House Democrats pass voting by proxy, Nancy Pelosi's $3 trillion stimulus bill

Republicans say the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate; reaction from House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, Rep. Lee Zeldin, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp and Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 15, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JASON CHAFFETZ, GUEST HOST: Welcome to this special edition of "Hannity: Far-Left Overreach."

I'm Jason Chaffetz, in tonight for Sean.

Tonight, we start on Capitol Hill where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is about
to ram through a $3 trillion liberal wishlist filled with proposals that
are totally unrelated to COVID-19. The bill is so blatantly partisan and
toxic that some Democrats are coming out against it.

Democratic Congresswoman Kendra Horn from Oklahoma wrote, quote: This is
not the time for partisan gamesmanship.

Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger from Virginia tweeted: This
bill stands far -- strays far beyond delivering relief or responding to an
urgent crisis. And it has no chance of becoming law.

She's right. This bill will die in the Senate. This is nothing more than a
political stunt in the middle of a national crisis.

Joining us now live with the very latest detail is Chad Pergram -- Chad.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Jason.

Well, they're in the middle of this vote right now. There are 12 nos on the
board so the Democrats have a little bit of a cushion. They can lose up to
17.

This is the largest bill in U.S. history. There have been no hearings on
this bill. It provides money for the Postal Service. There is food aid.
There's direct payments that the Democrats wanted. The cost traumatized
some Democrats.

Now, think about some of these Democrats. You're moderate Democrats from
battleground districts like Iowa, Cindy Axne, and Abigail Spanberger of
Virginia, opposed the bill. Some Democrats were concerned that Republicans
would weaponize the bill against them.

But it actually gives vulnerable Democrats like Axne and Spanberger a
chance to vote no and show independence for the speaker of the House.

Now, the bill was written by Nancy Pelosi as a nod to her left flank, but
it was actually liberals who wanted to delay the vote because of size and
scope. Washington Democrat Pramila Jayapal was a "no". She said the measure
didn't have enough money for minority-owned businesses and did not
safeguard pensions.

Now, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, he says he wants to hit
the pause button on these big bills for coronavirus, but he has not ruled
out doing another bill. And as you know, the speaker of the House, Nancy
Pelosi, she is always in negotiation and from her perspective, this is the
start of a negotiation.

The chair of the Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, said that more money could
boost the economy. Now, something else that happened just about an hour and
a half ago, they have approved proxy voting in the House of
Representatives, 217-189, that was a party line vote there. That means that
on future votes, all members don't have to show up. They can essentially
phone in their votes.

Now, I'm looking at my monitor here. The vote is still open. This bill is
passing.

There are still 12 Democratic nos on the board, one Republican, this is
expected to pass but it's going to be by a narrow margin.

Jason, back to you.

CHAFFETZ: Chad, thank you.

Joining us with reaction is House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana,
American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp, one of our favorites,
New York Congressman Lee Zeldin and FOX News contributor Charlie Hurt.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining all of us -- with us tonight.

I want to start with you, Whip Scalise. I've got to tell you, this does
give Nancy Pelosi more power when she tells members of Congress -- you
don't even need to show up anymore. You need have proxy voting, and we can
just do this without you, right?

REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): Yes, Jason. You know, the thing is, it gives
Nancy Pelosi power.

But imagine being a Democrat who goes back home in a swing district. You
just voted to give your voting card in Congress to Nancy Pelosi. And she
doesn't represent the values of a lot of those districts.

You know, you now signed on for San Francisco values and, by the way, what
are you doing there? Why are you collecting a paycheck if you want Nancy
Pelosi to be the one to vote for you and represent your district, and you
are representing a swing state somewhere else?

And so, this is going to be a tough vote for those people to explain. It's
unconstitutional first of all, because a quorum under this -- just this
resolution they passed, 20 people on the floor. 20 Democrats can constitute
a quorum of the House of Representatives, 435 people. That goes against
Article 1 of the Constitution, but they don't seem to care about any of
that. They just want to consolidate power and spend money.

I mean, a drunken sailor would be offended to be compared to them in with
what they do but this bill -- money to illegals, taxpayer funding of
abortion. This is crazy.

CHAFFETZ: But I've got to ask you, Congressman. Does that mean that you're
going to challenge this in court? Are you going to go to court and say,
hey, and challenge the constitutionality of this?

SCALISE: Well, if they pass any bill using these new rules, they haven't
done it yet, but they are now creating this opportunity to have 20 people
on the floor to the constitute a quorum and Nancy Pelosi literally be able
to hold all the voting cards of so many of these people. If they pass
anything significant --

(CROSSTALK)

CHAFFETZ: I just think it's going to be interesting question.

SCALISE: It will be challenged. It will be challenged.

CHAFFETZ: That -- that will be interesting because I believe that you would
certainly have standing.

Now, Congressman Zeldin, this bill that's being voted on right now is just
on the verge of passing, $3 trillion. This thing is larded up with all
kinds of pork and other things. How do you see this bill?

REP. LEE ZELDIN (R-NY): Over 1,800 pages, $3 trillion. This isn't a bill
that was drafted through partisanship, vetting, debates, compromise, none
of that.

It gives a stimulus checks to people who are illegally in the country,
massive prison release. It legalizes throughout America ballot harvesting.
It outlaws voter ID. It extends unemployment in a way that will keep people
out of work for almost another year.

I will add another one to that, it provides more money with local
governments in the hundreds of billions and beyond what our local
governments are even asking for.

So, Speaker Pelosi chose this hyper partisan path to nowhere rather than
pursuing the alternative, which was working with President Trump, working
with congressional Republicans and trying to negotiate a compromise. This
is something to appease her left flank.

Now, this is one, though, that turns off most of America, and she is going
to end up with a bill that's dead on arrival in the Senate and not going
anywhere.

It's a strategic failure on her part on multiple levels, on the process, on
the substance. This is a waste of everyone's time and certainly a waste of
a whole lot of tax dollars, especially all those liberal fantasy items --
totally unrelated to coronavirus response.

CHAFFETZ: I mean, Matt, if you spend a million dollars a day every day, it
would take you almost 3,000 years to get to $1 trillion, and this is $3
trillion. That is $10,000 per person in the United States of America.

Why not just give them $10,000 each?

(CROSSTALK)

MATT SCHLAPP, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION PRESIDENT: Thanks for doing the
math. Thanks for doing the math for me, Jason, because it's staggering. And
we already did $3 trillion.

So, what I think what Republicans are saying, which is rational, is let's
let all of the money -- we've already spent like drunken sailors because
the government shut down American businesses. Let's that capitalize in the
system.

And, Jason, this is the critical point, which is more bridges and more
stimulus is not what the American economy, nor its people need. They need
to be legally allowed to go back to work. They need to be able to open up
their shops.

If you're a mom and pop, you should be able to be open just like the big
box retailers are able to be open. We have these indiscriminate, silly
rules out there by most blue state governors, and it needs to end. No
business can survive if it can't make a product nor transact with
customers. It's simply that clear.

CHAFFETZ: Now, Charlie, the Democrats have tried to say oh, we just need to
work together. We've got to find something that's bipartisan. But Nancy
Pelosi didn't do any of that. I mean, they say one thing and do something
that's totally opposite.

How in the world to they go back to the American people and say, hey, we're
the adults in the room, we're the ones that will work together to get
things done, when they put this monstrosity in front of the Congress and
then vote to say, hey, we don't even need to come back into session?

CHARLIE HURT, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It's incredible. This should be a real
wake-up call because if anybody doubts what is at stake in this election
coming up, this is what's at stake. This is what these people will do. If
they get control of -- if they hold control of the House, they get control
of the Senate and Lord forbid they get control of the White House, this is
the kind of insanity that you're going to be looking at.

And, of course, I've seen the particulars are just astonishing, the stuffs
to illegal aliens, from all of that stuff is absolutely, just absolutely
reprehensible.

But let's step back for a minute. Let's -- how in the world does piling $3
trillion in additional debt on hardworking Americans, how does that help
them recover from this -- from this pandemic and recover from shutting down
the economy?

And we should look back. You know, imagine where we would be right now,
Jason, if we hadn't already piled up $20 trillion of debt on hardworking
American taxpayers? But that's all these people want to do.

CHAFFETZ: Yes, so --

HURT: They want to pile more and more on there. And with it comes just
mountains of regulations that throttle American ingenuity and industry and
work that destroys Americans.

CHAFFETZ: Congressman Scalise, you're in leadership there. Nancy Pelosi and
what she's done is signaled also in the bill that the House of
Representatives may not come back into session until July 21st.

I mean, why do members of Congress even get paid if they don't have to go
to work?

Postal workers go to work. Truckers are going to go to work. Health care
workers go to work. But Nancy Pelosi is saying, no need to show up anymore.

SCALISE: Yes. Can you imagine? Even the United States Senate is going to
work, and there's no reason. We were here today voting. You know, there
were about 24 members who couldn't make it out of 435.

And so, to suggest that it's complicated to get here is just fallacy. So,
why she did this, it's about a power grab and it certainly has nothing to
do with health and safety, because as you mentioned, we have the front line
workers back at home, in our hospitals, our grocery stores.

Now, in Louisiana today, we just started opening up, so you can go into a
restaurant today at 25 percent capacity. We can finally go back into places
of worship. And yet, she's going to say that she doesn't want Congress to
be meeting in Washington, debating bills. She just would rather just take
your proxy vote and hold onto it so that she can vote for you.

I'll tell you this and, of course, Jason, you would have never done this
either -- Nancy Pelosi is not going to get my vote, she surely would not
have gotten yours. But for any of those folks that voted for this bill
today, how do they go back home and explain today they voted to allow Nancy
Pelosi to vote for them so that they don't have to go to work anymore?

Why don't they just resign their seat and send somebody up here who wants
to come and fight for restoring the American dream up here in Washington?

CHAFFETZ: Congressman Zeldin -- thank you so much.

Congressman Zeldin, last word, we've got 15 seconds.

ZELDIN: If there's a member of House leadership viewing the House of
Representatives is not essential that House leadership member should step
aside if there's any member of the House who views themselves as
nonessential, they should step aside.

We should be here. We shouldn't be AWOL. We shouldn't be going home right
now.

There's an important work to do for the American people, for our economy,
for businesses, for the workers, and now, everyone is leaving. And as you
pointed out, it might be a long time until we come back.

CHAFFETZ: Unbelievable, thank you gentlemen for joining us tonight. I
really do appreciate it.

Well, coming up next, Joe Biden is still hiding out in his basement, and
it's not going well. He continues to move further and further left to
appease the socialist wing of his party. We'll explain.

Plus, we'll show you his latest campaign blunders right after the break.
You don't want to miss this. It's unbelievable.

Stay with us as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity."

Now, Joe Biden's biggest opponent continues to be himself, after another
disastrous media blitz last night where Joe tried to talk to a prerecorded
video. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Hi, Vice President Biden. My name is Namid.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi.

QUESTION: -- from San Mateo, California.

And thank you so much for allowing me to participate in this town hall with
you.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: And things only got worse from there because Biden is now telling
Democrats who believe Tara Reade's sexual assault allegation not to vote
for him. And he is still claiming he had no involvement in spying on
Michael Flynn. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say to women who were ready to vote for Joe
Biden, eager to vote for Joe Biden, but this gives them serious pause
because they do believe Tara Reade, and you're not going to change their
mind about that? What would you say to them about their vote?

BIDEN: I think they should vote their hearts. If they believe Tara Reade,
they probably shouldn't vote for me. I wouldn't vote for me if I believe
Tara Reade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Vice President, what was your involvement in the
investigation of Michael Flynn and the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn?

BIDEN: I was never a part or had any knowledge of any criminal
investigation into Flynn while I was in office, period

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: Seriously?

Now, even as the media continues to play defense for Biden, he can't get
out of his own way. Just listen to Biden botching again key details about
the impact of the coronavirus. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Where, we are in the middle of a pandemic that cost us 85,000 jobs
as of today, lives of millions of people, millions of people, millions of
jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: And it's not just numbers giving trouble. Biden is still
struggling to keep track of who's who in his own party.

Take a look at praising him, quote, Andrew Young. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I'm sure we can do better on the Internet. I'm positive of that, but
the fact is we are trying to my recent events of Instagram question and
answer with one of the leading soccer players in the world, the latest
episode of here's the deal podcast with Andrew Young. We are trying to get
better with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: It is Andrew Yang it. He ran against you for the presidency and
his stomach he was on the show. His name is Andrew Yang.

So, from nonstop pointers to corruption with his sons overseas dealings in
Ukraine to now being implicated and the biggest abuse of power in
corruption scandal in American history, Joe Biden keeps putting his
campaign and nonstop damage control, and continues to raise further and
further left to try to pander to the new extreme socialist.

Like picking Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez to serve on his campaign's climate
change panel. But tonight it could not be clearer with 171 days until
Election Day, the Democratic Party finds itself in a state of dysfunction,
division and all-out desperation.

Joining me now for a reaction, FOX News contributor Ari Fleischer.

Ari, I do appreciate you joining us tonight.

I mean, you just -- I can be on the air every hour and probably give you a
new Joe Biden blunder. But is that just prebaked into the electorate? Are
they just going to accept that, hey, that's just the way he is, or at some
point, does this actually catch up to him?

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: First of all, Jason, I think you've
got to put into context, remember how exhausted he has to be from the
travel he's doing. I do think you have to make an allowance for that. He's
to go down for stairs to the basement, come upstairs from the basement.
Travel can really wear you down when you are running for president.

Look, I do think that it's baked in in a serious element where people kind
of notice about Joe Biden. But the real question is, is something going on
that is getting worse? This is where I regret the fact that the candidates
are stuck home.

It is only right for the American people to see these people in the thick
of a campaign where they are mettle is tested. Let's see what Joe Biden has
got. Let's see if this is just minor things and lots of people can get
mixed up on words, gets
statistics or numbers wrong. It does happen, but is this really a feature
of Joe Biden that is getting worse or a one offset that we all have
sometimes have?

A campaign should test that. We want all our candidates to be seen and
tested.

CHAFFETZ: Well, it is. That's what I like about a campaign. It is vigorous.
It is difficult and the camera is on you 24/7. It is grueling, but that's
part of the way we kind of shake the tree and figure who the nuts are and
you're right, walking in the basement, really not that much of a test.

But one of the things I see Joe Biden continue to do is to do is lurch to
the left. Normally, candidates when they wrap this up, they go to the
center, but that's not what he's doing.

FLEISCHER: No, he's not doing it because the Democratic Party stopped doing
that a long time ago when it was going to the center. You know, I look at
it up. There is a Gallup poll that showed in 1994 when Bill Clinton was
president that only 25 percent of the Democrats self identify as liberals.
Today, it's 51 percent of Democrats self identify as liberals. So, there's
just hardly conservative or moderate Democrats left.

So Biden is a modern day reflection of a party that is running to the far
left. Now, putting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on this committee, a co-chair
about climate? What type of terrible signal is that to put a socialist in
charge of your climate committee and America's energy needs?

I mean, there is one thing about running to the left. There is another
running off the cliff in the left. And that's an indication that he's
heading that direction.

It also just shows he's not strong enough to stand by his track record
where he was previously known for some moderate votes. He's walked away
from all of it. What kind of strength, what kind of backbone you have when
you change who you are, such a great degree so fast, including running
toward AOC?

CHAFFETZ: Now, the Senate is going to wrap up, or -- start to ramp up, I
should say, some heavy-duty investigations. You have Attorney General Barr,
and Durham doing their investigation. You have Lindsey Graham, Senator
Johnson, Senator Grassley, very keen on getting to the bottom what happened
with the whole Russia hoax.

But that's going to come to play soon. How is Joe Biden going to handle
that when he can't even admit he was part of unmasking Michael Flynn and
it's in black-and-white?

FLEISCHER: Well, you pointed out, Jason, one of the ways he's going to
handle this is to shield him from having to handle it because the press
won't go there. Even when you have a long-hour interview, as Lawrence
McDonnell on MSNBC did, he didn't even ask him a question until the very
end and then he let it go. No follow-up, no tough questions about it.

Why do you need to unmask General Flynn? What were you told? What did
Barack Obama say and what did you say to Barack Obama? None of that is
being presented to Joe Biden in any way if there is pressure on him.

So will conservative outlets be able to ask those questions when he is out
on the stump? May be but they protect him then too. The staff will shield
him, and this is what's so sad about the media breakdown today. These are
legitimate, good, fair questions and who is asking them to Joe Biden?

CHAFFETZ: It's so true, Ari, because the intellectual curiosity of the
media has gone out the door. I've got to tell you, eight and a half years
in Congress, it's one of my biggest disappointments that some of the icons
in the national so-called mainstream media were not inquisitors. They did
not call balls and strikes.

They had an agenda and it was clear to me at the end of that. I know you
are right in the thick of that as well.

Ari, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Have a wonderful weekend. Go
ahead, go ahead.

FLEISCHER: Let me just add this, there is a reason people are masked to
begin with. And anybody who cares about civil liberty should pay attention
to it. You're masked because the government did not have a warrant and they
listen to your phone calls. People should be masked. That should be the
proposition and we should be aware that somebody is unmasked, not common.

CHAFFETZ: That's right. That should be a bipartisan thing no matter what.

Again, Ari, thank you so much.

All right. Coming up we have an important question, does the left ever want
this country to be reopened? What is their end goal? Alan Dershowitz and
Gregg Jarrett will weighing in next.

Plus, we'll have a full report on what the Trump administration is doing to
get America back on its feet. And we're going to continue to monitor the
House floor where the vote is currently underway on Pelosi's $3 trillion
bill.

Don't go away as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: This is a FOX News alert. The House just passed Pelosi's $3
trillion coronavirus bill.

Also tonight, ever since the first cases of coronavirus showed up in the
United States, President Trump has been working to combat the deadly virus.
And today, he took that battle to the next level when he announced a
public-private partnership to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, I want to update you
on the next stage of this momentous medical initiative. It is called
Operation Warp Speed, that means big and it means fast, a massive
scientific industrial and logistical endeavor, unlike anything our country
has seen since the Manhattan Project.

Its objective is to finish developing and then to manufacture and
distribute a proven coronavirus vaccine as fast as possible. Again, we'd
love to see if we can do it prior to the end of the year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: Joining us now with more from Washington is Kevin Corke -- Kevin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Jason, good to be with you.

President Trump ever the optimist, as you can imagine, is doubling down on
his belief that Americans could see a vaccine for the coronavirus by the
end of the year. In fact, he said as much at the event that you showed a
bit of today. His administration's, of course latest efforts to expedite a
vaccine. As he said, it dubbed "Operation Warp Speed."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We think we're going to have a vaccine in the pretty near future.
And if we do, we're going to really be a big step ahead. And if we don't,
we're going to be like so many other cases where you have a problem come in
and it will go away at some point. It will go away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORKE: The former head GlaxoSmithKline's vaccine's division, Moncef Slaoui,
will help to lead that effort alongside four-star Army General Gustav
Perna.

Now, White House officials insist that yes, it is an aggressive timeline
for the vaccine, it just a goal, not a certainty but they're going to give
everything they have, Jason.

Also, in the meantime, they believe that reopening our economy could well
prove just as important as long-term health of our country -- Jason.

CHAFFETZ: Kevin, thank you.

While the Trump administration is doing everything, it can to get America
reopened quickly and safely, some of the left appeared to be spreading fear
about the push to reopen the country.

Now that some governors have taken steps to loose and stay at home orders,
the media is once again showing their liberal bias. For example, the
governors of Georgia and Colorado have both taken similar steps to reopen
their state.

But Brian Kemp of Georgia, a Republican is getting singled out. "The
Atlantic" accused him of experimenting with, quote, "human sacrifice".

Despite the media's fearmongering, many Americans have had enough with the
forced lockdown. Earlier today, hundreds of Pennsylvanians gathered around
the state's capital to protest coronavirus restrictions put in place over
two months ago by Democratic Governor Tom Wolfe.

And don't forget the passionate rant against the lockdown by Barstool
Sports founder Dave Portnoy that has gone viral. Elon Musk the owner of
Tesla who stood up to the overbearing regulations in California praised
Portnoy, saying he should run for office.

Joining us now with reaction is author of "Guilt by Accusation", Harvard
Law professor Alan Dershowitz, and author of the "Russia Hoax", one of the
best books on the topic, FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Gregg, I want to -- I want to start with you. You are actually in Georgia.
One of the things that bothers me is the way they treated Brian Kemp, the
governor who took one of the first steps out there, compared to Jared
Polis, a liberal Democrat who's the governor of Colorado, because they
really did do similar things.

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, because -- excuse me, here in
Georgia, I've been following it very closely. In a desperate treatment,
Jason, is really quite striking. Governor Kemp, a Republican, has been
bludgeoned daily by the mainstream media, mostly the national media. You
are right, "The Atlantic" accusing him of human sacrifice and "The National
Journal" three weeks ago wrote: Mark this day three weeks from now, there
will be blood on Kemp's hands.

And, of course, the opposite has actually occurred. The total number of
cases declined by 12 percent and juxtapose that with the treatment of Jared
Polis, the Colorado Democratic governor, nary a word of criticism by the
media.

So, you know, the lesson is really twofold. Number one, the media is
perpetuately wrong, and number two, they're hopelessly and profoundly
biased and thus the moniker "fake news", which is richly deserved.

CHAFFETZ: Now, Alan, you have a Democratic history and a perspective at
least in your background.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, AUTHOR, "GUILT BY ACCUSATION": Yes.

CHAFFETZ: How do you read this? Because it doesn't seem, at least as
conservative when I see Brian Kemp on this topic and it doesn't seem the
same went Jared Polis was actually a friend of mine but he's about as
liberal as you get out there in Colorado, they don't treat him anywhere
close to being the same.

DERSHOWITZ: Look, I'm a liberal Democrat and I want to praise President
Trump for initiating this Warp Speed Manhattan project. That's what we
should be doing, getting a virus, giving it as quickly as possible, using
all the resources. I don't care if it's Pelosi who does it, or Trump who
does it. I refuse to be partisan when it comes to fighting this horrible
coronavirus.

I don't think we should be partisan. We're all in this together. It is a
reflection of how bad things have become in this country that even the
virus becomes a divisive issue based on partisanism.

Again, you know, I was in Israel when this broke out. I was with my friend
Benjamin Netanyahu on the two nights before election when he closed down
their country. He got universal support when he closed down the country,
near universal support.

Now, he's opening up and he's getting support, not on partisan grounds.
People still vote against him, but the issue of the disease has become
partisan. I think that is true in most of the European countries. But in
America, everything is partisan. Everything is who's side are you on.

It's a tragic reality what's happening in America. We have to get together
and fight this virus. It doesn't attack Democrats or Republicans, liberals
or conservatives separately.

We have to do two things: public health and save our economy. And we have
to strike the appropriate balance.

CHAFFETZ: No, and you bring up the good point. The president is there
trying to accelerate the way we produce a vaccine and you would think both
sides of the aisle would stand up and applaud, but they don't, but they
don't.

Alan Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, thank you so much for joining us here
tonight. We really do appreciate it.

All right, coming up, KT McFarland and Reince Priebus will weigh in on the
unmasking scandal that is now rocking Washington and the swamp, as well as
the left.

And later, we'll discuss the weirdly cordial relationship between Democrats
and the communist party of China as this special edition of "Hannity"
continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this "Hannity" special: Far Left Overreach.

This week, we witnessed bombshell new developments and perhaps the biggest
abuse of power scandal in American history. The president is calling it
Obamagate and in a recent interview with Maria Bartiromo, he had a strong
message for those who abuse their power in the Flynn unmasking scandal.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It was the greatest political crime in the history of our country.
If I were a Democrat instead of a Republican, I think everybody would have
been in jail a long time ago, and I'm talking with 50-year sentences. It is
a disgrace what's happened. This is the greatest political scam, hoax, in
the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: President Trump also asked a great question about the Flynn case
on Twitter. Where is the 302?

And remember, as Trey Gowdy pointed out, leaking Flynn's unmasked name to
the media is a felony punishable up to ten years in prison.

Joining is now correction the author of "Revolution: Trump, Washington and
We the People", former U.S. deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland,
and Michael Best Law president and former White House chief of staff,
Reince Priebus.

Thank you for being here.

And, KT, I want to start with you first -- 302 is what is developed by the
FBI. They don't report interviews, but they will take and make notes for
the record and it's called a 302s. It's supposed to be done within five
days of an interview.

But the president points out and there hasn't been enough attention, where
is this 302 that they did on Michael Flynn?

KT MCFARLAND, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Yes. This is
got to be one of the most important set of notes taken by the FBI in
decades. The fact that it is mysteriously missing is really just completely
unbelievable. What a 302 this happen in my case as well is that the two FBI
agent sit down, one of them is a note-taker, the more junior, and one of
them more senior, one starts out asking the questions.

Between the two of them, they take notes but the junior takes the note.
They leaved and then the two agents are supposed to get together, go back
and forth with each other and then make a, you know, as best they can
record. So the problem with the 302 to start with because what if done
inaccurately, what if they've taken things a little bit out of context?
They are not taking shorthand and as you point out, these are not
recordings.

So, the 302s are never considered to be 100 percent accurate to start with.
And the fact that these were edited -- General Flynn's were edited so many
times and now the originals are just mysteriously gone, it just doesn't
pass the smell test.

CHAFFETZ: How convenient.

Now, Reince, you were the chief of staff. You were actually on "FOX &
Friends". I believe you were on "FOX News Sunday". And you had said that
senior people within the intelligence committee have told you that there
was nothing to this so-called interaction between the Trump campaign and
Russia.

Explain to us what ultimately happened there. How did this go down?

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, I started --
thanks, Jason. I started telling Sean Hannity part of the story on Monday
when the first "New York Times" story hit that said they were constant
Russian contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

McCabe came into my office in the doorway shut. He told me that the story
was B.S., was inaccurate. And I said, what can you do about it? I called --
he told me to call them back in two hours, I did that, there was nothing
that I could do, but later in the afternoon, Jim Comey gave me a call and I
said to him, what are we going to be able to do about this? McCabe came
here.

He said no, there's nothing that can be done about it. And he specifically
told me that I could say that "The New York Times" story was inaccurate,
overstated and wrong. That was in February of 2017 that the story was
wrong.

So I said, I can say this on television and I have been informed this story
is inaccurate and wrong? The answer, yes.

I mean, I was very careful. I'm not going to -- I was careful to a fault in
fact. So I'm not going to go on TV and say something like that if I wasn't
given authority to do that. So, I went on television.

I went on "FOX News Sunday" and other shows and I told anyone who would
listen that I have been informed by the intelligence community that story
about constant Russian contacts and the Trump was wrong. And in fact, of
course, it didn't matter because we spent the next two years fighting the
same kinds of people that publicly were saying the story was true, but then
privately, telling everybody that it was wrong, and obviously, it's been
going on for years.

CHAFFETZ: Well, to the two of you that were there in the White House in
those early days when this ambush was set up, the senior levels of the
Department of Justice, my hats go off to you and to General Flynn. I got to
tell you, it doesn't smell right, it doesn't look right, and all we ask for
is the truth.

But when you have a 302 and you can't even find it, come on, that is
ridiculous. I wish I had an hour to explore this with you, but I have to
go. And I appreciate both of you for joining me tonight.

PRIEBUS: OK.

CHAFFETZ: All right, coming up next, a report on China's rampant
dishonesty, and we'll ask the question, why are Democrats refusing to call
them out?

Stay with us as the special edition of "Hannity" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity."

While Nancy Pelosi busy pushing another far left wish list under the guise
of a coronavirus package, she is also slamming President Trump for daring
to take on China. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Let me just say that what the president is saying
about China is interesting. It's an interesting diversion. Right now, our
focus should be on meeting the needs of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: A diversion?

The Democrats are pulling even further left than we thought. Now
apologizing for the communist party of China and downplaying their
involvement in the spread of the coronavirus.

But Republican lawmakers understand the threat all too well. According to
an outlet run by the communist party, China is now considering punitive
measures against Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt who filed a lawsuit
against China for the damage caused to his state.

Let's face it, the Chinese government cannot be trusted. According to "The
New York Post", China isn't just fudging their death toll numbers by a
little bit, try by over half a million.

Joining me now with reaction, author of the "The Coming Collapse of China",
Gordon Chang, and Chinese strategy director at the Hudson Institute,
Michael Pillsbury.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

Michael, I want to start with you. Nancy Pelosi says, you know, this is
just a diversion. Isn't this core to one of the big problems that's
happening in the world right now?

MICHAEL PILLSBURY, HUDSON INSTITUTE CHINESE STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Yes, and
also China says the same thing. The Chinese and the Democrats in Congress
have pretty much taken the same line over the past months but there is
nothing to investigate and China. Both China and the Democrats have accused
President Trump of botching the recovery.

They have almost daily stories and their newspapers on the front page about
how much Mr. Trump is not doing well and not doing the right thing. Today,
Jason, they had a huge photo in color, Richard Bright, the whistle-blower,
and said he is basically correct. So we have this strange enlightenment of
the Democrats in Congress with the communist party in China. I can't
explain it.

CHAFFETZ: Gordon, "The Global Times" there in China, which has ties to the
Chinese government, they are going after the Missouri Attorney General,
Eric Schmitt. They also mentioned Senator Tom Cotton and Senator Josh
Hawley.

How big of a threat is this to the three Americans who are in elected
office?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "THE COMING COLLAPSE OF CHINA": I think what the
communist party is worried about is that an investigation into the origins
of the coronavirus are going to show the malign actions of Beijing. That
Beijing took action that it knew would inevitably lead to the discredit of
coronavirus me on China's borders.

Now, you have Senator Cotton, Senator Hawley and a number of political
figures who have been pressing China and not giving up. And that really is
the important thing here because we need to get to the bottom of this
because, you know, China says that we need to cooperate with him, but how
can you cooperate with someone who has deliberately killed 87,000
Americans? Just -- to me, we have to answer that core question.

CHAFFETZ: Well, we've got to be careful. We don't know that they were
purposely were trying to do that directly to Americans, but an
investigation would certainly lead us a long way.

We have only got a few seconds left here. But to the core of the question
that was asked at the beginning, Michael, why are the Democrats so hesitant
to actually join Republicans and join America in the concern about what
China was involved with the virus?

PILLSBURY: Jason, I think it is the kind of fatalism they have about the
elections. If they admit that President Trump was right back in 2016
campaign, that China has been taking advantage of us and it is time to stop
that behavior, they are essentially surrendering to President Trump's
successful dealing with China. And it will look bad in the polls. They will
probably lose the House and President Trump will stay in the White House.
There's a lot at stake in this.

CHAFFETZ: Gordon, I've got to get yours -- if only got 10 seconds. Give me
your quick thought on this.

CHANG: Well, the Democratic Party foreign policy establishment is
notoriously pro-engagement, pro-Beijing and so the Democratic Party is
responding to the advisors it has, in addition to all the other reasons
Michael talked about.

CHAFFETZ: Gentlemen, thank you. I've got to leave it there.

All right, well, earlier today former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie
had some heated moments with the ladies on "The View." We'll play the tape
next as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this "Hannity" special.

Chris Christie was on "The View" this morning and clashed with Joy Behar
after she blamed Republicans for not trying to help Americans. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, HOST, "THE VIEW": When it comes to actually helping people,
Republicans don't -- all of a sudden, we don't have any money, we don't
have any money.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: It's unfair, Joy, to say
that Republicans don't support any of this stuff and they only have money
for big business. That is a typical Democratic talking point.

BEHAR: They want -- they want to pay their rent, they want to pay
mortgages, they don't have enough money for that. That's what they're
crying about, and I don't see the Republican Party helping them. What
they're doing is blaming everybody else.

CHRISTIE: That's just wrong. It's just absolutely wrong. You're welcome to
your views, but not your own set of facts.

Republicans have voted to support all of those programs you just talked
about, food programs, aid programs to people with direct checks to them,
aid programs to small businesses, aid programs to frontline health workers
at hospitals. All those things have gotten overwhelming, in fact,
unanimous, Republican support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: Governor Christie, we love it. Well done.

Unfortunately, that's all the time we have tonight. I want to put in a
picture for my book "The Deep State." It is certainly timely, you want to
get it, "The Deep State".

Sean Hannity will be back on Monday. I appreciate him letting me sit in his
seat.

I hope you have a great and wonderful weekend. Have great time.

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