Rep. Kevin McCarthy reacts to DOJ decision to fire McCabe

This is a rush transcript from "Justice with Judge Jeanine," March 17, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST: Breaking tonight. Andrew McCabe turns over notes he kept from President Trump to Robert Mueller just hours after McCabe is officially fired from the FBI.

Hello and welcome to "Justice" live tonight from Los Angeles, I'm Jeanine Pirro. Thanks for being with us. Now, we're going to be talking about today's major developments in the Department of Justice throughout the hour with guests including GOP House Majority Leader, Ken McCarthy, Governor Mike Huckabee, Dan Bongino, Tomi Lahren and more.

But first, my Opening Statement.

So, just fired Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe claims victim status seeking to join that elusive hood of crooks who feign innocence when they are caught dead to right claiming his downfall is the result of a series of attacks designed to undermine his credibility and reputation.

Andy, I don't know how to break this to you, but the only reason you are even in the news is because you are a liar and when you lie under oath and to the FBI, you are a wrongdoer, you are a cheat and you are an offender.

So, McCabe, are you a crook too? Consider this. General Michael Flynn who put his life on the line every day in the military lied to the FBI about something that wasn't even criminal. And, now, he's a convicted felon.

Martha Stewart lied to the FBI and she is a convicted felon who went to jail. So, you lie not only to the FBI, but to the Inspector General and under oath, and you are even given an opportunity to take it back, but you still lie.

So, they are crooks, but you are not? You are in the news because the office of professional responsibility after the Inspector General's investigation says you made unauthorized disclosures to the news media and you lacked candor.

You lied about the Clinton Foundation investigation and leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times which you are not authorized to do. But we shouldn't be surprised. Your boss, Jim Comey also leaked information to get to the New York Times because he didn't have the guts to stand up and say what he wanted to say himself.

And you think you are being targeted? You are not that important. Nobody is looking to bring you down, but your wife gets $700,000.00 from the Clinton cash machine and you handled the Clinton e-mail investigation. A five-year-old could see the ethical conflict of interest.

And we entrust you with the power of the greatest law enforcement agency in the nation, and you not only use to your own advantage, you use it to your political and financial advantage, and everyone knows, everyone knows that when you lie to the FBI, it results in automatic dismissal.

Now, you claim that your firing is part of an effort to undermine the Special Counsel's Russia investigation. You know what? The only Russia investigation that should be going on should be the one looking into Hillary and that whole gang for the Russian -- sale of uranium to Russia, but it is going to get worse for you, Andy, when your sidekick, Peter Strzok and his girlfriend are called on the carpet for their criminality.

You lied about your relationship with Strzok who worked for you while the three of you tried to affect the presidential primary and take down a duly elected president by starting a Donald Trump-Russia inquiry when the only person who colluded with the Russians was your girlfriend, Hillary, your friend, Barack and the CFIUS committee of Clinton Foundation associates that approved the sale of 20% of our uranium to Russia with a payback to Hillary.

Now, there were three pending Federal inquiries into your actions as well while you were in the FBI and you were removed from your post almost two months ago when the new FBI Director saw evidence regarding your activities.

And the intrigue continues.

While you threaten Jim Comey and threatened that if you go down, everyone else will, Jim Comey writes a conciliatory tweet that, "You stood tall over the last eight months and served with distinction for two decades." He's clearly hoping that you won't testify against him. This is a classic crime family takedown. Who is going to rat on whom?

If this were the movie "The Godfather," Cardinal Comey is the (copper deTudi), Andrew McCabe is the enforcer. Lisa Page is both the consigliere and the (glomad) and Peter Strzok is the button man, and it looks like Strzok who signed the warrant application to the FISA court was a close friend of Judge Contreras who signed the warrant.

It's so damning that the judge recommended a social setting where there couldn't be a surreptitious meet with a cover of a dinner party so the judge wouldn't be required to take himself off the case.

Even Bob Mueller knew enough to take Strzok off his investigation because Strzok was so dirty. Andy, you can complain all you want that you were unjustly fired, but the facts contradict that.

You should have been fired a long time ago. You should lose your law license and you should have been taken out in cuffs.

And that's my open.

Tell me what you think on my Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram, #judgejeanine.

And joining me now live in Justice is GOP House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman, thanks so much for being on "Justice" tonight. What do you say regarding the fact that McCabe is fired and he has lost his pension?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALI., GOP HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, Judge, first of all, welcome to California. I hope you are finding that we are not all like the San Francisco values, there are a lot of conservatives of us out here. And I want to wish you a very Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

PIRRO: Especially -- Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and especially in Kern County where I saw you last night. Great Republican county.

MCCARTHY: Well, you gave a great speech, but one thing you have got to look at, and I know a lot of Democrats are out there and trying to make this a political problem, but it's not.

An independent, non-partisan Inspector General found the information of McCabe lying, thought it was severe enough even before its final report came forward to send it to the FBI, send it to the Ethics Department of the FBI, the OPR as you said, the Office of Professional Responsibility. They are non-partisan independent. They looked and they believe he should be fired, because every FBI agent I know, he or she believes in integrity.

There are so many people that they bring before the court that they uphold because they lie. And they did not want him to take down the own FBI integrity by lying and going forward.

But one of the most of interesting things I have found is post the firing what McCabe said, take his statement and if I was Comey, I would be worried because said in there when he leaked to the "Wall Street Journal" that it was on the authority of the director and they knew they were doing it.

Well, that's a direct opposite of what Comey told Congress in May 2017. When he was asked the question and regarding a Trump or a Clinton investigation, did he ever authorize anybody or leak information? He said no, never.

So, we know that McCabe has lied by the independent inspector general and found it. And now, he's saying about Comey, Comey may have lied as well. So, I don't think this is the end of it, but that is why we need a second Special Counsel. And I give Chairman Gowdy and Goodlatte a lot of credit and all of those members.

They sent out a letter to Jeff Sessions. He is looking at it. But we need the ability -- because the Inspector General does not have subpoena power outside of the direction. So, we need somebody to look at this and not from the inside because you can't trust what's happening right now.

PIRRO: You know what's interesting, Congressman, is the fact that you know, you've got Jim Comey gone, the director of the FBI. Now, you have the Deputy Director of the FBI, and I think that it's just a matter of time and the amazing part of this is that we have to wait for this stuff to hit the public record before anything happens in the swamp.

But it appears to me, Congressman that Strzok and Page are next, especially with the claim of their relationship with the judge who signed the FISA warrant that was based on unverified information.

Do you have any thoughts on that?

MCCARTHY: Yes, and I want to give the judiciary committee a great deal amount of credit here. Because think of this, there is more than 1.2 million pieces of paper that deal with this subject. There is only about 3,100 pieces that have been sent to the judiciary committee and a lot of that was redacted.

When we just now found out what was the communication and talking about that FISA court judge, that was the work of the committee member going out and finding that because much of that is redacted.

And for five months, they have been fighting to find this information.
That is a frustration because we are separate but coequal. Congress is supposed to oversee and hold them accountable and if they are withholding that information, I believe a lot more information is going to come forward in the end when we get this all out in the open and I believe the Inspector General's report.

I think it's going to come out in April. I am not sure when he will get done with that, but he has uncovered so much of this and that's independent, non-partisan of what he is finding.

PIRRO: Well, and you know, if you said -- what, 3,000 of 1.2 million?

MCCARTHY: Yes, there is only about 3,100 pages of the 1.2 million that I know have been sent to the judiciary committee and to oversight, and much of that is redacted, and part of that, when it came to the FISA judge, was redacted and they went through back over and found the other parts that they couldn't see and pieced it together of what they were talking about, trying to get that small dinner party of six people, maybe trying to influence this judge.

And you know, from all your work in the law, a FISA court is different than any other court, and the way they went before this FISA court knowing that HIllary Cllinton paid for this and the DNC, this dossier, using that, but really not telling the FISA court, just on a footnote of why they wanted to go forward and spy, and then when you look at Steele just a couple of days ago, in "The New Yorker" saying that he did know that Clinton and the DNC paid for it when the FBI had left that out saying they did not.

That raises a great deal of questions that I think have to be answered.

PIRRO: Well, you know what, House Majority Leader, Kevin McCarthy, it seems like the swamp is going to be difficult to drain, but the draining has started. Anyway, Congressman, thank you so much for being on "Justice" this evening.

MCCARTHY: Well, Judge, thank you so much for having me and thanks for coming to California. You are always welcome to come back.

PIRRO: Thank you. And I want a view on all sides on this particular issue. So, let's get right to it. Here with me in Los Angeles, radio host and Fox's contributor, Leslie Marshall and then our TV contributor and former Secret Service agent, Dan Bongino.

All right, Leslie, I am going to start with you.

LESLIE MARSHALL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

PIRRO: Welcome. It's good to have you here. Now, the question from me right now is if McCabe is gone, and if McCabe seems to have contradicted what Jim Comey said under oath, saying that he leaked with the permission of Jim Comey, do you think these two are going to be at odds with each other?

MARSHALL: I think they will. And I just want to be clear that there are many on the left like myself that don't have a problem by the way with the firing. We have a problem with what has happened subsequent to that. Even the FBI said stop politicizing this.

The president's very vindictive-like tweet which I think is beneath the Office of presidency and of course, the president's attorney then saying, "Hey, we've got to get rid of this. Fire Mueller. Get rid of the investigation. I am speaking on behalf of the president. Oops, no, I'm not." And you know, as a Judge, attorneys do speak on behalf of their clients.

PIRRO: But you know, I don't know that that really makes any difference in terms of his being gone, you know, what they are saying. I think he said you know, that he was targeted. His family's life is ruined for the last year because of the president, but Dan Bongino, let me go to you. What do you say to what Leslie just said?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Leslie, you know, I disagree. You know, I think the world of you, but this is nonsense, Leslie. Donald Trump and his family have been under relentless assault by the hard left and their political allies. They were spied on. They have been under investigation for a crime, Leslie, you can't produce a scintilla of evidence even happened.

And we're angry at them for some tweets that now finally, he takes some kind of a victory lap because he's getting justice? I think it's a little absurd.

And one more point on this, Leslie, you know, although not you specifically, a lot of those liberal blue checkmark brigade on social media, they want Donald Trump fired tomorrow. They want him impeached, which is incredible because they have no evidence to impeach him on any high crime or misdemeanor, but yet, with tons of evidence about McCabe was guilty of malfeasance and misfeasance, all of a sudden, that we're all upset about the firing. I don't get it. What is it? Do we fire people for evidence or not?

PIRRO: Dan, why do you think it took so long? And do you think Strzok and Page are next?

BONGINO: Well, from what I am hearing, I think what took so long is, they are afraid. They are afraid of what Strzok, Page and McCabe are going to say when they are unleashed from the bureaucratic chains of the federal government. I think that's why it took so long to be quite candid.

PIRRO: Well, what do you think? Do you think that it is inevitable?

MARSHALL: I think it was regarding McCabe, timing. I mean, you had Mueller do in fact what the president said he didn't want him to do, subpoena records regarding the personal business of the Trump and the Trump family dealings. And that's where part of the problem comes for me on the left, and not just for those on the left, those that have "I do trust the AG's office," but when it has the propriety that the president is you know, picking up the phone and saying, "Hey, you need to do this," and then of course, the timing right before the retirement, which is sort of like really sticking it to him.

PIRRO: Yes, but you know, what if you are a member of the FBI, you deserve to get it stuck to you.

MARSHALL: Yes, but you don't.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: But you know what, here's the thing. I hear from people in the FBI, I spoke to several of them today, what they are saying is that this guy, McCabe was an arrogant guy, he didn't have a lot of friends. He drove his Porsche to work, and you know, he was part of the triumvirate, you know, that right there on the 7th floor and he thought he was going to control both a primary as well as a presidential election, and impact it. Dan?

BONGINO: Yes, Leslie, this is what I find interesting. You know, you and I are in the private sector. We are in the content production business. If nobody listened to our stuff, you and I would get fired. We'd be out of business because we weren't producing. Andy McCabe was the number two for three of the most of the most enormous debacles in FBI history

Screwed up the Flynn case. They screwed up the FISA court case. And they screwed up the Hillary case. I mean, Leslie, listen, I get it. You know, a lot of liberals believe a big government, but if you are going to -- I don't, but if you are going to believe in big government, you also have to believe in an accountable big government. They don't live in a separate world, you know.

They live in the same world of consequences. Every American works in the private sector does. He screwed up and he lost his job for it. And it's as simple as that.

PIRRO: All right, Dan, let me ask you this, you were in law enforcement. Do you think in the end that these people are going start testifying against each other? Because honestly, I think McCabe has to be indicted. I don't think it's a question of wanting him to or not wanting him to. But if Martha Stewart gets indicted for lying to the FBI, and General Michael Flynn is a felon for lying to the FBI about something that is not even criminal. McCabe has got to be indicted too.

BONGINO: Judge, a lot of these guys and women here in this are in a world of trouble is going to be the leaks. There were some very suspicious leaks to David Ignatius of "The Washington Post" back in January, right before the Flynn case started. These things are -- these are criminal charges, releasing sensitive transcribed, unmasked information to reporters. There is a lot of this going around.

And one more thing, that Flynn interview, remember, those agents in that interview were pretty convinced Flynn was being truthful. What are those 302's say? Those summaries of the interview? And were those 302's changed? This is serious stuff. I think a lot.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Okay. All right.

BONGINO: Their pensions are the last thing they have to worry about.

PIRRO: All right, I want to get to Leslie, I mean, what do you think about that, Leslie? I mean, you know, Flynn, even people in the FBI think that you know, what he said was not intended to be a lie.

MARSHALL: Quite frankly, I'm not looking at the information that Robert Mueller is and he's the guy that has the power. I don't. And I trust him actually, him and I trust what he's doing, I say let this investigation play out. Period.

PIRRO: But if Mueller got rid of Strzok, okay, because he was that bad to not be on Mueller's team, which is pro-Hillary based on all their contributions, the fact that Mueller got rid of him tells me he's in deep, deep trouble.

MARSHALL: I don't agree with that necessarily. And by the way, I just want to say and go on the record, even if there is collusion and proof of that, and obstruction of justice. The Republicans Congress won't impeach this guy. They don't have the guts. They don't have the backbone.

PIRRO: Well, or maybe there isn't a basis. Dan Bongino and Leslie Marshall. Thanks for being with us.

BONGINO: Thank you, Judge.

PIRRO: And Governor Mike Huckabee still on deck tonight to talk about some of this week's most outrageous statements from the left. But next, Tomi Lahren joins me live right here in Los Angeles along with Democratic strategist Ethan Bearman to talk more about today's developments in the Justice Department in the White House. You don't want to miss it. Here next.

PIRRO: More now on the developing news out of Washington. President Trump just tweeting within the hour that the Mueller probe should never have been started. No collusion says the president. And here to talk about that and more is Tomi Lahren and radio talk show host and author, Ethan Bierman. Thanks, guys for being here.

All right, so what do you think, Tomi to what the president just said.

TOMI LAHREN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the president speaks for the American people. We are so sick and tired of hearing about this witch hunt. We're ready for it to be over. It is making the news when it should be the accomplishments of this president. He is tired of it. We're tired of it. Get him out. Like you said in your opening, nobody cares about him. Let's just be done with it.

PIRRO: All right, what do you think, Ethan?

ETHAN BEARMAN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think if there has been a crime committed and conspiracy is really the legal term underneath it, you know that is not collusion. If there is anything.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: So, look, I want to stop you there.

BEARMAN: Yes.

PIRRO: If collusion is not a crime, so why are all the Democrats saying we are looking for collusion. Collusion is not a crime.

BEARMAN: Agreed.

PIRRO: How stupid are they?

BEARMAN: A collusion is an anti-trust crime only, but conspiracy is a criminal crime, when two people get together.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Yes, well, why don't they talk about conspiracy? Conspiracy.

(CROSSTALK)

BEARMAN: I heard you every time I come on here.

PIRRO: Yes, well, we thank you, but as a conspiracy, it should be what Hillary Clinton did with uranium.

LAHREN: Well, exactly. There is the real Russia story. As you mentioned it in your opening statement. If we really want to talk about crimes, we should talk about Hillary Clinton. Why are they not talking about Hillary the way we are talking about Donald Trump?

PIRRO: Yes, why don't they call Barack Obama and the CFIUS, all those people that approved the 20% of our uranium going to Russia. What's that about, Ethan?

BEARMAN: Well, first off, Hillary Clinton did not win, so Donald Trump is president and if there is a conspiracy involving.

PIRRO: Oh, wait a minute, and so that means if you commit a crime, but something bad happens to you, you get away with it? That's not the way that justice is.

BEARMAN: No, but we -- actually, you and I have talked about the Uranium One deal. And when you have nine different federal agencies involved in the decision and the way the administrative procedures govern that and the rulemaking happens, it isn't just on Hillary or Barack Obama.

PIRRO: Ethan, the State Department is the big dog in CFIUS and seven of the nine members are connected to the Foundation. They need to be brought under oath and sworn to testify regarding their connection to the Foundation. Go ahead, Tomi.

LAHREN: Well, absolutely. Again, the cover-up for Hillary here and everyone that is still trying to shield Hillary Clinton saying, "Well, she didn't win, so what she did isn't her problem." Why is there a different set of rules for Hillary and everyone else? Why are you still going after this president? Why are they trying to torpedo this president? How long have we spent -- how much money have we spent on this Russia investigation?

BEARMAN: Not as much as he has spent on travel to Mar-o-Lago, but in addition to that.

LAHREN: Oh boy.

PIRRO: Oh.

(CROSSTALK)

LAHREN: What a non-issue.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Don't even go there.

BEARMAN: Don't bring up the expense aspect of this then, because -- but let's get back into this. We have a sitting president and there are credible allegations that are going on here that Robert Mueller, a Republican is investigating.

PIRRO: After 15 months, you can't find anything.

BEARMAN: Because you know these investigations take a long time.

PIRRO: Oh, baloney. I do know. When I was a DA, in a year and a half, if I had no evidence, they would have thrown me out of office. This is a joke. Go ahead, Tomi.

LAHREN: Well, they continue to do this because the mainstream media is obsessed with Donald Trump. They are obsessed with this Russia story. They are going to pull anything they can to try to discredit this president and his administration.

PIRRO: Okay, give me one piece of evidence.

BEARMAN: One piece of evidence, well, first off, we have General Flynn, who is an unregistered foreign agent operating here along with Paul Manafort is another one. Carter Page is the third.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Wait a minute. Stop.

BEARMAN: Yes.

PIRRO: Paul Manafort was indicted for things that had nothing to do about this campaign. If they had evidence against him and Gates, then bring it on, baby.

BEARMAN: Yes, an Papadopoulos, but no, the president -- hang on, the buck stops here. It was his campaign. These people were working for him.

PIRRO: Oh, really? Is that your understanding of conspiracy?

BEARMAN: Well, if two people -- no, no, no.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: That if someone works for you, you're responsible.

BEARMAN: Well, that's a different standard, but in addition to it, we don't know what the president knows yet. Robert Mueller is beginning to get to that.

PIRRO: Of course, we don't know. Tomi, tell him why we don't know?

LAHREN: Again, like you said, 15 months, we can't figure anything out. There is nothing. There is no smoking gun. They want to take this guy down so badly. He is our president. Still nothing. Still nothing. How long is this going to go? How much money are we going to spend? You know, I would really like to see more about Benghazi, but you know what? That one was shut down. We spent less money on that.

BEARMAN: That wasn't shot down. That was fully investigated by Trey Gowdy who did a very good job of coming to a conclusion.

LAHREN: And shot down and we're still doing this. Still doing this.

BEARMAN: It was shut down because they came to a conclusion.

LAHREN: What evidence do you have? Nothing. There's nothing.

BEARMAN: Because Robert Mueller is investigating. You don't get to know.

LAHREN: How much longer is this going to go?

(CROSSTALK)

BEARMAN: How much longer.

PIRRO: In the city of leaks, the one thing that's not leaked is evidence of Trump conspiracy?

LAHREN: Right.

BEARMAN: Well, we don't know yet. We are about to find out.

PIRRO: The whole city is leaking. When are we going to find out?

BEARMAN: We will find out as soon as Robert Mueller announces what he has found out, and in the meantime, we actually have people like California Representative Nunes leaking information about McCabe, which was not specifically released.

PIRRO: And when did he leak information about McCabe?

BEARMAN: He talked about what McCabe said in the hearing. We don't know what was said in the hearing, we don't have a transcript.

PIRRO: But they have the right to put together a memo and so.

BEARMAN: And McCabe had a right to speak as well.

PIRRO: You know, let him speak. You know -- go ahead, Tomi.

LAHREN: I think, to me, well, I know it will be brought up because the Democrats are already trying to talk about how President Trump hates the FBI. He's going after the FBI. He is trying to discredit the FBI.

Well, he's trying to drain the swamp where it need to be drained. The FBI has been -- Obama's FBI has been going after Donald Trump. He's sick of it and the American people are sick of it. And again, we have not one shred of evidence, and we're wondering why we keep spending money on this.

That's what we're frustrated with. Trump supporters, Republicans, Americans that are working hard day in and day out to put food on the table, we are wondering why we are still continuing with an investigation with not one piece of evidence.

PIRRO: Ethan, the truth is the economy is better. We're safer. ISIS is really on the run, but they are talking about Russian collusion. But I want to thank you for being on and Tomi Lahren. Good to have you on "Justice."

BEARMAN: Thank you.

PIRRO: All right, and Governor Mike Huckabee still ahead tonight. Up next, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has something to say about today's news from the DOJ and we're also going to talk about sanctuary cities and President Trump's plan to defund them.

"Justice" will be back in a moment.

JULIE BANDERAS, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: Live from America's News Headquarters. Good evening, everyone. I'm Julie Banderas. Recovery efforts continue tonight at the site of Thursday's deadly bridge collapse at Florida International University.

Emergency workers paused for a moment of silence today as they worked to recover victims still trapped in the rubble. Three bodies were pulled out of vehicles extracted from the wreckage today. At least six people were killed, but authorities fear that number could climb as more vehicles are uncovered.

The NTSB is investigating the cause of the collapse.

The US Navy welcoming its newest attack submarine to the fleet. The USS Colorado commissioned today in Connecticut. The Secretary of the Navy calling this nearly $2.7 billion nuclear submarine a marvel of technology and innovation. It will carry a crew of 138 when it deploys this spring. I am Julie Banderas. Now, back to "Justice With Judge Jeanine." You're watching Fox.

PIRRO: Breaking tonight, more reaction pouring into the firing of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Joining me now with reaction to that and more, California Congressman Darrell Issa. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us tonight on "Justice." And what's your take on the firing of McCabe?

REP. DARRELL ISSA, R-CALIFORNIA: Judge, it's about time. You know, under the last administration, whether it was Benghazi or Fast and the Furious, the IRS targeting of conservatives, nobody was held accountable. Everyone got to retire or even stay on the job.

This is the first time the American people are seeing at least some responsibility for somebody who clearly misled, didn't do his job, then changed his story when the administrations changed.

PIRRO: You know, you make a very good point. I really didn't think of it that way. I am over here saying it's not enough. If you lied, if Flynn lies to the FBI, he's a felon. Martha Stewart lies to the FBI, she goes to jail. This guy lies to the FBI, now everybody is bent out of shape, he didn't get his pension, really? You know, there needs to be an indictment as far as I am concerned, but you make a good point.

You know, that nothing has been done like this. But I'm convinced that Strzok and Page are next and the whole thing is going to come tumbling down.

But let's talk about it. You are on oversight reform and earlier, I had on Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and he talked about the fact that it's so difficult that right now, they only have 3,000 of the 1.9 million or 1.5 million -- whatever the number was -- documents that they have subpoenaed.

First of all, they don't have them and how do you possibly get through them? How do you do this?

ISSA: It's an amazing process. You know, you word search, you tell them what you want. They identify the number and then, they slowly go through them deciding what to redact.

And it's almost like, you know, trying to ask for the documents from the Manhattan Project. They do it with human beings. They do it slowly. This is a problem that congressional oversight has under both Republicans and Democrats. They won't give you the raw documents.

And then we can talk about what needs to be redacted afterwards. I'll give you an example, Eric Holder of course, was held in contempt seven years ago for withholding documents. He said there were 200. We just recently, a matter of days ago, began getting additional documents and discovered that he had deliberately withheld a whole category of documents that they are now going back through and identifying and they will give to oversight.

So, Brian Terry dies in 2011. We are still trying to get justice for this border patrolman's family, and you know, to bring up the president's trip to California. You know, he was out there looking at these fences and wall designs that are going to save lives, people like Brian Terry shouldn't die in the desert because they are out in the open, and they are targets for the bad guys.

PIRRO: Well, you know, one of the things that you know, that is frustrating about all of this, is that so much time and so the eyes are being taken off of all of these successes of this administration, and all of the benefits, I mean, you know, the regulations that have been reduced.

You know, the improvement in the economy, the unemployment at this all-time low. And yet, you know, we've got people who are criticizing this president, and make a fantasy about Russian collusion.

I mean, what do you say? I mean, you are leaving congress. You've announced you are not going to run again. I'd love to know why, we'll get to that in a minute, but what do you think of our -- you know, your fellow colleagues who are like, "I know there's collusion. I know there is. I haven't found it yet." And the sky is falling.

ISSA: Well, you know, if you spend this long looking for something and you haven't gotten the first whiff of it, obviously you have to question why you are still looking.

But you know, I'll put it in perspective, I am -- as you say, I am leaving Congress after 18 years, but I also am an old Reaganite. You know, if you go back through history, what you'll discover is when Reagan was putting tariffs on anti-dumping by foreign countries, there was this terrible, you know, "Oh, my goodness, the sky is falling. We are becoming protectionists."

And now, Donald Trump actually mirrors it. It's just a different country. It's now China primarily. He's beginning to look at sanctions against dumping into the market predatory dumping that's hurting American companies and all of a sudden, the same groups are out there saying, "Oh, it's all ending."

They will tell you how great Reagan was, but they forget to tell you that many of the things that Reagan had to do during this administration are the same things Donald Trump is having to do.

Roll back regulations, stop the endless growth of government, make America safe for our people by reinforcing the military and yes, unshackle American creativity by putting business out front as heroes rather than villains.

PIRRO: Well, we are not going to have enough time, Congressman, to ask why you are leaving, so we'll save it for next time. But Congressman Darrell Issa, it's so good to have you on "Justice" again.

ISSA: Thanks.

PIRRO: Thanks. Okay. And the funniest governor you'll ever Mike Huckabee is standing by to talk about some of the most of outrageous things both he and I heard this week. You're going to get a kick out of this. I love this one. The governor is up next.

PIRRO: Welcome back to "Justice." Now, Joe Scarborough said he was outraged at the prospect of Andrew McCabe being fired. Take a listen.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST, "MORNING JOE," MSNBC: Here is a guy that has served admirably, and also, this whole narrative by Republicans that McCabe, an FBI somehow was anti-Trump is ridiculous.

What he is accused of leaking was detrimental to Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton campaign, just like Comey's letter helped elect Donald Trump.

So, do you really fire a guy two days before his retirement because the president of the United States is applying pressure over Twitter to do that?

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: And that's just one of the most outrageous things I heard this week. Joining me now, former Arkansas governor and Fox News contributor, Mike Huckabee. Good evening, governor.

You know, I've got to tell you, that "Morning Joe" was always good for my outrageous segment. He says -- you know, he says, "Andrew McCabe is an outstanding citizen. He doesn't deserve to be fired." What say you?

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, why wouldn't he deserve to be fired? If he lied to the FBI, and he is part of the leadership at the FBI, of course, he's got to be fired. And the fact that it was coming around his retirement had nothing to do with anything other than, we shouldn't dis taxpayers beyond the hook for $1.8 million in retirement benefits for someone who, if he did what the Inspector General says he did, and what the Office of Professional Responsibility has indicated he did, it's not just a firing he ought to be worried about, he ought to be worried about what happened to Martha Stewart, what happened to Mike Flynn, and if I were Mike Flynn's lawyer, I'd go right now to court and say, "Let my people go."

I mean, why not for heaven's sakes?

PIRRO: Well, and the amazing thing is that, you know, Strzok -- not Strzok I should say, McCabe lied about something having to do with an investigation, a criminal investigation whereas Mike Flynn, his lie and people from the FBI, many of them in that room think he didn't lie was not about a crime. That the crime was not a part of the lie.

But let's go on. Now, Jennifer Palmieri, you remember her? She compares the Trump White House to "The Godfather." I think we have some sound on this.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

JENNIFER PALMIERI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE HILLARY CLINTON 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: You remember the scene from "The Godfather." We so often have to go back to "The Godfather" for this administration for point of reference.

But when they got rid of the five heads of the other crime families and ones who -- and I feel like the purging that you've seen of staff over the last few days and week is about Mueller and is about anxiety."

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: You know what's amazing about this? in my opening, Governor, I talked about a crime family and that one being in the FBI. Not the regular men and women in the FBI, but that seventh floor in the FBI building. What do you this of this crime family comparison?

HUCKABEE: Well, I think what Jennifer should have said is, leave the gun, take the cannoli. I mean, she totally missed the whole point.

The reason that there has been various people leaving government is because Donald Trump is a business guy. He is used to putting people around him who are competent and if people around him don't get the job done, he lets them go.

People in government aren't used to this. They are used to seeing people remain in jobs for years and years and years even if they are utterly incompetent, ineffective and inefficient and people in Washington are dumbstruck that you would actually have somebody who would take seriously the role of chief executive and would get rid of people who don't do their jobs.

Well, from the time we were in first grade, we didn't get to go to recess if we didn't finish our coloring. Donald Trump looks at people around him and if they didn't finish their coloring on time, he tells them, there's not only going to be a missed recess, but the famous words, for which he is notorious for, "You're fired." And he is saying it to some people, some of whom need it.

PIRRO: I couldn't agree with you more. Governor Mike Huckabee. Always good to have you on "Justice." Thanks so much.

HUCKABEE: Always a pleasure. Thanks.

PIRRO: And talking sanctuary cities with RNC Committee woman, Harmeet Dhillon is next.

Welcome back to "Justice." Let's talk more about the Andrew McCabe firing and a fallout. Joining me now, a Republican strategist, attorney and committee woman for the RNC here in California, Harmeet Dhillon. Harmeet, great to have you.

HARMEET DHILLON, RNC COMMITTEE WOMAN: Happy to be here.

PIRRO: Now, we know a federal employee can be fired, but the question is, does an Andrew McCabe have any recourse? I mean, he's kicking and screaming right now, "I'm a victim. I'm a victim." But does he have recourse? Any recourse?

DHILLON: Well, what's interesting is that most federal employees if they are terminated have a right to appeal to the Merit Service Protection Board, but the FBI doesn't have the right to do that, so unless he can show that there is some egregious violation of his constitutional rights, which I think is insurmountable given the fact that the career employees at the Office of Professional Responsibility at the FBI recommended his termination, I think he's out of luck.

One more point is that, he doesn't lose his pension all together. He simply can't take it right away, so it's also an exaggeration to say that, "Oh, my god, he is being stripped of everything."

PIRRO: He gets it when he is 57.

DHILLON: Fifty-seven, instead of 50. He would get it.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: You know what, folks? You heard it here first on "Justice." I read that too today. He is not getting his pension now, and he gets it when he is 57.

DHILLON: Right.

PIRRO: It's seven more years.

DHILLON: That's right. And he doesn't sort of like juice it and take more out of the system because he doesn't get to take it early, but it's not like he's out of luck in the money that he is paid in as being (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: All right, I just want to start this conversation, Judge Contreras. He is the one who took General Flynn's plea. He recused himself a week later. That means, folks, he took himself off the case voluntarily. And now, he is coming up in Strzok and McCabe's -- Strzok and his girlfriend, Page's conversation that, you know, we should meet with him surreptitiously so nobody knows in a dinner party setting. Where are your antennas going?

DHILLON: So, let's look at the timeline, Judge. This Judge Contreras is a judge on the FISA court.

Now, we don't know if he is the judge who issued one of the subpoenas in this case for the wiretapping of Carter Page. But in July 2016, these two, Page and Strzok are having conversations between themselves that were pieced together very recently talking about ways they can have a social meeting with the judge and they are talking about ways to cover it up, and cover up the purpose of it.

They talk about the fact that he is one of the FISA judges, the FISA judges and they talk about the fact that the judge is close to Strzok. Surely, he knows Strzok is in charge of foreign counter-intelligence at the FBI.

So, it stinks of a conspiracy to me and they are even talking about inviting other people for cover to make sure it doesn't look out of the ordinary and to get close to the judge, but not so close to the judge that he is forced to recuse himself.

PIRRO: And they are suggesting that -- the recommendation of a dinner party, so that it doesn't look obvious that they are talking to each other. So, I mean, this really smells to high heaven because you've got one judge who is on the Flynn case who takes himself off because he did something. He got caught in something. You don't just recuse yourself a week later.

DHILLON: It's not clear that he recused himself, Judge. That's also interesting. On December 1st, he took the plea and then on December 7th, the court announced that he has been recused. That's not the same as recusing yourself.

PIRRO: Ah, that someone -- that's even worse.

DHILLON: That's even worse.

PIRRO: That someone took him off the case a week later.

DHILLON: And to this day, we have no explanation.

PIRRO: And he's the same judge, you know, the stink is pretty clears now, he is the same judge that Strzok is saying," I can wheel a deal with him. But let's do it under the cover of a dinner party."

DHILLON: Right and involve other FBI people. So, that's where I talk about a conspiracy. They seem to have a willing group of people who would show up at a cocktail party or a dinner party and get close to this judge knowing that he is on the FISA court. For what purpose? It's extremely fishy, and of course, this comes around the same people talking about an insurance policy. They are texting how they hate the president. And this is before the election. So, this is a deep game these people have been playing.

PIRRO: All right, Harmeet Dhillon. You are so right. We are so happy to have you here. The swamp draining continues. Thanks. We're going to be right back, folks.

Finally, tonight, don't forget to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and on Instagram @judge_jeanine. And you never have to miss "Justice." If you can't watch, set your DVR.

And if you can't wait until next week to see me, I will be right here in LA tomorrow, a guest on "The Next Revolution" with Steve Hilton at 9:00 p.m. right here. And I want to say happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you having a good time and for those of you who DVR'd me, but were out having fun tonight.

Thanks so much for watching. See you next Saturday and see you tomorrow night. I am Jeanine Pirro advocating for truth, justice and the American way. Greg is next.

END

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