: Right, I never make predict --

JARRETT: Professor, last word.

DERSHOWITZ: -- how long the jury is deliberating but here I suspect that they're going through every count individually, and those who want an outright acquittal may be disappointed in the end and those who want conviction on all the counts may be disappointed in the end. It's possible we may see some kind of a divided or compromised verdict. I'm not predicting it, I'm just saying when you have a long deliberation, that's always a possibility.

HANNITY: All right. Professor, thank you. Gregg Jarrett, as always thank you.

Joining us now with more reaction, FOX News contributors Leo 2.0 Terrell and Tammy Bruce.

Let's look at the various instances, low quality video, Leo, number one that we that came up today. We have now multiple reasons for a possible mistrial criticizing the defendant's right to remain silent, established law for decades and decades maligning the defendant's right to face his accusers, violating an order banning prior gun comments, the failure to turn over the video evidence and the same quality as is required by law.

I do believe I -- that it's very clear to me that he's not guilty if the law is followed. It was complicated jury instructions that that throws a wrench into things, but do you see the possibility of a mistrial here regardless of what happens with the jury?

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, no question about it. The judge will be on solid grounds -- I want to be very clear -- 30 years of practicing law, the judge will be on solid grounds if he grants a mistrial either with prejudice or without prejudice because of the constitutional, the highest law in the land, violations by the prosecutor.

The prosecutor obligation is justice, not conviction. And I'll tell you right now, they have violated repeatedly constitutional violation, the right to evidence, the right of a criminal defendant to remain silent. I think it's clear.

But I have to say this -- Joy Reid, something's wrong with her. She's a queen of racism. She has a problem with white men and her reference to two situations where she said things in the 1950s. What do you mean the `50s? This man, Kyle Rittenhouse, did not kill any black people. So I don't know her reference to the `50s outdated, and she's not a lawyer.

And how dare she attack this judge and claim he's biased. She's not a lawyer. She's incompetent to answer these questions. Shame on her and shame on MSNBC. They want problems. They want chaos, and I find that offensive and wrong for media to do that.

HANNITY: Let's get your take, Tammy Bruce.

TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, it's interesting when it comes to all the strange things that the prosecution did that are obviously on their face, inappropriate and would provoke a mistrial. And maybe that was the point, Sean. Maybe at the very end as they watched this entire trial melt away in front of them, where it became obvious even to liberals that Kyle Rittenhouse was misportrayed, nothing was what it seemed to be, that this -- prosecution completely fell apart and then suddenly they present something that would almost demand a mistrial because maybe they just want another shot at it.

And this is I think what we've got to consider and, of course, they know that the defense would be compelled to ask for that. It's a remarkable thing but that the people of Kenosha are paying for, that the state of Wisconsin, the lies that have been perpetrated -- Leo of course is correct. When we look at the media portrayal here, this is now an industry, the legacy media particularly MSNBC, is shocking that her bosses are allowing that to continue.

It is certainly racist. It is incitement. It is as though certain people or entities want there to be violence. They want there to be more riots because they're thinking about their own ratings. It is the ultimate cold- hearted, craven dynamic, and Americans are looking at this the people of Kenosha are looking at this.

Every -- lives are at stake and it's really horrific to watch this unfold. But in the meantime, I think that judge has done a good job. He should sequester that jury now. I know it's late, but my goodness, it is a remarkable thing for him to not have done considering what is going on outside.

HANNITY: I'm up on a hard break. Predictions. Tammy, how is this going to come out?

BRUCE: I can't imagine not having a mistrial at this point, but no matter what -- if there's any kind of a verdict that is against Kyle Rittenhouse, we're looking at an appeal that will be upheld in the end. Kyle will able to be a free man and will be exonerated. That's what I think. It may take an appeals court but I think that that's where we're at.

HANNITY: Leo, prediction?

TERRELL: Oh, very simple. I think -- I see it, the worse for Kyle, hung jury or mistrial. But I do believe this judge would exercise the right to dismiss this case with prejudice and that would be upheld. He will not serve jail time.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you both.

When we come back, more devastating poll numbers for Biden. A new poll showing more and more Americans of -- have caught up to this show and yes they're questioning his mental, cognitive fitness. Lara Logan and Clay Travis, they react that's coming up next as we continue.

Stay with HANNITY on FOX.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Now things are only going from bad to worse for Biden and Harris tonight as Americans confidence and the president is cratering, the agenda is failing his approval collapsing and -- get this -- according to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, 50 percent of voters are questioning Biden's health, hmm. Where did that start? Oh, I think we were the first to observe it.

Anyway, 48 percent of respondents, they are concerned about his mental fitness. In other words, Joe is a cognitive mess. We've been right the whole time.

And the Biden blunders -- well, they're showing no signs at all of slowing down and it's only Wednesday this week. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And a couple of my friends are going to be coming out here I'm told, cabinet members, but you know, here we go. Where is everybody? Jill -- Jill is here. The attorney general. All right, Jill, I don't know what's going on back there.

Oh, my mask. I guess I don't. How do I cross the bridge in the snowstorm? What happened? No, I didn't -- think about it. You know, you're in a situation -- what happens the bridge collapses and there's a fire on the other side? It's going to take 10 miles longer to get to the fire. People can die. I mean, this is real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. So in under a year, we've gone from energy independence and low energy prices to now -- oh, begging OPEC and investigating oil companies, begging Putin for more oil, OPEC for more oil.

We've gone from a secure southern border to open borders and a 40-year record. We're on a path to breaking in terms of illegal immigrants, and the catastrophe on top of it of giving preferential treatment to illegal immigrants because they don't have to get COVID tested, we're told, because they're not going to be here very long which was a lie and no vaccine mandates for them only for you the American people. We've gone from safety and security to surrendering to the Taliban, and abandoning our fellow Americans in Afghanistan a national disgrace, leaving Americans stranded behind enemy lines. We've gone from stable prices to surging inflation, supply chain chaos, things that they said with transitory that were anything but.

You can also add to this mess, we have more COVID deaths in 2021 than in 2022.

Joe Biden inherited three vaccines and a therapeutic that he only learned about six weeks ago existed called monoclonal antibodies. Just watch this new ad from Donald Trump Save America PAC. Take a look.

("SAVE AMERICA" POLITICAL AD)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, FOX Nation host Lara Logan and the co-host of the Clay Travis/Buck Sexton show, Outkick founder, he finally sent me my "let's go Brandon" t-shirt. He gets major props tonight.

I got it thank you and --

LARA LOGAN, FOX NATION HOST: I tried to steal one, Sean. You wouldn't let me.

HANNITY: Yeah. Oh you, oh you stole it, that's how I got it. I didn't know.

LOGAN: I tried.

HANNITY: Look, we can -- you could look at this any which way but here's the reality, unless Joe Biden -- Clay, I'll start with you tonight. Unless Joe Biden returns to Trump's economic policies, Trump's border policies, Trump's energy independence policies, unless he gets tough with Russia and China and the rest of the world, it's going to remain an unmitigated disaster and it's killing the poor and the middle class in this country clay.

CLAY TRAVIS, OUTKICK FOUNDER: No, it is an unmitigated disaster, Sean. I mean, the only thing you can say positive about Joe Biden is as bad as his approval ratings are, Kamala Harris's are far worse. And so, I don't think they're going to try to push him to the side and elevate her.

But when you look at what's going on right now, this is Jimmy Carter 2.0, only far worse and the larger context here, Sean, this -- eight days from now is Thanksgiving. Joe Biden is the doddering, incompetent, elderly clearly without his normal wits relative that everyone who has said at a Thanksgiving table has been a part of before. That's unfortunate in all families and it's difficult.

But Joe Biden is the president of the United States. When those clips get seen by Chinese leaders, by Russian leaders, they are laughing at us because they know he has no ability to lead this country it is as you said, Sean, an unmitigated disaster, and it's only going to get worse every day, every month, and every year going forward.

HANNITY: And by the way, here is the evidence the "Let's go Brandon" Outkick t-shirt that Clay gave me.

TRAVIS: Yes.

HANNITY: And he says he's going to send me a bill, so I don't know.

TRAVIS: Deliver in person.

HANNITY: I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

Lara, you know, for the party that claims that they have a monopoly of compassion on the poor and the middle class, well, they're the ones being hurt the most, and on top of it, they want to make everything worse and even Obama's economic advisers are loudly criticizing this idiotic idea that spending $3.5 trillion, $1.7 trillion is somehow going to stop inflation and it's going to cost zero. None of that is true.

LOGAN: You know what? None of it is true, Sean. And this is the thing that gives me strength and this is the thing that gives me hope. Millions of Americans know that it's a lie.

You know my mother used to say a lie has no legs, right? And that's what you're seeing right now, the lies are coming apart in every direction. At this point, everyone you know from Larry Elder to your local you know neighborhood pick has been called a white supremacist.

It's not working anymore. People don't care because they know that that is just a tactic to silence and intimidate and bully the American people into submission. No one in this country, no one, not on the Democrat side or the Republican side voted to put a death sentence on every woman in Afghanistan. Nobody voted for this level of inflation.

Does -- is anyone paying attention to what's happening to the price of fertilizer because we are committing energy suicide? While we shut down the keystone pipeline, we say yes to giving Russia the biggest pipeline deal in history. I mean, what is that? Where's the principle in that? People see through it because it's based on lies and you know one thing I would say about Joe Biden's mental state don't be too quick to give him a free pass because he deserves to be held accountable.

You and I tonight have seen the families and the widows and those left behind of the 13 Americans who died in Kabul when we handed over security at the airport, responsibility for our forces to al Qaeda, to the people, Suraj Haqqani, the Afghan the leader of the Afghan al-Qaeda and the Badri corps, the most ruthless, vicious, disgusting unit of the Taliban.

And we said, you're now responsible for our security and then we pretended when 13 Americans died that that came as a surprise, and it was a tragedy that couldn't have been avoided and it's a lie.

And you know what? Joe Biden and every single person in the national security apparatus and the State Department and the Pentagon and DOD and the CIA -- every single one of them that has blood on their hands deserves to be held accountable. Don't give Joe Biden a free pass because he's got you know obviously had Alzheimer's since the election. He chose to be medicated and go and run as a fraud in front of the American people, lie to the Democratic voters, lie to his base, lie to this entire country and he deserves to be held accountable for that.

HANNITY: Lara, thank you.

And, by the way, Clay, where do you get the let's go Brandon Outkick t- shirts, where do you get them?

TRAVIS: Outkick.com/shop. Buy `em. We're selling tons of them. It's going to look fabulous on you, Sean, and by the way people got to go subscribe and watch this Patriot Awards that we're on tonight. It is absolutely phenomenal, so great down here in south Florida.

HANNITY: Amazing people that were honored, rightly so.

Thank you both. Lara, thank you. Clay, thank you.

Straight ahead, our country's two-tiered system of justice is again on full display. We're going to bring you the very latest from of the left's abuse of our justice system. Jason Chaffetz and Congressman Michael Waltz will join us straight ahead to react. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Right now, we also learned today that one of the men who stormed the capitol on January the 6th has been sentenced to months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of obstruction to an official proceeding. Now, we have condemned from day one the actions on January 6. We got to respect our institutions and protect elected official. We've called for a full- scale investigation into how to protect the Capitol from future attacks.

Here's tonight's question, where is the commission investigating the nearly 600 riots that took place in the summer of 2020? And that would be a question I specifically put to Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney's been on our high horse, lecturing everybody about the constitution, need for the rule of law, et cetera, et cetera, as have many others that are on this commission with a predetermined outcome.

There when they kicked off Jim Jordan and Jim Banks and they put Liz Cheney and Kinzinger in their place, you knew that it was a stack deck predetermined conclusion to whatever this commission was going to come up with.

But if they really care about riots, why not investigate the ones that killed dozens of Americans, hurt thousands of police officers where we have billions of dollars in damage in terms of looting and arson that took place, city blocks taken over, cops pelted with bricks rocks bottles Molotov cocktails.

We're not going to investigate that? Dozens dead? I guess that wouldn't advance so let's say the rabid, obsessive-compulsive anti-Trump agenda of people like Liz Cheney, or perhaps maybe the real agenda is to purge the Republican Party of all things Trump. Otherwise, I would think you would treat all riots equally.

And by the way, it's interesting to watch Liz Cheney now become best friends with the very same people that called her father a liar and a murderer. Cheney lied, people died, remember, Liz? And remember a war criminal. And you may remember calling him a crook about Halliburton.

And just like Cheney, the Biden DOJ is more interested in going after former Trump advisers like Steve Bannon than actually taking action against violent left-wing extremists. Remember Bannon is the first person that is charged with contempt of Congress since I believe 1993. Is this motivated by politics?

It certainly seems so, doesn't look like it's the rule of law because you have Eric Holder, Lois Lerner, Hillary's IT guy, Brian Pagliano, remember him? Why didn't they get the Bannon treatment, or the Biden and Merrick Garland treatment?

Here with reaction, Florida Congressman Michael Waltz, along with FOX News contributor Jason Chaffetz.

Congressman Waltz, I look at this and I see a clear double standard. If riots are wrong and I believe what happened on January can never happen again, but nor what happened in the summer of 2020 can that ever happen again.

REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): You know, you're absolutely right, Sean, and I agree with you. I was on the House floor -- January 6 was horrible in many ways and those responsible should be held accountable, in accordance with the law, not held unjustly and uncharged for months and years.

But to your point, absolutely nothing, crickets, when it comes to the businesses destroyed, the families destroyed, the cities that were gutted, the minority communities that were disproportionately harmed, the police officers that were killed, we have silence. But what -- you know, what really strikes me and kills me about this January 6 commission is it's the investigation after they already determined with impeachment that -- you know, impeachment 2.0 that Trump was guilty. But now, they want to have an investigation to kind of back up their own bias and what they had already predetermined with no investigation at all.

It's ridiculous. It's backwards. And, Sean, I can tell you, the American people -- they're worried about inflation, empty store shelves, supply chain, our enemies on the march, Americans abandoned behind enemy lines. That's what they're worried about and that's why the Democrats poll numbers are sinking, you know, faster than a Chinese hypersonic missile. It's just not what they're focused on in their day-to-day lives.

HANNITY: Congressman Chaffetz, it's a predetermined outcome. We knew that the minute they kicked off Jim Jordan and Jim Banks. We know that the people they selected are the most anti-rabidly anti-Trump people they can have. It seems like they're more interested in bludgeoning Donald Trump yet one more time than they are in the real issue itself, which is protecting institutions, the capitol, politicians.

But what about innocent people in cities all across the country? Because Democrats, oh, like Kamala Harris was promoting a bail fund for people that were rioting, in Minnesota. What about the arson? What about the looting?

What about city blocks taking over? What about dozens of dead Americans? What about thousands of injured cops?

Not a peep out of one of these people. So to me, this is a sham commission, predetermined outcome and a waste of time.

JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It is a sham. There's no chance at due process. Nancy Pelosi literally changed the rules so that she could have unilateral authority to appoint who she wanted, that the minority had no rights and could not appoint their people like Jim Jordan to actually be on that commission.

And you're right, Kamala Harris, 16 months ago was bailing people out and putting them out there. You're not seeing any commission about all the violence there. You don't even see a commission about the origins of COVID. What they're interested in is just pure political points. That's what it just -- it just exacerbates the situation it drives people crazy.

I was the chairman of the Oversight Committee. I issued subpoenas and to compel people to show up. And guess what? They didn't show up and the Department of Justice in lots of examples just would not prosecute people, especially the IT specialist Brian Pagliano. Twice I served him, twice the U.S. Marshals went after him served in the subpoena, it didn't show --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Steve Bannon is being treated differently. Steve Bannon is -- there's not equal justice and there's not equal application of our laws, is there?

CHAFFETZ: No, that -- I did it. I was the one that signed the subpoena. And guess what? He didn't show up and the Department of Justice refused to prosecute. They just left this flapping out there in the wind.

And then suddenly, Steve Bannon and Trump comes along, and in a couple of days they're out there and indicting him. It is a total double standard. The unequal application of the law, it is purely political.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you both for being with us. We appreciate it.

When we come back more expert legal analysis on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial the one and only Judge Jeanine Pirro. She's next as we continue from Florida tonight on HANNITY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And now, a dispute between the prosecution and the Rittenhouse lawyers intensified earlier today, after the defense said that there was key video evidence withheld from the night of the shooting arguing that the video they received was compressed at a much lower quality than what the prosecution had in their hands the entire time.

Now, here's the defense explaining the situation earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The file name was nowhere near similar the one that was provided to the state's crime lab that attorney gave me a copy of on Saturday had a very long convoluted title that involves lots of letters and numbers that are the type that are usually associated with files taken from a drone, because they indicate a lot of different information like the location of the drone and the time. The file I received originally on Friday the 5th was not labeled that same and was not the same file amount. There's no way that what ADA Krauss (ph) is saying is true because the file name would not have changed if my computer was compressing anything. It was a different file that we were provided from what was provided to the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, the defense earlier today filed another motion for a mistrial this time filing for a mistrial without prejudice, meaning that Rittenhouse could be retried even if that motion was granted. He will -- we'll just have more straight ahead.

But also developing tonight, an FBI whistleblower is coming forward to reveal explosive evidence that the FBI was, in fact, using counterterrorism tools to monitor alleged threats against school officials undercutting the Attorney General Garland's recent testimony in October. Remember, this was from just last month. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I do not believe that parents who testify, speak, argue with, complain about school boards and schools should be classified as domestic terrorists or any kind of criminals. I can't imagine any circumstance in which the Patriot Act would be used in the circumstances of parents complaining about their children, nor can I imagine a circumstance where they would be labeled as domestic terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here to break all this down is of course the host of "Justice", Judge Jeanine Pirro.

Judge, thank you for being with us.

Let's start with Merrick Garland. It would appear now yeah that his denial under oath was a lie that's how I interpret it.

JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST, "JUSTICE": Yes, it would and -- well, I interpret it the same way, Sean. And for him to say I can't imagine using the Patriot Act against parents, hey, you know, you're the one who sent the original letter saying that you had to put task forces together to assess the threat by parents against teachers and school board members. But not even to mention that. The day before Garland testified, this whistleblower is telling us and has provided an email that shows that the counter- terrorism unit of the FBI, which is under Merrick Garland was putting a target, a tag on parents that they think are a threat to teachers.

So if the counterterrorism unit of the FBI is already tagging parents for things that they think are a terrorist threat, then Merrick Garland is either incompetent and doesn't know what's going on, which everybody in this administration certainly is capable of being called or is lying to the American people. But we know from the get-go that there was a connection between the National School Board Association and the Department of Justice for Merrick Garland to get on this within four days, everything else is like takes forever.

HANNITY: So let's be clear -- what Merrick Garland said, what was originally charged, the memo that he said he didn't know anything about is not true and in fact that they empowered agencies with under his authority to get involved and look at parents that are complaining about age- appropriate material, COVID restrictions, CRT as domestic terrorist.

All right. Now, next question, when we look at inferior evidence that is given to the defense, that is law 101. They have a right to the exact same evidence that the prosecution will bring into trial. They didn't do it. I do believe the motion to dismiss with prejudice is relevant in this case as is this new one today. Your thoughts?

PIRRO: Well, first of all, any prosecutor who does not provide the defense with evidence that is then used at trial could be -- could be charged with not giving exculpatory material to the defense which would cause a call for a mistrial in a case like this. The problem here is that the prosecution has been so inept, they didn't even, you know -- it doesn't seem they even knew what their main witness was going to say that you have to assume that there is bad faith on the part of the prosecution.

The judge would be within his rights to grant a mistrial in this case given the fact that everything was sent to the defense by drop box and yet in this scenario some of the most important evidence looked at by the jury that is pixelated at a different degree is brought before the jury and the defense never had it. This is -- this is -- this is 101 in terms of trial experience, and it should be used against the prosecution. The judge will decide what way he wants to handle it, whether it's a dismissal.

HANNITY: Oh, I think there's a good chance -- I think there is a good chance of a mistrial with prejudice.

Judge, we always love having you. Thank you.

More HANNITY right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this evening. You always make this show possible. We don't say thank you enough. Thank you for joining us.

Please remember, we hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss an episode of HANNITY and I have some great news. I was hanging out earlier. We're in Florida, the Patriot Awards.

Let not your hearts be troubled, Laura Ingraham, now, she gave a great speech she took a couple of shots at me, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Laura, it's great to see you.

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