This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," October 5, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: Good evening and welcome to "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
The month-long saga turned nightmare of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation process finally coming to a conclusion. The Senate voted narrowly today to move the decision to the floor. That means the final vote on this on Kavanaugh will take place tomorrow, probably tomorrow afternoon. This is almost over.
Democrats made one final push against Kavanaugh this afternoon. Screaming protesters swarmed the Capitol. Famous journalists became completely hysterical on Twitter. Check the blue checks and you will see for yourself.
And then Dianne Feinstein, the 85-year old ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, someone long holding reputation for being reasonable, abandoned that reputation and went all the way. She suggested that Brett Kavanaugh isn't simply a bad nominee or a bad jurist but he is a violent and dangerous person. Here's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, D-CALIF.: At the hearing last week, we saw a man filled with anger and aggression. Judge Kavanaugh raised his voice. He interrupted senators.
This behavior revealed a hostility and belligerence that is unbecoming of someone seeking to be elevated to the United States Supreme Court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Lock that man up. Well for much of the day, Brett Kavanaugh's fate seemed uncertain. It ping-ponged back and forth. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska wound up voting with the Democrats and then she issued a bizarre statement in which she said that Kavanaugh is a good man but should not be on the Supreme Court.
In other words, Brett Kavanaugh was falsely accused of gang-rape. And that false accusation means he can't be a Supreme Court Justice because false accusations are disqualifying for the victims of them. Keep in mind that Lisa Murkowski is an actual U.S. senator. Hard to believe, but true.
And then in the mid-afternoon, something remarkable happened, something that very few expected. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the most liberal Republicans in Washington and not someone famous for memorable oratory, took to the Senate floor to mount a rigorously logical defense of Kavanaugh's character, ability and nomination. Here's part of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, R-MAINE: The facts presented do not mean that president - that professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time. But they do lead me to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more-likely-than-not standard. Therefore, I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.
Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. Thank you, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: This was not an emotional speech. And for that reason, it was very different from virtually anything we've heard for the past month. It was an argument rooted in reason and it had a huge effect. The dam broke almost immediately after.
West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin announced that he too will support Kavanaugh. Manchin gives the nomination the necessary 50 votes. Even if protesters find Jeff Flake again and scream at him once more, the nomination will go through.
Barring some unforeseen event and, we've got to be honest, that could happen, but if it doesn't, Brett Kavanaugh will become a Supreme Court Justice this weekend.
Now, for the crime of representing his own voters back in West Virginia who overwhelmingly support Kavanaugh, Senator Manchin was surrounded tonight by the youth wing of his own party and ritually denounced in the halls of the Capitol.
As is common now, nobody tried to stop them or even ask them to be quiet because we're getting used to mob rule here. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PROTESTERS: Shame on you!
SEN. JOE MANCHIN, D-W.VA.: As far as we talk in here --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE PROTESTERS: Shame on you!
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: --Please move to South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CARLSON: These kinds of scenes are everywhere in Washington tonight, we're sad to tell you. The Left has given up on making its own case. Activists no longer try to convince anyone of anything. Instead, they scream and bully.
As a tactic, this can be effective. It worked for many years for the Mafia, for example, but there is a cost to it, especially when it's on television. Normal people find it scary and unreasonable because that's exactly what it is, scary and unreasonable. The Left is going too far and it's alienating even liberal Republicans like Susan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I am thinking in particular not of the allegations raised by Professor Ford, but of the allegation that when he was a teenager, Judge Kavanaugh drugged multiple girls and used their weakened state to facilitate gang-rape. This outlandish allegation was put forth without any credible supporting evidence and--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: That outlandish story Senator Collins is referring to, of course, was all over the other cable channels repeated uncritically for weeks. It was, of course, a fantasy. It was promoted by Stormy Daniels' attorney, the world's creepiest porn lawyer, who is now, by the way, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, if that tells you anything about the moment we're living in.
He, creepy porn lawyer, lashed out at Susan Collins on Twitter today. He called her speech "Entirely disingenuous and shameful." But by this point, even Democrats were starting to understand that the freak show they have unleashed is beginning to hurt them.
Ken Vogel at the New York Times even wondered aloud on Twitter if the creepy porn lawyer might be "A double agent all along," working for the Republicans. Unlikely, but he's helped them.
Out in the field though, they never got the memo, the one about trying to seem non-crazy for the sake of not scaring the voters. Progressive leader, Linda Sarsour, spoke for many on the Left when she attacked Susan Collins for the color of her skin.
"Senator Susan Collins is the mother and grandmother of White women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency." Whatever that means, they're all saying it.
Over at GQ magazine, writer Sophia Benoit wrote this. "If I ever die from getting an illegal abortion, please drop my body off at Senator Collins' house and let it rot."
Well if there's one thing we've learned during the last month, it's what the Activist Left really thinks. And a lot of people are scared by what they really think though, actually, the term think may be too generous. A lot of what we're hearing isn't the product of thinking at all, it's the product of coordinated instructions handed down from on high and dutifully repeated by angry children.
Liberals are party people. They do exactly what they are told. Watch this scene today from Capitol Hill which really says it all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go watch the vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's go watch the vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In offices engaged to community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In offices engaged to community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am going to go to Heidi Heitkamp's office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am going to Heidi Heitkamp's office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am going to Heidi Heitkamp's office.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why? She's on our side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Repeat after me and, like the little robots they are, they do. During her speech, Susan Collins noted that Supreme Court nomination battles have become steadily angrier and more vicious over the course of 30 years. She said she hopes what happened to Brett Kavanaugh is rock bottom and it gets better from here.
Of course, we and a lot of other people hope she's right. We worry that she isn't. The effort to destroy Brett Kavanaugh's life failed apparently, but only barely. Nobody important seems to regret what happened to him.
Norms, like the presumption of innocence and basic fairness, the ones this country is built on, remain intact but they've been damaged. They may crumble if they are attacked again. Will they be? Well that really depends on voters.
If voters reward mob justice in November, the screaming robots you just saw on your screen, we're going to get more of it because that's the way the system works.
If voters reject it, the Democrats may rethink the strategy and get back to arguing on behalf of what they say they believe, which would be a massive improvement over sending out their youth wing to scream at people.
For once, these mid-terms really matter. They will determine the course of the Democratic Party going forward.
For more on tomorrow's final confirmation vote, we're joined by Fox chief national correspondent, Ed Henry, who's been following every minute of it from beginning to end. Ed?
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS: Tucker, great to see you.
What's that old saying? It's all over but the shouting. There's going to be a lot more noise coming. But despite an onslaught of allegations and attacks, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is finally on the verge of becoming Justice Brett Kavanaugh as soon as tomorrow afternoon.
The day started with high drama as Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell called a procedural vote where he needed 51 votes to keep this moving forward.
It was not clear he had the votes but he wanted to smoke this out, called the bluff of Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. He made a last-ditch attempt to get President Trump to send up a new nominee, Schumer promising he would give a conservative a fair shake even though Schumer had said minutes after the Kavanaugh choice back in July, he'd oppose him with everything he had long before any sexual assault allegations.
As the roll was called, Republican Lisa Murkowski voted "No". Her GOP colleagues, as you noted, Susan Collins, Jeff Flake they went yes, and so did one Democrat, Joe Manchin. He's facing a tough re-election in West Virginia.
It was possible though that Collins and Manchin could switch tomorrow and vote no on final passage. But late today, they both seemed to seal this for Kavanaugh saying they would vote "Yes" on the nomination itself.
Collins delivered a blistering message to the Left about how they allegedly used Dr. Ford for their own purposes, while Manchin, he's already facing the wrath of the resistance. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
COLLINS: Watching her, Mr. President, I could not help but feel that some people who wanted to engineer the defeat of this nomination cared little, if at all, for her well-being.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
MANCHIN: And I deny that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Yes. You mentioned the mid-terms. We've seen a surge in recent days for some Republicans in key matchups tonight.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted "Trump supporters, the fight is not over. You better believe that Democrats are going to do everything in their power to impeach Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court if they take control of Congress. This is war. Time to fight. Vote on November 6 to protect the Supreme Court."
You see it now as a rallying cry. There's going to be a vote tomorrow, we believe, mid-to-late afternoon in the Senate, expected to be a formality that Kavanaugh will be confirmed.
But as you've seen, Tucker, it's been anything but a formality. One week ago today, last Friday, we thought Kavanaugh was moving to confirmation there. That one week pause, he finally seems ready to be confirmed tomorrow afternoon, Tucker.
CARLSON: I think that note of caution is probably warranted.
HENRY: Very much.
CARLSON: You've been - you've been with us from the beginning. Thanks a lot, Ed. I appreciate it.
HENRY: You too buddy.
CARLSON: Speaking from the beginning, nobody has covered this story more vigorously or with more detail than Kim Strassel of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, and she joins us tonight.
Kim, thanks a lot for coming on. You've added so much fact to this story, people who've been reading you every week. But--
KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: --stand back, if you can, just a couple of steps, and tell us what the takeaway is. Assuming Brett Kavanaugh gets confirmed tomorrow afternoon, what are we to make of what we just saw?
STRASSEL: Well, we saw desperation. Look, what no Democrat would talk about, we heard a lot about Roe. Of course, we've heard a lot about these sexual allegations and other worries that they express.
But what's really bothering them is that we are about to have, assuming that this vote goes forward, a fifth solid conservative vote on the Supreme Court that is going to fundamentally transform in many ways our jurisprudence on everything from property rights to gun rights, to regulation, to other issues.
They know that's coming and that's what was being fought against and that's what's happening tomorrow with this vote.
CARLSON: Democrats get their agenda enacted through the courts. Republicans, in general, get it--
STRASSEL: Right.
CARLSON: --enacted through democratic means, the Congress. So, when you change the composition in the court, you're really disempowering the Democratic Party in a profound way.
STRASSEL: Look, if you can't convince the public of your argument and, therefore, you can't win the elections, you don't have Hillary Clinton in the White House, you don't have the ability to make all the regulations she would have if she'd been there, you can't convince voters of your climate change event agenda for legislation etcetera, the only way you can do it--
CARLSON: Right.
STRASSEL: --is to make it up or to get the courts to sign off on it. And so, that has been the strategy of Democrats for a long time. Think about when was the last major piece of legislation other than Obamacare that they managed to get through, which has been an enormous, obviously, very unpopular.
CARLSON: That's such a good point. And they suffered for it, electorically - electorally. Kim Strassel, thank you. Thank you again for everything you've done on this story.
STRASSEL: Thank you. Thank you.
CARLSON: Just read all of it really carefully. Thanks.
Well the FBI investigation did not uncover crimes by Brett Kavanaugh, did not corroborate Christine Ford's story, it might have uncovered witness tampering by allies of Christine Ford, pretty amazing story.
And then an announcement about what we think is a pretty good new book. It's called Ship of Fools. We've got something to tell you about it, that's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well barring a final twist, which could happen, but as of right now, it looks like the effort to destroy Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination by destroying his reputation has failed.
One possible reason for that failure could be that Stormy Daniels' lawyer overreached and made absurd gang-rape allegations that reminded people that actually the presumption of innocence matters. That's why we've had it for over a 1,000 years in the West.
But that wasn't the only thing we learned or that mattered. According to The Wall Street Journal, Christine Ford's friend, Leland Keyser, from Chevy Chase, Maryland, told the FBI she faced massive pressure from Ford's friends to change her sworn statement and say that she remembered the party where Kavanaugh supposedly assaulted her.
Dan Bongino is a former Secret Service Agent, an NYPD officer, author of the book Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump, he joins us tonight. So Dan, you're a former sworn officer, a law enforcement officer, is attempting to get someone to change sworn testimony legal?
DAN BONGINO, NRATV CONTRIBUTOR: Legal? Absolutely - absolutely not. Not - not only you - would you be fired from your job, I was a cop and a federal agent, so I've seen it at the local and federal level, there's potential there depending on the degree of it that you'd be locked up yourself issuing your own statement.
No, this is entirely unethical. And Tucker, I believe the House Republic - excuse me, the Senate Republicans have finally decided that it's time to fight back against this. I don't know if you saw Chuck Grassley's letter.
But in there he says, in light of recently uncovered information that he asked them to turn over a bunch of new documents, I think that they see that there may be some potential legal malfeasance going on here, and good for them for fighting back.
CARLSON: And this is apparently, according to the account we read today, a former Secret Service - I mean rather a former FBI employee who tried to get Leland Keyser to change her sworn statement, is that correct?
BONGINO: Yes. It was McLean with the friend, the lifelong friend whose name was given up by the - the ex-boyfriend of Dr. Ford as well. What's particularly disturbing about this whole story, Tucker, is the Republicans - the Senate Republicans treated Dr. Ford there with a - with the degree of very serious dignity.
They put her up there. They let her tell her story. They treated her with respect. They brought in a professional prosecutor to question her. There were no politically biased questions. They just tried to get the facts out, the facts adding --
CARLSON: Right.
BONGINO: --as we know, there were enormous numbers of holes, and this case it - they're starting to look really bad for the Democrats who put this together and Avenatti's not helping.
CARLSON: No. And I mean as you well know, since you follow this so carefully, it's an asymmetrical contest between one side that's very literal and the other side will do anything.
BONGINO: Yes. It's a - it's a euphemism game with them. But Tucker, can I just say, you know, without getting too ridiculous or hyperbolic, we can define ourselves by negation, right?
I mean the whole resistance movement on the Left is doing that. They're defining themselves by what they're not. They don't like Donald Trump. I believe the entrance of Avenatti into this case was the turning point.
This guy's a creep. He's a disgrace to the legal profession and everybody knows it. And people watch that on TV, independents, women voters, moderates, and they looked at that and they said, "You know what? We're not that guy. That's not--
CARLSON: Oh, I - I - I totally agree with that.
BONGINO: --us. Those are ridiculous charges."
CARLSON: You know, whatever he's for--
BONGINO: That happens --
CARLSON: --I'm not for it. And I - I think that's right. I think it's a fair conclusion. Dan Bongino, it's always great to have you. Thank you.
BONGINO: Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: Joining us now is Dan Summers. He's - Jon Summers. He's a Former Communications Director for Senator Harry Reid. Jon, thanks a lot for coming on.
So, what's your reaction to this story that an ally of Christine Ford's, according to Leland Keyser apparently, tried to get Keyser to change her sworn testimony, which as you discern, and I think we both agree is a crime, it's certainly wrong, what do you make of that?
JON SUMMERS, FORMER SEN. REID COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well I don't know that I agree it's a crime and it is something that we've seen on both sides. And we know that Kavanaugh, you know, was also talking to his friend. She was talking to hers. So, you know, I think what it all boils down to go --
CARLSON: Wait, wait, do we, wait, no wait, hold on, before you do, I - I mean I think I've followed it pretty closely, is there an allegation that someone was pushed to change sworn testimony?
SUMMERS: There was talk about Kavanaugh talking with his friends who might be approached by the FBI. And the way that you're characterizing her as changing her testimony--
CARLSON: But - but they hadn't made sworn--
SUMMERS: --was not actually the way--
CARLSON: --no--
SUMMERS: --that story was written in the--
CARLSON: --well she's saying that--
SUMMERS: --Wall Street Journal. It was--
CARLSON: --she was pushed to change her - her account--
SUMMERS: She was saying that she was--
CARLSON: --her sworn testimony.
SUMMERS: --asked to revisit her account. I'm not going to defend that--
CARLSON: Oh, revisit.
SUMMERS: --that's not for me to defend because I don't actually think--
CARLSON: Revisit?
SUMMERS: --that it was the right thing to do but both sides are guilty.
CARLSON: Right.
SUMMERS: What I actually do think the right thing to do would have been--
CARLSON: Think both sides are guilty--
SUMMERS: --would be for everyone--
CARLSON: --yes.
SUMMERS: --to take a breath, and take a step back and actually take the time--
CARLSON: I agree that.
SUMMERS: --to go in and investigate all this stuff both on behalf of the accused and the accuser so there could be some clarity brought to this, and the right people could be held--
CARLSON: So let me ask you--
SUMMERS: --accountable. And unfortunately --
CARLSON: --so when you saw --
SUMMERS: --that was missing in this process because there was a rush to get it done. It would have been nice if we'd been able to take a breath--
CARLSON: --yes, it's only seven FBI investigations--
SUMMERS: --and did the investigations.
CARLSON: --into Kavanaugh. I do think we would need an eighth FBI investigation to, you know--
SUMMERS: Well let's remember that that--
CARLSON: --clear his name from charges that don't make any sense.
SUMMERS: --Hastert also had clearance and no one knew he was a child molester for a long, long time so--
CARLSON: OK. But we're not - we're not going to, wait, hold on--
SUMMERS: --let's be clear that there are things that are missed.
CARLSON: --what - no, no, let me be clear, what we're not going to do is try to impugn Brett Kavanaugh's reputation by comparing him to a child molester because that would be wrong and guilt by association. He's got nothing to do with Denny Hastert, as you know.
But let me ask you this, when you see your senator from the Democratic Party, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, announce his vote, which is consistent with what his voters want, according to public opinion polling, and a bunch of angry Left-wing children surround him and scream at him, does that bother you at all?
I mean is that the kind of democratic process that you want for your country?
SUMMERS: I mean people do have the opportunity to approach their elected officials and - and make their voices heard.
CARLSON: And scream at them?
SUMMERS: Now, Joe Manchin --
CARLSON: No but - no but let's--
SUMMERS: --it's not appropriately discreet method --
CARLSON: --speak look, I defend--
SUMMERS: --and I agree --
CARLSON: --the First Amendment in a way that the Left does not, so I will take a back seat to no one on the First Amendment question. They have a right to do it, I guess. But is that what you want? Do you want people screaming at lawmakers until they change their view? And if that's OK, why is it not OK to slash their tires?
SUMMERS: Well --
CARLSON: Or throw them with cocktails with it for - no, I'm - I'm serious. If you're going to bully people, what's the kind of limit to that?
SUMMERS: Well and you've got bullying on both sides. We know that both sides--
CARLSON: No, you don't--
SUMMERS: --have been doing this. Oh, you absolutely do--
CARLSON: Really? Where? Where?
SUMMERS: --Tucker. But - but I'm not surprised at all --
CARLSON: So, show me the mob - show me the mob of screaming Right-wing children that's changed a vote?
SUMMERS: --I think it's - I - I actually think--
CARLSON: I haven't seen that.
SUMMERS: --it's a waste of time to - to go after and scream at Manchin and do all of that. He's voted the way I expected he would vote the entire time, which I think is viewed by him as the politically safe way to go. I have to say I'm actually--
CARLSON: Yes, I think that's right.
SUMMERS: --really impressed, I'm really impressed with senators Collins, Murkowski, and Heitkamp because it was very clear that all three of them put some serious thought into this.
I still expected Collins to vote the way that we expect her to vote tomorrow on the - on the confirmation, but it was clear that she actually put some thought into it. I don't agree with everything she said--
CARLSON: Yes. No, but it was--
SUMMERS: --but it was clear she put some thought into it--
CARLSON: --she made a reasonable case and now she's being dismissed as some Right-wing crazy--
SUMMERS: --and note and - and the same, you know, the same sort of--
CARLSON: --which is hilarious. Yes.
SUMMERS: --thoughtfulness can be applied to--
CARLSON: Yes.
SUMMERS: --Murkowski and Heitkamp as well. Republican or Democrat--
CARLSON: Heidi Heitkamp but Murkowski made a nonsensical--
SUMMERS: --they're two of the most conservative states in the country.
CARLSON: --yes. Well good luck to them--
SUMMERS: What's that?
CARLSON: --good luck to them. Jon, thank you very much for coming on tonight.
SUMMERS: Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: One Republican senator says Julie Swetnick, being represented by creepy porn lawyer, should face charges for making false allegations against Judge Kavanaugh. That Senator joins us next.
Plus, we've got a special message for you about a book you ought to read. That's coming up too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: Please move to South Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are voting you out of office.
GRAHAM: I hope you'd come. Oh, you'd be welcome in South Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't believe your daughters, believe your mother, believe your sisters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How you lied under oath ?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have changed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe he lied under oath.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't - I mean you've been --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He lied under oath. He didn't drink. He didn't - he didn't --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Angry, rich ladies. It's been a rough week for senators on Capitol Hill. Lindsey Graham though seems to be looking at the bright side of the harassment he's facing. When they haven't been being shouted at by angry people, senators have had to sort through a blizzard of dubious accusations against Brett Kavanaugh.
First among them is one made by Julie Swetnick, who's being represented by a creepy porn lawyer who's running for president. She swore in a statement that she knew Kavanaugh was a gang-rapist. Well, no evidence has been produced and it seems pretty clear it's a fantasy at this point.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana says that if it turns out that Swetnick lied, she ought to face criminal investigation, at the least. He joins us tonight. Senator, thank you very much for coming on.
SEN. BILL CASSIDY, R-LA.: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: So what would it mean legally if Julie Swetnick lied in that statement that she gave?
CASSIDY: She - she - when you give that statement under oath, under penalty of felony, it is a felony. Now, you may not go and do hard time but you certainly should be severely fined and it should be recognized as such.
We continue to tell the American people these statements are made under penalty of felony and, therefore, you can have faith in them. When someone makes a mockery of it, then they should be penalized and punished because what really is at stake is the faith of the American people in the process.
CARLSON: I've never seen; I can't think of a false accuser ever being punished. I mean the woman who accused the Duke rape - Lacrosse players of rape only went back to prison when she murdered someone, the same with the UVA fraternity false accusations, have you ever seen anybody punished for making a false rape accusation?
CASSIDY: Absolutely, for making a false statement to the FBI. People are going to prison--
CARLSON: Yes.
CASSIDY: --for that. And so, this was to be the equivalent of an FBI interview. And that's why I go there. We've had high-ranking administration officials who've lost their jobs because of it. In my state--
CARLSON: Yes.
CASSIDY: --a fellow went to prison over something where the FBI agent remembered a statement, did not have a recording, just remembered it. That's the kind of scrutiny and threshold that typically is required. I think it should have the same scrutiny and threshold now.
CARLSON: Well I think it should too. Are you all going to follow up on this?
CASSIDY: So this is going to be up to the Judiciary Committee. Grassley has suggested that he might make a referral. It'll be up to Chairman Grassley.
But the way I look at it, we continue to say to the American people the statements that Brett Kavanaugh had not participated in anything that he was alleged to have done, were made under penalty of felony, we should show--
CARLSON: Right.
CASSIDY: --why that is important. And by the way, everybody who said everybody else under penalty of felony said Kavanaugh had not done it and that includes the people who subsequently spoke to the FBI, so let's just show--
CARLSON: Right.
CASSIDY: --the American People that means something.
CARLSON: I think - I think that's a really fair point. Senator, thank you very much for talking to us tonight.
CASSIDY: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: One quick message for you. Bob Woodward has been a famous guy in journalism for close to 50 years. As a young man, he taunted - tormented the Washington establishment most famously during Watergate, then he joined the other team.
Woodward is now permanent Washington's court historian. He tells their stories and promotes their causes. In return, his books go to the top of the bestseller list. That's where he is again now.
It's frustrating to watch. But tonight, there is something you can do about it. There's a brand new book out this week that could dislodge Woodward's book from the top of the bestseller lists.
Instead of celebrating the Washington ruling class, this book points out the many ways they have chosen to ignore, mock and, sometimes, betray the country they rule over.
The book is called Ship of Fools. We've told you about it before.
So, if you want to knock Bob Woodward from his perch, there's something you can do. You can order Ship of Fools in the next 24 hours. It might be a nice statement.
Up next, Brett Kavanaugh seems to have overcome the many sexual assault allegations levied against him but not proved. But has DNC Vice Chairman Keith Ellison done the same? His ex-girlfriend has hired a new lawyer and we talked to him. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Democrats in Minnesota have wrapped up their investigation of the abuse allegations being made against Congressman Keith Ellison. The conclusion, nothing to see here.
The accuser, Ellison's former girlfriend, Karen Monahan isn't giving up though. She has just hired a new attorney. His name is Andrew Parker and he joins us tonight.
Mr. Parker, thank you for coming on. The--
ANDREW PARKER, KAREN MONAHAN'S LAWYER: Thank you.
CARLSON: --report from the Democratic Party of Minnesota basically says "We can't prove this. We have no evidence that it happened. Let's move on." Are you satisfied by that?
PARKER: Well first, Karen man - Monahan did not raise the allegations in order for to - to vindicate herself or prove anything to anyone.
What she is - was doing by raising these allegations was number one, really trying to heal herself by coming forward and heal what was the most traumatic time in her life, and continued to be long after she left Keith Ellison. And this has been a cathartic but extremely harrowing experience since she left the relationship.
The second reason is because she wanted to give a voice to other women, other women who still have not come forward--
CARLSON: Right.
PARKER: --but are involved in very difficult relationships--
CARLSON: Abusive relationships. So but let me ask you about that--
PARKER: --and as it relates--
CARLSON: --so, you have a woman representing the State of Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, Amy Klobuchar who's been on television these last few weeks attacking Brett Kavanaugh and reminding us that we need to believe the allegations that women make. Has she spoken to Keith Ellison? Has she spoken publicly about this? Has she spoken to Karen Monahan about this?
PARKER: Well, I don't know what Senator Klobuchar's view is regarding the Ellison situation. I can say that--
CARLSON: Well has she said anything in public that you're aware of?
PARKER: Not that - not that I'm aware of.
CARLSON: OK. Are there police reports to substantiate this allegation?
PARKER: There are not police reports that substantiate it, and the investigator who was hired by the Minnesota Democratic Party after the Democratic National Committee kicked this issue investigating its Deputy Chair down to the State Party, for some reason, the State Party decided to hire an excellent law firm, but the one law firm that represents the Democrats in the State of Minnesota, you know, to investigate one of its own.
CARLSON: Huh?
PARKER: So what happened was an investigative report is issued with substantial corroborative evidence.
CARLSON: Right.
PARKER: No doubt about it that I can go through--
CARLSON: No, we're aware of it.
PARKER: --but the conclusion of unsubstantiated.
CARLSON: Right. So, I mean there are texts from Karen Monahan to her friends about this incident. There are notes from her therapist about this incident. And yet, the party's not taking it seriously, why do you think that is?
And I don't want to ask you to speculate but the irony is kind of unavoidable here. In the middle of a moment when Democrats are telling us that these allegations must be taken seriously, it doesn't appear that they're taking these allegations seriously, why?
PARKER: Well, in addition to the corroborative evidence, there were four witnesses identified. All of them corroborated the story that Karen Monahan told them that they completely believed her and she told it to them shortly after the incident occurred and well over a year and a half before she came out publicly.
CARLSON: So, Democrats have said the - the - the - the law firm, the Democratic firm in Minneapolis that did this so-called investigation said "Well look, Karen Monahan doesn't want to release the videotape she says she has of this altercation, therefore we can't take her seriously." Is that true? And if so, why isn't she releasing the videotape?
PARKER: The primary reason why she is not releasing the videotape is number one, it - it re-victimizes her. She refuses to be bullied into being re- victimized. It is a very hurtful video for her to show to anyone. And she did not--
CARLSON: Have you seen it?
PARKER: --I have not. And she did not inject the video into this process at all. In fact, she didn't want to go public that she even had a video--
CARLSON: Right.
PARKER: --it was her son that unwittingly had done that. Second reason, though, is very important. And that is, she came forward in order to give voice, in order to shine light that women can step out into in order to tell their story.
CARLSON: Right.
PARKER: And if they believe you have to have a video in order to be believed and even with all the corroborative evidence, Tucker, that Karen Monahan has, she isn't believed unless she shows a video.
CARLSON: Yes, I've noticed.
PARKER: That is a message that she does not want to give.
CARLSON: Well it's quite the standard. And again, the irony here is almost overwhelming, I would say. Thank you, Mr. Parker for - for relaying all of that to us. We appreciate it.
PARKER: Thank you.
CARLSON: Well after decades of defending him, the Left is rethinking its views on Bill Clinton from decades ago. It's kind of an amazing story.
Plus, we'll have celebrities reacting to Brett Kavanaugh's imminent confirmation. And, of course, you're going to want to see that because you can't make a decision without a washed-up sitcom actor telling you what to think. Can you? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well some in the celebrity community are taking Brett Kavanaugh's likely confirmation personally and hard. Over in ABC on "The View," Joy Behar, who, honestly, clearly has something wrong with her, declared that a vote for Kavanaugh is a vote for legalizing sexual assault. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": The message to boys is, if you become a powerful man, you are allowed to grope a woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Yes, she needs to take some time off and just get some fresh air. Meanwhile, alleged comedian Amy Schumer was more hands-on. She got arrested, sort of, protesting on Capitol Hill here today. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to get arrested?
AMY SCHUMER, STAND-UP COMEDIAN, ACTRESS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to get arrested? Exit. Now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Man. She cares more than we do. Allie Beth Stuckey hosts the Relatable podcast on CRTV and joins us tonight. Allie, thanks a lot for coming on. So what are we to--
ALLIE BETH STUCKEY, RELATABLE PODCAST: Yes, Tucker.
CARLSON: --make of this celebrity community that's really speaking as one voice. That's why it's a community--
STUCKEY: Right.
CARLSON: --and they're telling us that confirming Brett Kavanaugh further evidence that the rest of us are disgusting. Do you buy it?
STUCKEY: Right. Right, well this is a straw man, obviously. No one is making this argument.
Although, Senator Collins pointed out today that a lot of people are making this argument on the Left that if you want to confirm Kavanaugh, then you were approving sexual assault. That is obviously not true. I don't know anyone who thinks that way.
Confirming Kavanaugh has to do with his competence, his qualifications, and even bigger than that, truth and - and justice.
This is not about condoning sexual assault but it is about the condemnation of these evil tactics that we've seen on the Left of ruining someone's life based on unsubstantiated allegations and that is something people on the Right and the Left should be scared of.
CARLSON: So, if everybody in the entertainment business, the business that whose purpose it is to entertain the rest of us is on one side and expressing open contempt for the country they're supposed to be entertaining, why are the rest of us playing along and consuming the crap that they produce?
STUCKEY: Right. I know. Well it's kind of this conundrum. On the one hand, we looked at them for entertainment but then now they've deemed themselves the - the moral and political arbiters of this world.
And hey, if they want to have a conversation about sexual ethics and morality, I am ready to have that conversation as a conservative Christian. What I'm not OK with is the hypocrisy that we see of not condemning their own side--
CARLSON: Right.
STUCKEY: --and only doing it when it's in a, you know, partisan and convenient.
CARLSON: Yes. They're atheist but they're still religious nuts in case you haven't noticed. Very quick, after more than --
STUCKEY: Right.
CARLSON: --20 years, there's a video showing the former President Bill Clinton meeting with Monica in the Oval Office. It's finally been released to the public.
It comes as the public seems to finally be turning on Clinton even on the Left for his behavior decades ago. Last night, an actress called Alyssa Milano, I think her name is, said the President should have been investigated--
STUCKEY: I don't know.
CARLSON: --for his behavior. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN: Look at Bill Clinton. He was accused of a lot of ugly things. Some of it he had to admit. And yet, people were fine with him and saying you have to judge him by more than him at his worst. Should Kavanaugh get the same benefit of the doubt?
ALYSSA MILANO, ACTRESS: No. And I don't think Bill Clinton should have gotten that benefit of the doubt in hindsight.
We probably should have investigated the allegations against him as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So what do you - what do you make? Is she arguing that Clinton got too much due process or what is she saying exactly?
STUCKEY: I don't think she knows. I think that she was kind of caught in her hypocrisy there. But maybe this is a win for--
CARLSON: Yes, exactly.
STUCKEY: --self-awareness. I also think it's maybe saving face. A tweet resurfaced from 2012 where she said she loves Bill Clinton, so maybe she's had a change of heart and maybe other self-aware celebrities will follow suit. We can only hope.
CARLSON: A win for self-awareness, that's my favorite line of the week. I'm putting it on my refrigerator.
STUCKEY: Oh, good.
CARLSON: And by the way if that's true, it's good news.
STUCKEY: Oh, I feel good about that.
CARLSON: We need more of that. Allie, thank you very much.
STUCKEY: Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: Do you remember the Russia probe? Russia, used to be a news story. Now, it may be a news story again. A top lawyer for Hillary Clinton's campaign apparently supplied documents to the FBI for the investigation into the Trump campaign. That's pretty amazing.
The Russia investigation, of course, is a grand distraction that permanent Washington uses to avoid confronting the real reasons the country rebelled against them and elected Trump.
That's the subject of a great new book called Ship of Fools. Consider grabbing a copy online. Stay tuned.
TEXT: TUCKER'S BOOK IS OUT NOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well like gravity, the Russia investigation is eternal, a fact of physics in Washington, it's a constant force in our lives that apparently will never go away. We're powerless in its face.
Just because we're all distracted by Brett Kavanaugh for a month doesn't mean that Russia is no longer being investigated, we should be very afraid about how they hacked our election.
Well Fox News can now report that in 2016, Michael Sussman, he was a top lawyer with the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign, contacted the FBI and provided Russia related documents. Those documents were turned over just as the bureau was preparing a surveillance warrant against Carter Page. At the moment, the Obama Administration was spying on his political opponents.
Tom Fitton is the president of Judicial Watch and he joins us tonight. Tom, thank you for coming on. Tell us what this means--
TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH: You're welcome.
CARLSON: --exactly.
FITTON: Well it brings the collusion story - look - the Perkins Coie, the law - law firm--
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: --was a cut-out originally for the Clinton operation to pay Fusion GPS.
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: And I guess after a while they said why - why pretend anymore? Let's just deal directly with our friends in the Obama FBI to target--
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: --President Trump. And, you know, it's just another piece of evidence of the collusion between the Obama camp and the Clinton camp, and there's no evidence coming out of collusion between Trump and Russia. All the evidence is that you were using - that we were using the FBI to launder political garbage as an excuse to target President Trump.
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: And the question I have always is what is Robert Mueller doing with this material? Is he using this Clinton campaign material to target Trump as well?
CARLSON: Well I guess we're going to find out. I - I got to kind of wonder about the FBI. And again, there's a lot we don't know. And I don't, you know, I don't want to attack people unfairly.
On the other hand, if you're the FBI and one campaign comes to you with opposition research about the other campaign, don't you pause and say, "Wait a second. I don't want to get caught up in some kind of campaign tactic in the middle of a presidential year." Doesn't that make you nervous if you're the FBI?
FITTON: It ought to. Look, there's no good reason for the General Counsel of the FBI to be meeting with a top lawyer for the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. The meeting itself was unusual.
And the fact that there was allegedly transfer of information about Donald Trump and Russia and we know the information that generally had been being pushed by this - the - the Clinton operation was--
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: --really stuff made up by Russia intelligence to mess with Donald Trump. So, it was fake information used for partisan purposes, and the FBI was happy to use it as a pretext, as I point out, to target Trump.
And you got to wonder, Tucker, you know, this debate about whether they classify information and the FBI and DOJ being very nervous about that for national security reasons, well I suspect this is why they're nervous because this is the type of information that would come out as a result of a transparency initiative by President Trump.
CARLSON: Just to clarify, nervous about damage to their own reputation, you're saying?
FITTON: Well and - and worse. Look, if you're misusing your office for political purposes as government officials in the real world or the non- Washington D.C. world, you'd be subject to--
CARLSON: Right.
FITTON: --prosecution.
CARLSON: No. That's a - that's a - and thank you for reminding us of that. These are crimes, some of these things that are being alleged. Tom Fitton, as always, thanks a lot.
FITTON: You're welcome.
CARLSON: Amazingly, our week is over. 15 nights in a row we brought you the latest on the Kavanaugh saga and it may come to an end tomorrow afternoon. Obviously, Fox will be on that. We'll be back Monday to, as we always do, fight lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.
By the way, if you want to help us knock Bob Woodward off the top of the bestseller list, be sure to check out a book called "Ship of Fools." It's on shipoffoolsbook.com, and grab a copy. That would be a statement, wouldn't it, maybe a statement worth sending.
CARLSON: Thanks again for a great week. We're looking forward to seeing you on Monday. Guess who's next? You know the answer. Sean Hannity. We're going to turn it over to him. Have a great weekend.
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