Roger Stone speaks exclusively to Hannity following President Trump's commutation of his sentence

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Roger Stone speaks exclusively to Hannity following President Trump's commutation of his sentence

Exclusive: Roger Stone joins Sean Hannity for his first TV interview following President Trump's decision to commute his sentence.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 13, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity."

Tonight, huge breaking news, multiple fronts.

The president of the United States officially commuted what is the unfair, unjust, 40-month prison sentence handed down to longtime political operative Roger Stone. And in just a moment, Roger Stone will join us for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

First, we start tonight. We turn to an important update on America's liberal cities and major crisis.

In Chicago, at least 64 people were shot. Eleven people were killed. I'll repeat that -- 64 American shot in Chicago, 11 Americans dead this weekend. Sadly, tragically, just your average weekend there. And nobody seems to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, in New York, the violence also spiraling way out of control. At one point over the weekend, there were 15 shootings in the span of 15 hours. All told, 28 separate shootings that took place on Saturday and Sunday alone.

For reference, during the same time period last year, there were only five shootings. And look at your screen. This video from Friday shows the moment when two armed gunmen shoot a 28-year-old man in broad daylight around 7:00 p.m.

And on Sunday, 1-year-old baby boy, Davell Gardner Jr., was shot to death in Brooklyn.

How do we absorb this kind of evil? This innocent child was in the stroller at a cookout near a public playground.

Lawrence Jones just interviewed his father and his grandmother. We're going to have a heart-wrenching video straight ahead tonight.

So, what does comrade De Blasio's solution to the horrible violence that's getting worse every day in his city? Well, let's see -- first, he disbanded the NYPD's anti-crime unit. Then he cut a billion dollars from the city's police budget. And later, he helped paint the words "Black Lives Matter" on Fifth Avenue in front of Trump Tower.

I don't know. Maybe just maybe the mayor could have been, you know, protecting his city and its children and its citizenry before he had time for his artistic endeavors. Again, he can do anything he wants once the city is safe and secure. Have at it, Mr. Mayor, you can paint every street in New York City for all I care.

And predictably -- well, De Blasio's efforts have not made the city of New York any safer. Instead, conditions on the ground of become much worse, the residents and police.

This video shows a police officer getting assaulted and actually put in a headlock while trying to arrest a perpetrator. Another video showing officers getting pelted with eggs from an angry mob.

It has become so bad, police are now retiring en masse. In fact, so many now have filed for retirement that the city is trying to force the cap on the number of retirement applications that it will accept on any given week. Remember, thanks to coronavirus and the genius Governor Cuomo, New York state is also a no bail state. Another idiotic decision.

And, meanwhile, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the real speaker of the House, Pelosi speaker in name only, has a simple explanation for the chaos in the carnage in her city. Remember, she's a Biden advisor.

And according to Ocasio-Cortez, people are just hungry, and they need to commit acts of violence and vandalism to acquire bread.

That's why they're killing each other in the streets. Is that we're to believe? You decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y.: Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren't paying their rents and are scared to pay their rent. And so, they go out and they need to feed their child and they don't have money. So you may be have to -- they are put in a position where they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, while AOC makes excuses and Comrade de Blasio is out painting murals and Cuomo gives criminals no bail, people are dying. Lives are being lost every day, in New York from horrific acts of violence.

One-year-old Davell Gardner Jr. shot at a playground. One years old, in a stroller, innocent baby boy, filled with all of God's potential. His life matters.

And today, FOX News contributor Lawrence Jones, he interviewed his father and his grandmother.

Lawrence, I don't know. I mean, I just imagined they are devastated as any parent would be.

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, good evening. A sad story indeed.

New York City is facing currently, Sean, 130 percent increase in shootings across the city.

Earlier today, I got to talk with the grandmother and father of young Davell Gardner Jr. As you noted, Sean, he was in his stroller in the park at a barbecue where when a group of men came out and started shooting, they ended up shooting him in the stomach. They try to rush into the hospital but he died yesterday.

I talked with his family today and they aren't happy, Sean. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: My girlfriend was on the phone with my mom and she said, you have to call your baby's mother. Eugene (ph) is in the hospital. So, when I called her like she's just like, as soon as she picked up, she was crying immediately. You need to get here. You need to get here. Hurry.

And I'm like, what's wrong. She was like, Junior got shot in his stomach. And --

JONES: It's OK. It's OK.

FATHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: And it just broke me down because I didn't know. Like if my son was going to make it or not and he didn't. I am sitting here calling everybody like nobody can tell me the condition of my son. He's getting transferred from hospitals.

Like nobody has seen him yet. Like the doctors can't say nothing. It was just -- I was looking for answers, I -- there wasn't answer for me yet. And it just broke me down and then with the doctors came out and told me, it was like, I just lost myself.

JONES: Yes.

GRANDMOTHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: For the cowards that did this, you should be ashamed of yourself because everybody talk about Black Lives Matter. What about baby lives? What about teenager lives? Like, you took an innocent child from her mother and a father as well as the grandparents, and I don't think it's fair.

JONES: Davell, do you believe based on what you know now and no one's talking, that people thought that your son's life mattered by the way they are conducting themselves right now?

FATHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: No. Anybody who said that they are, they're just lying because if you know information, that needs to be said. And no information being -- needs to be said. Like this is my son.

He died. You need to -- whatever information you know, you need to tell me. He needs to be known. I need this information.

Because these guys just took my son's life. For what? He didn't do nothing to nobody.

JONES: Do you feel like the elected leaders, the people that represent the community, are doing enough to stop this?

FATHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: No. The community is just getting worse and worse, and nobody's doing nothing about it. Nobody. Nobody is trying to make a change.

And it's sad to say that. Like every day is just worse. You don't know if you're going to live to see the next day.

JONES: What is your message to the people that did this?

GRANDMOTHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: You took my son and go to hell. You can go to hell. And excuse my impression, but you took something that was precious for me, precious for my son, precious -- something precious from his mother.

And we will never see him. He cannot come back. He cannot wake back up. He was an innocent little baby and he's gone forever.

FATHER OF 1-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NYC: You took my son's life. I can't get that back. I can't hold him no more.

I can't hear him calling me daddy no more. I can't kiss him no more. I can't play with him no more. I can't do nothing with him no more.

Like, I've got to -- I've got to put my son in the ground now. And he's only one. His birthday two months -- in two months. He didn't live to see two, like he didn't live life. It's like I wanted to get him out of this violence before something like this happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Sean, a couple of things, I talked with the family and I asked them, have they heard from any city leaders? That includes the mayor, statewide leaders, as well as U.S. leaders, they haven't heard from any of the ones that are representing New York.

Sean, I also asked him, did anyone see something? And they know by the people in the community that someone saw something, but no one is speaking.

So, it begs you the question. We've covered all the other stories, Sean. We were just in Chicago last week. We covered injustices with the police.

But does this child, 1 years old, that got shot in the stomach, does his life matter? And judging by the response right now, I don't know if it does, Sean.

HANNITY: It matters to me. You know, what did the grandma say? Innocent child, innocent baby. I'll never hold my son again. Now, I'm going to have to bury my son in the ground.

And the mayor doesn't call? The mayor cuts a billion dollars from the police. The mayor gets rid of the most effective crime unit. The governor, the dopey governor, no bail? And they're out painting when we ought to be saving lives.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Well, let's save lives first and we can paint all you want.

JONES: I don't know what they expected to happen when you decided that you were going to demonize all cops. Did you think that the community was just going to just sit there and not -- and the criminals that are in the community were just going to sit there and sit on their hands?

No. They're going to take advantage of the situation, and judging by the numbers that I presented in the beginning of the program, 130 percent increase in shootings. You tell me if you need cops or not.

Now, all of us have all said on this program, Sean, we talked about George Floyd and other shooting situations. When there's bad apples, get rid of them. But now, our community is hurting.

This is a 1-year-old baby that will never, ever see their future, ever again. They won't get to walk across a graduation stage. They won't get to see the brothers and sisters.

The child is gone. There's no replacing that. Unbelievable.

HANNITY: We're not protecting our national treasure. That's our children, that little -- that young, young 1-year-old kid, is our national treasure.

Lawrence, thank you.

Prayers with that family tonight.

We turn now to other breaking developments surrounding Roger Stone. Late last week, his sentence was officially commuted by President Trump, rightfully so. We've been calling for it on their show.

Stone was unfairly targeted. He was persecuted by Mueller's team of Trump- hating bureaucrats. His life was upended by years-long investigation and trial which was a sham trial.

And on January 25th, 2019, well, that's when that pre-dawn raid, 29 agents, tactical gear armed with M4 rifles surround his home, rushed into his house, take him into custody, frogmen in the water behind his house, and then, of course, fake news CNN cameras somehow just happen to be there just at the right moment to capture it all. A mere coincidence? And all for process crimes.

In other words, the things that people like Comey, McCabe, Clapper, and Brennan have been accused of and may have done and even referrals the case some of them. So despite getting arrested like a dangerous terrorist or lying to Congress, Stones process crimes, five counts of making a false statement -- by the way, weren't even material. One obstruction charge and one count of witness tampering.

After his arrest, the judge denied Roger his First Amendment rights and literally instituted a gag order. He could not even declare his own innocence publicly.

And during the trial, Stone's jury was anything but. I thought we were guaranteed a fair and impartial jury. He did not get that.

The jury foreperson was a former Democratic candidate for Congress who expressed publicly her hatred of Donald Trump and his supporters. On Twitter, she previously mocked Roger Stone's arrest. She also accused President Trump and his supporters of white supremacy.

Does she seem like a fair and unbiased juror to you? How would you feel if somebody you loved and care about how that person as the jury foreperson and they hated the priest person that you love. Would you call that fair and impartial justice? I don't think so.

After discovering these posts, Stone's verdict, you would think it would be overthrown. It was not. Instead, Mueller's prosecutors -- they actually wanted a seven to nine behind bars for lying to Congress? This is madness.

Ultimately, Stone received a 40-month prison sentence. Again, that is madness as well. And according to the study by the federal government -- get this -- most violent offenders serve less than three years in state prison. Roger Stone, well, these were nonviolent process crimes.

So, make no mistake: Roger Stone, just like Papadopoulos, General Flynn, Paul Manafort, was preyed on by politically motivated prosecutors abusing their powers, that were corrupt with the help of a politically motivated juror in this case.

But like every single thing this president does, the commutation Roger Stone is causing widespread -- hysteria on the left.

Here's one small example, but I say to these people you're about to watch, let's imagine you're on trial for something and you find out after the trial that the person that is the jury foreperson doesn't like you and spoke out publicly they don't like you. Would you want that person on your jury? Would you consider that -- would you think you had a fair and impartial jury?

The answer is obvious. But for some, the hatred of Trump, well, that quote no pun intended, trumps all.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump's problem tonight is can he win the presidency again by being more protective of Roger Stone than he is of the teachers and kids he wants to send back into our schools?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This week, President Trump went where Richard Nixon wouldn't, when he commuted the sentence of one of his own men, Roger Stone.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF.: And the president through this commutation is basically saying that if you lie for me, if you cover up for me, if you have my back, then I will make sure that you get a get-out-of-jail-free card.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We will have legislation that says a president cannot commute or pardon or offer clemency to anybody who commits a crime, is convicted of a crime that affects the president's behavior and his culpability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: No Democrats believe in something called the fair and impartial jury. Wow. For process crimes, I assume any day now that a lot of the people that have had referrals for lying under oath or lying to Congress, I'm sure 29 guys and tactical gear are going to show up at their house for a predawn raid and I would assume they'll be frogmen there and I assume CNN fake news cameras will show up. Waiting.

Pelosi also calling a staggering act of corruption. Mitt Romney called it unprecedented.

Mitt, I have a special message for you. Do you, Mitt Romney, Senator Mitt Romney, lawmaker Mitt Romney, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, do you believe that every American has a right to the presumption of innocence and do you believe every American has a right to a fair and impartial jury? Mitt Romney, do you believe that?

I guess in the end, maybe it's a good thing if you don't that you lost. That speaks volumes about you, Senator Romney, former governor.

The frail, corrupt Joe Biden, like we need lectures from him -- oh, President Trump, the most corrupt president in history. Hey, Joe, fair question. Do you believe in a fair and impartial jury? Really?

I these people just dumb are they lying to you? Look at this chart. So far during his presidency, Donald Trump has commuted the sentences of 11 people. Barack and Joe commuted a whopping 1,715. Bill Clinton, 61.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton tops the list for pardons, 396. Barack and Joe, second, 212. So far with President Trump, just 25 pardons.

So just who did Bill and Barack pardon and commute? We have the records.

1999, Clinton commuted 16 members of a group called the FALN, a terrorist organization connected to 146 bombings. See the bomb-making right there? That's a group making the bombs.

Clinton also pardoned by the way his Whitewater business partner, along with three others who are convicted, oh, on the Ken Starr probe. I don't remember Schumer, Pelosi, Mitt Romney, you know, speaking out about that.

And don't forget Clinton pardon his brother, Roger, he was convicted of -- well, dealing cocaine.

Meanwhile, the Obama-Biden administration also had a long track record of controversial clemency orders like, for example, Obama commuted the sentence of a top convicted FALN terrorist, Oscar Lopez Rivera, on his last day in office. He also commuted the sentence of a notorious drug kingpin known as the Crack King of Oakland.

For perspective, President Trump just offer clemency to a man who was convicted of a process crime after getting railroaded by Mueller's witch hunt.

And speaking of which, Mueller just issued an op-ed in "The Washington Post" celebrating his conviction of Roger Stone. As if he was a great threat to society. He was not.

Senator Graham is now planning on bringing Mueller in for questioning, tweeting out, quote, apparently, Mr. Mueller is willing and also capable of defending the Mueller investigation through an op-ed in "The Washington Post".

I'm with Lindsey. Let's bring Mueller back in because I've got a lot of questions I'd like to send in.

Here with reaction, FOX News contributor, former congressman, Trey Gowdy.

Congressman, before you became a congressman, now you're not a congressman thankfully. I don't have to impugn that to you anymore. You were a prosecutor. If I recall, you got -- you never lost a case. Is that correct?

TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I had good cops and good victims, Sean.

HANNITY: OK. And the next question is, do you believe that every American has a right to a fair and impartial jury?

GOWDY: They do. They are presumed (INAUDIBLE) innocent and fair and impartial jury.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Did Roger Stone have that? Did Roger Stone have a fair and impartial jury?

GOWDY: Yeah, I'm troubled. But, first of all, it's a political prosecution so the political views of the potential jurors are really important. What I don't know, Sean, is whether or not his attorneys had the chance to strike these jurors and made a strategic decision not to. I would need to know that to be able to answer your question 100 percent.

HANNITY: Well, I think what we do understand if I'm not mistaken is that this was not known before him that this juror had a bias against Mr. Stone's. What do you think that would be relevant that the judge would say that person should not be on the jury?

GOWDY: That is juror misconduct. If the question was asked on the information was withhold -- withheld, that's juror misconduct, yes.

HANNITY: OK, now, as it relates to all the other matters, well, there are a lot of other people that have been referred to as well for telling lies. You know their names.

How come we don't see 29 guys in tactical gear, frogmen and CNN cameras? Is it a usual process for a processed crime of lying to Congress which in and of itself, is it a usual process for a judge to put a gag order on a defendant so they can even proclaim their innocence?

GOWDY: No. With defenders like Roger Stone, oftentimes he left him self- report. You say, look, we have a warrant out for your arrest. You need to turn yourself in. You don't send a tactical unit. You don't send a SWAT unit. You don't do it in the middle of the night.

I never saw that -- I didn't see that in drug cases. I surely didn't say in process cases like false statements.

HANNITY: Once it was discovered that the juror, jury foreperson had a prejudice against Mr. Stone, wouldn't it be fundamental common sense decency and real justice to call a mistrial and start again, worst-case scenario?

GOWDY: Yes. Yes. Mistrial if it happens during the trial, a new trial if it happens afterwards.

HANNITY: New trial, yes, sir.

All right. Thank you, Congressman. Appreciate it.

All right. When we come back, Roger Stone, his first TV interview since President Trump commuted his sentence. You don't want to miss that exclusive interview and much more tonight. Stay with us.

HANNITY: As we told you, President Trump announced Friday he was commuting the sentence of Roger Stone. Just days before, Stone was set to start a three-plus-year prison sentence stemming from Robert Mueller's Russian witch hunt.

Remember, Stone was convicted of process crimes relating to 2017, and statements he made to House lawmakers. In other words, lying before Congress. Huh. Adam Schiff presiding, the biggest liar in Congress.

Now, neither the Schiff show nor Robert Mueller produced one bit of evidence that Stone was working with anybody colluding with Russia. And, by the way, as a White House press secretary explained, quote, these charges were the product of recklessness born of frustration and malice.

Joining us now, Roger Stone, first TV interview and his attorney, David Schoen.

I would like to say to you, Roger, I'm glad you had your sentence commuted and you are not headed to prison this week. There's a part of me that is also very angry and very concerned for the country based on the entire handling of your matter.

Why don't I just let you say it in your own words what this has been like for you?

ROGER STONE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN AIDE: Well, this is the most horrible experience you can have because I see immediately why 99 percent of the people who choose to plead not guilty and go to trial lose, when you're up against the horrific and deep-pocketed resources of the federal government and these really sadistic, arrogant, politically motivated prosecutors.

And I had a biased judge. I had a stacked jury. I had a corrupt jury forewoman. As my friend Tucker Carlson said, my trial was over before it started.

And now when you go through something like this, Sean, you find out who your real friends are and who the people are who really never were your friends. You had been a tremendous friend. You have done a great job of keeping people informed.

But I have to really single out your FOX News colleague Tucker Carlson. He took up the cudgels early. He stayed on this case with every twist and turn, wasn't afraid to take on the judge, laid out the jury question, encouraged me when I got discouraged.

He's a man of incredible loyalty and he's a great friend. He may be the best friend a man can have. So my hats off to him.

And also Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida who I hope to live long enough to see in the White House. He was a great friend who never gave up and tried to make sure everybody understood the injustice that I had been through.

But so many others, Bernie Kerik, the former New York police commissioner, and Charlie Kirk, Reverend Franklin Graham, Pastors Mark Burns and Darrell Scott, you know, Randy Coggins, dynamic young evangelist from Florida, the entire Flynn family, General Mike Flynn, a man who is still being persecuted.

My hats off to all of them because they helped me and my wife and my family through the scariest, most difficult process you can imagine.

But above all, I must tell you, Sean, based on advice from you and Reverend Graham and the two pastors I mentioned, I really want to think God because I was literally hours away from being sent to a COVID-infested prison in violation of current Bureau of Prisons and DOJ policies, in violation of every precedent in the country where people going to jail or in jail were asking for compassionate release, and in every case, it was granted.

I am 67 years old. I've had a lifelong problem of respiratory problems. I was facing what I really believed was a near-death sentence.

So you --

HANNITY: Let me --

STONE: -- particularly Tucker, Matt Gaetz and everybody I named, my heart goes out to you. I'm deeply, deeply grateful.

But more than anything else, I am grateful for God because as you told me, if I would -- if I would rededicate my life to Christ, I would be reborn.

HANNITY: My first email, I remember writing it.

(CROSSTALK)

STONE: I can remember it like it was yesterday and your advice was as solid as can be. You said, God will never desert you. He will never abandon you. He will protect you if you -- if you confess your sins and you walk in his way. And I've done my very best to do that.

HANNITY: Let me go through and I want you to tell people, because this whole system of justice where, you can use Sammy "The Bull" Gravano as the biggest case in point, he commits 19 murders and he's given a get-out-of- jail-free card and a witness protection program because he flipped on John Gotti.

Put that aside for a second, in your case, did Mueller and his team offer anything of value, your freedom for example I would argue is of great value if you would say certain things they wanted you to say whether they were true or not.

STONE: Well, in the beginning of the case, Sean, I don't think that was their intention. But as they got closer and closer to having to issue the Mueller report and they realized that they had no Russian collusion because there was no Russian collusion, it was a hoax.

On July 24th, Jeannie Rhee, who was heading my prosecution within the Mueller team, that's extraordinary in itself because she previously represented Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation in the illegal email server case, and the missing email case. So, she had a clear bias. She was a maximum donor to both of Hillary's presidential campaigns. By the way, she has all the charm of a North Korean prison guard.

She made it very clear to one of my lawyers after a hearing, she asked to see them privately, that if I would re-remember certain phone conversations I had with candidate Trump, if I would come clean, if I would confess, that they -- that they might be willing to, you know, recommend leniency to the judge. Perhaps I wouldn't even serve any jail time.

And I didn't have to think about it very long. I said absolutely not. There was no circumstance under which I would bear false witness against the president. I was -- I was just not willing to lie.

Now, in the last two days when I said that, people said you see Stone had the goods on Trump and he traded his silence for -- for commutation. That is patently false. I never said that. I never implied that.

What I said has been consistent, that I would not lie against my friend of 40 years so they could use it for impeachment. They wanted me to be the ham in their ham sandwich because they knew the Mueller report, particularly on Russia, was a dud. It was a goose egg. They had nothing.

And they were hoping that I would re-characterize my phone calls. I think these phone calls that were plea-bargain-induced claims by Michael Cohen and Rick Gates for which they could never find any corroboration, and I simply refused to do it.

HANNITY: Let me go to you, David Schoen, and I'll ask you both the same question simultaneously.

Roger, I think I've known you well enough over the years. You're a fighter. Your instincts are going to be, OK, now, I'm going to go back and I'm -- maybe if you go back and you appeal this and you open up this case again, I would -- I would argue right now, you're home free.

And I think that I saw nothing but corruption in that courtroom by the judge and that jury they not giving you another trial. David, I would say that if you go forward with that, you're now putting Roger's life back in jeopardy again. And I don't know --

DAVID SCHOEN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER: You're right --

HANNITY: I don't have any faith in that system. I don't have any faith in that judge. I don't have any faith with that jury.

Nobody on this case do I believe is honorable here.

SCHOEN: Yes, I think you're right. You raise a very interesting question and a perplexing one. We have to sit down and make a decision as to whether to go forward with the appeal, knowing that a win in this case and there should be a win, classic Fifth and Sixth Amendment violations, would go right back to the same judge in a courtroom of injustice.

Let me just say to you, this commutation is a great tribute to President Trump for three reasons. He sends a message that the Mueller team was rotten to the core from its inception. Mr. Mueller picked --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I've been saying that for over three years, David. Screaming it.

SCHOEN: You don't pick, the investigation that involved the president of the United States requires integrity. You don't pick and Andrew Weissmann who was the most ethically bankrupt prosecutor I've ever come across. I represent two men right now, Mr. Ren (ph) and Mr. Sisa (ph), who were wrongfully convicted with him.

You talked about making deals with witnesses. He lied about those deals. He was mentioned specifically by a judge for his misconduct. So, that's one thing. The Mueller team was rotten to the core, filled with partisans.

Number two, an unfair trial. The president recognized that, the judge denied the entire defense theory.

Mr. Stone wasn't allowed to mention on social media or make a defense theory that in any way challenge the integrity of the Mueller team. Unprecedented.

And, thirdly, the president saved a life here because the judge's decision on denying a surrender extension when COVID was in the prisons and with these health conditions goes against all authority in the country on this issue as to the Court of Appeals.

HANNITY: You know, I'm listening to your attorney and I know have David a long time, Roger. I've known you a long time. And you're a character. Everyone knows you're a character.

But that's not about you as a character. I would want a fair and impartial jury for everybody. I wouldn't want any Democrat or liberal to have 29 guys in tactical gear over process crime. I wouldn't want a gag order on any American that you should have a right to speak out in their own defense. I wouldn't want a jury foreperson that's prejudice or a judge that went along with this crap.

My question to you is, we've seen this now with Papadopoulos. We've now seen this with Paul Manafort. We saw it with General Flynn. We've seen it with you.

I'll be honest, Roger. I believe in our Constitution. I believe in our rule of law. I think I read a lot about equal justice and applications of our laws. I don't see any of this and any of these cases.

I see a travesty of injustice. You've been a part of it. I don't know. I'm losing faith in the system, Roger.

STONE: Well, you have a good reason to. You examine the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals where I had to file a last-minute emergency appeal of Judge Jackson's rule sending me to jail.

She ignored all the legal precedents in that. She ignored my health conditions. She ignored the conditions at the prison at that time, and she ignored the current policies of DOJ and the BOP.

Now, you would've thought that that would have been reversed in the Appeals Court, but they ruled for her 3-0. I'm afraid this is a fixed system.

Above all, though, I guess I'd have to say, the most important thing here is the courageousness of the president's act.

I know there were many, many people who told him in an election year, don't do this. Let Roger Stone wait maybe for a pardon after the election. Sean, I don't think I would have live that long, not with my asthmatic condition. Not with now 60 COVID-19 cases in that prison.

So I have deep, deep affection for Donald Trump because I've known him 40 years. He's a man of great justice and fairness. He's a man of enormous courage. I knew he would take some shots for this, but I think most people, most fair-minded people, understand he saved my life and at least on paper he gave me a chance to fight for vindication.

Now, I'm not a fool. I'm going to be -- I'm going to be guided by the advice of my lawyers. As I understand it, if I -- if my conviction is overturned by the appeals court, I'd be back in front of Judge Jackson. Judge Jackson issued an incredible ruling that said that I could not raise misconduct by the special counsel, the FBI, the DOJ, or any member of Congress, Adam Schiff.

So I mean, if that were in General Flynn's case, we still wouldn't know how he was railroaded. We still wouldn't know about the political motivations behind taking him down. So I've got to become convinced I can get a fair second trial, because I certainly didn't get a fair first trial.

HANNITY: You had a gag order and you weren't allowed to even put on your defense. You wanted to put on a defense. They denied you that right. Then, of course, we have the jury for person that's on top of the raid -- predawn raid. By the way, I'm sure you probably called CNN, Roger, and said that.

Here is, I do not believe you can get any fair trial in that court room or that system. I don't know. I think that probably every fiber of your being would want to be to fight to get the acquittal. You believe you should get.

But I don't know if I give you that advice because I don't think there's anybody in that courtroom that is fair, Roger.

STONE: Well, as you point out, Comey, Clapper, Brennan, McCabe, Strzok --

HANNITY: Strzok, Page --

STONE: -- Page, Rosenstein, Mueller himself, Hillary, they all lied under oath, but they lied about material things, consequential things. Therefore, they had an intent and a motive to lie.

I was charged with making the statements that were innocuous. And if you look at a very carefully, it's very clear what happened here. And that is that Aaron Zelinsky, and the corrupt prosecutor, the dirtiest of Mueller's dirty cops other than Weissmann, shared the fruits of the surveillance into me with Adam Schiff so that he could fashion gotcha questions, most of them of no consequence.

And then after the set up in which I appeared voluntarily before the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff, in violation of House rules, shared the classified testimony with Mr. Zelinsky so Mr. Weissmann could fashion a very contorted and contrived indictment.

Yet today, you have Mueller and Schiff and Rosenstein back to saying Stone was in cahoots with Russian intelligence. This is nonsense. They are all the way back to the Russia, Russia, Russia.

HANNITY: Was there any evidence of that, Roger? Was there any evidence ever given of any contact with any Russian intelligence?

STONE: Here's what there was -- there -- there was -- there was evidence that I had a Twitter direct message exchange with Guccifer 0.2 (ph), a persona. But if you look at when that happens, it happened long after WikiLeaks had published all their material.

HANNITY: Right.

STONE: And if you look at the actual content of the exchange, it's benign. There's no collusion. There's no collaboration.

And thirdly, we don't even know that Guccifer 2.0 is a Russian asset. Just because John Brennan said something is true, he said the Steele dossier was real, too. So, just because they assert something doesn't mean it's true.

I could have proved at trial using forensic evidence and expert testimony from fellows like Bill Benny (ph), former SNA counterintelligence expert, and Ray McGovern (ph), that no one hacked the DNC, that there was no online hack of the DNC, that the information based on the download times was downloaded to a portable desk and taken out the back door.

But I wasn't allowed to present that defense because Judge Jackson would not allow it.

HANNITY: Roger, I want to believe in our system of justice and in the way it worked I guess in the end with the president's commutation. But what happened to you, what happened to Papadopoulos, what happened to General Flynn, what happened to Manafort, what happened to the president of the United States, what happened to Carter Page, we're going to lose this country if this happens again. It's the biggest abuse of power, corruption scandal in our history.

Glad you're free tonight, Roger. We wish you Godspeed.

And, David, thank you for the great work you do as his attorney.

Here with reaction, senior editor at large, "Breitbart News", author of the brand-new book that's out today and it's on Hannity.com, Amazon.com. Satirical and serious at the same time, Joel Pollak, and the host of "Justice" right here on the FOX News Channel, Judge Pirro.

Judge, your reaction to all of this.

JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST, "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE": Well, the president has always been transparent. He's always been very clear about what he thinks. He says what he needs any means what he says. And I think that the commutation of the sentence was entirely appropriate given the fact that this judge was clearly biased, the forewoman of the jury was clearly not just biased but I believe that she did not tell the truth under oath when she was asked about that question 23, had she ever made any public statements regarding the Mueller investigation and anti-Trump Mueller comments?

And the truth is that she did and she said she really didn't remember. And then when she was nailed on it, she said, well, I was taking just in terms of Roger Stone.

Look, unfortunately, we are living in a time when there are those who are not interested in justice that so many have fought for over the years but would rather we just make a political statement out of every case, like this guy, Emmet Sullivan, Judge Sullivan, in the Michael Flynn case. I like you and glad that Roger Stone is home and I think what happened to him -- and I look, I was D.A. of -- for a lot of years.

HANNITY: He can't get fairness in that -- in that courtroom.

PIRRO: We did 40,000 cases a year. The idea of breaking into someone's house in the middle basically of the night is absurd for a crime like this.

HANNITY: By the way, Joel, congratulations. I've been reading the book. It's really well done. Great work as always.

And I want to get your observations on this because I don't think -- I see great injustices everywhere. I see corruption. Again, the 1 percent that abuse their power, slide on the presidential candidate, transition team and president, that scares me. The one that went after Roger Stone, Manafort, General Flynn, Papadopoulos, that should scare the hell out of every American.

JOEL POLLAK, BREITBART NEWS SENIOR EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, it just shows you how radical the Democrats, the media, the deep state have become. The civil rights movement was based on fighting for due process, fighting for justice, and fairness and impartial trials.

The Scottsboro boys, for example, falsely accused, tried by an all white racist jury. They had to fight for their freedom. And now, you have the left completely throwing the civil rights movement aside, the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution. They want to go for police officers. They want to go for Republicans, conservatives, anyone they can.

Nobody is entitled to a fair trial according to the Democrats, the media, the deep state, if they support Donald Trump or if they are in the wrong political camp, even the wrong racial ethnic camp and we have come a long way from the civil rights movement.

HANNITY: The worst part is every Democrat, exculpatory evidence withheld here, exculpatory evidence withheld there. Abuse of power. Hillary gets a pass, real Russian collusion ignored. Real quid pro quos ignored with Joe and zeros experience Hunter. They're willing to let it happen.

Here's the problem, if they allow that system to exist, it will also happen to them. Thank you both. Congrats on the book.

When we come back, the debate over whether schools will remain closed come this fall, heating up. "The View's" Meghan McCain calling out Joyless Behar after she said Republicans don't care about children. Senator Kennedy, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Yesterday, Speaker Pelosi continued to politicize reopening of our schools, launch more baseless smears against the Trump administration. It's not worth playing.

And, by the way, during a heated exchange on "The View," Joy Behar went so far as to claim Republicans don't care about children or education. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN MCCAIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": To sit here and say Republicans don't care about education or children, it's just -- it's just ridiculous

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": Well, why do they keep defunding it. Why do they keep defining education? Every time I turned around, it's less money. I was a teacher. I know what I'm talking about, OK, Meghan?

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: I think what's exhausting is coming on the show every day and being told that Republicans don't care about anything. We just want people to die. We want children not to be educated, nothing matters.

This is a crisis right now. I have friends who've been calling me absolutely panicked about their kids not being able to go back to work and go back to school in September and we all have to collectively come together and stop coming into this show every Monday after a break and saying, oh, it's Republicans fault. It's not. This is America's problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Also breaking tonight, California's two largest school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, announcing they will begin the year with full distance learning. In other words, online.

Here with reaction, Louisiana Senator John Kennedy.

I've been reading a lot what's been happening in Europe, but I'm not a doctor. What are your thoughts?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY, R-LA., SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE MEMBER: America is going through a rough patch right now, Sean. Some people seem to be enjoying it. Maybe they just hate America. They be they just enjoy watching the world burn.

I think some are -- are liking the chaos because they think it gives them a political advantage. Part of that chaos is being caused by our school closing. For our kids, we need to open them. I can promise you for many of our kids, keeping these schools closed is going to hurt them far worse than the coronavirus can.

France, Germany --

HANNITY: Go ahead, sir.

KENNEDY: -- Denmark, Austria, Vietnam, even Vietnam has opened their schools. And they have done it safely and we can too and we should too.

And if I can say one other thing -- I know some people in good faith disagree with me and I respect that. Let's have the debate. But there are some people who want to keep our schools closed because they think it gives them a political advantage. And they are using our kids as political pawns.

And to them I say, unashamedly, they can kiss my ass. That's wrong to do that the kids of America. Not the people in good faith, but those who are enjoying the chaos because they think it's going to help them in November.

HANNITY: Well, there's a lot -- and I make the distinction. For example, there are honest people that are protesting, you know, real injustice, for example, in the case of George Floyd. But then the group we know, Black Lives Matter, well, we have some leaders on tape saying atrocious things, like, you know, what do we want? Dead cops. And when we want them? Now.

How do you think this plays out? Because to me, defunding the police is real. Biden now joining the New Green Deal and plagiarizing Bernie Sanders' extreme socialist agenda, the police are the enemy of the -- now become the enemy of the people and defunding and reallocating he supports. I would think safety and security has got to be a top issue now.

KENNEDY: Well, I think education and opening our schools is a perfect example. There are some Americans who think it's unsafe. I disagree with them but I'm willing to have that debate. We can talk about how many, many other countries have done it safely.

But I'm convinced there are not a substantial minority of people who just like to see our schools closed because it creates more chaos that gives them a political advantage in November. And a pox on their houses, man. You don't -- you shouldn't politicize our children.

For many of our kids in America, our schools are the only stable things in their lives. And these people, the cynical people who are using this for political fodder -- man, they have no soul. You know, to use our kids like this.

Now, that's not everybody. Both those who are using it for political gain - - well, I said when I felt about them.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you, Senator. We really appreciate it.

All right. When we come back, we have the update on the madam in the Epstein case, Ghislaine Maxwell, trying to avoid the authorities. That and more as "Hannity" continues, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Two unusual updates on the Ghislaine Maxwell case. Remember, the madam of Jeffrey Epstein? According to reports, their alleged partner in crime moved at least 36 times over the past year while trying to hide from the FBI when agents searched Maxwell's New Hampshire home. They discovered a cell phone wrapped in tin foil.

Investigators believed Maxwell was attempting to evade law enforcement. Of course, we continue to keep you posted, as the case unfolds.

All right. In 22 days, if you've never believed live free or die, America and the world on the brink, it comes out. The full report on what makes America great, the radical 2020 agenda.

Now, Biden buying into, oh, the cops are become the enemy and we're going to allocate funds elsewhere, the rest of that radical agenda. AOC advising on the environment.

We've got a lot of details coming soon. Hannity.com, amazon.com.

All right. Let not your heart be troubled.

Laura Ingraham, are you there?

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Oh, wait, are you actually going early? Are you actually --

HANNITY: I promised you 30 seconds. I gave it back tonight.

INGRAHAM: That's amazing.

OK. But, now, you have to stop talking. No, I'm just kidding.

Well, but it's not really 23 seconds because you and I are talking. No, but I want -- I actually really enjoyed your interview with Roger Stone. That was really fun. I enjoyed that.

HANNITY: Sad. By the way, it shouldn't happen this country, Laura. You and I have been talking about it.

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