Sarah Sanders and Reince Priebus on Nancy Pelosi's impeachment ploy, liberal media bias

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Sarah Sanders and Reince Priebus on Nancy Pelosi's impeachment ploy, liberal media bias

Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and former RNC chairman Reince Priebus join Sean Hannity on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," January 10, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARK STEYN, FOX NEWS HOST: Have a spiffing weekend. Tucker is back Monday.

"Hannity" for the full hour starts now.

(MUSIC)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. Welcome to "Hannity". What a news week it has been and, OK, impeachment madness next week. We will be all over them. We begin tonight with yet more breaking news at home and abroad, including major new details from the president's action in Iran. Plus, we'll cover a very tense standoff at sea, where a Russian warship nearly ran into a U.S. Navy destroyer. We're going to play that full tape coming up tonight. Laura Ingraham had a long sit down with the president of the United States. We'll have a preview of that interview, and also talk to Laura about behind the scenes. First, we turn to a big development from the deranged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Today, oh, as we predicted, she did finally cave to Mitch McConnell. She agreed to send over her B.S. articles of impeachment to the Senate. No one on either side of the aisle is sure why the speaker was clinging to a dear life to the articles. We have no idea. But as of yesterday it wasn't totally clear that Nancy Pelosi herself even knew why. She was stalling, as usual, considering this is so urgent, urgent, urgent, urgent, urgent. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): So, getting back to sports because that is all we live, right? Football, football, college, high school, professional. We send in our team or do we have to send in a special team as well as a team, because we have to know what that is -- what that triumph is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Bo-bop-bop! All right. Before this current month-long pause of urgency, the very dazed and confused Nancy Pelosi, speaker in name only, argued that impeachment was urgent, time sensitive, a crisis, must be fast without delay before Christmas, before our vacation. But now, after weeks and weeks of stalling over some fantasy that she's going to actually dictate, the Constitution to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell directing the Senate's trial, Pelosi has given in. And at some point next week -- well, the Senate will receive these B.S. articles of impeachment we kind of expect Tuesday. Trial begins on Wednesday, tentative schedule. This morning, during his interview with Laura Ingraham, here's what the president had to say about Nancy Pelosi and her impeachment charade. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Mr. President, we just learned that Nancy Pelosi has announced she's sending articles of impeachment next week to the Senate. What's your reaction?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think it's ridiculous. She should have sent them a long time ago. It just -- it belittles the process. Nancy Pelosi will go down has the least successful speaker of the House in the history of our nation. She has done nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What have they done for three years? Nothing! So, let's be clear, Pelosi is sending over this pile of garbage to the U.S. Senate. I gave my message to senator -- Senate Republicans last night. Their job, their constitutional obligations, they do the impeachment. OK, let the managers bring in all their evidence because there was no crimes, no high crimes, no misdemeanors, no bribery, no treason, totally made up charges, one fact witness. Now, let them put forward their case. You don't go in and say, oh, it's so bad, let us do it for you. No, your job is to have the trial, let them present the evidence that was so compelling to impeach the president. And then you're done hearing, there's only fact witness, then you can vote, call the roll and get rid of this. Of course, we'll be watching the compromise, the corrupt congenital liar Adam Schiff. The only one fact witness, you all Republicans in the U.S. Senate, in this entire case, other is hearsay, others, of course, opinion witnesses -- Gordon Sondland. He gave exculpatory information about the president refuting the charges. Talked to the president? Yes. What did he say he wants? Nothing. No quid pro quo, game over. Do your job. Don't start trying to redo their bad work in the U.S. Senate. Don't give any credence to what they have done and how they are hurting the country with politicizing, all of this now going on over three years. So-called whistle-blower, non-whistle-blower, fraud, coordinating. We now know Schiff's office did have contact from the get-go. Let's look into that. It's now up to the Republican controlled Senate, do your job. Your job is not to undo the mess that they are handing you. Your job is to dismiss it because there's nothing there. Not carry out Nancy Pelosi's bidding and the squad's bidding. That is not your constitutional role to hold little Adam Schiff's hand and correct all of his lies -- and they are lies -- and mistakes and his psychosis. You can't fix it anyway. It's not your duty to try and justify the Democrats fabricated charges, three years in running now, and the B.S. once and for all. Get back to working on issues that will impact the lives, the safety, the security, the prosperity of the American people. And don't forget, any additional witnesses from the administration, that will be executive privilege. And the president reaffirmed that again today as he should. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Why not call Bolton? Why not allow him to testify? This thing is bogus. Why don't have Bolton testify?

TRUMP: I don't have no problem other than one thing. You can't be in the White House as president in the future. I'm talking about future, many future presidents, and have a security advisor, anybody having to do with security, and legal and other things, especially --

INGRAHAM: You're going to invoke executive privilege?

TRUMP: Well, I think you have to for the sake of the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: By the way, when you think of the call the president talked about, what is the president's oath? What is his constitutional pledge? Faithfully execute the laws. "Politico" and even Ukraine court said, yes, they tried to impact our election. So, we know about quid pro quo Joe and zero experience Hunter. The president's constitutional duty is to uphold the legitimacy of the executive branch, not just for himself -- but he's right -- this is about the executive branch, future presidents. And unlike the impeachment of Bill Clinton, Pelosi's articles were not passed on a bipartisan basis. Zero Republicans in a House voted for it and a few Democrats actually voted not to impeach. This has been and remains a political witch hunt. The only one guilty of a quid and a pro and a quo is Joe, and zero experience Hunter paid millions. You're not getting the billion unless you fire the prosecutor. It is a desperate last-minute attempt to smear, slander, besmirch the president to try and get the political advantage. They know they're not going to do it. They want to hurt the president politically. Earlier today, the president had this to say about the Democrats' never- ending antics. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: We just heard that they are thinking about adding another article of impeachment. They are floating this to include the events of the last few weeks. Here is what Chuck Schumer just said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Over the past few weeks, there has been several disclosure of evidence that appear to further incriminate the president. Each disclosure bolstering the argument we Democrats have made for a trial that features the relevant witnesses and documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Your reaction to their potentially adding two articles of impeachment they still haven't delivered to the Senate floor.

TRUMP: So they can't win an election that's going to take place in ten months. They know that. And the only thing they can do is like with their Congressman Green when he said, we can't beat them, we have to impeach him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Wow, they were saying that two days after the election. We played the montage all through 2017, 2018, now 2019. Impeach, impeach, impeach, impeach, impeach. It's all they do. Can you one thing they have accomplished for the American people? This is supposed to be public service, we the people. Members of the U.S. Senate, especially you Republicans, you need to end this for the sake of our country and our Constitution and frankly, for the sake of the future presidents. In America, it's we, the people. You're supposed to be servants of we, the people. Do our work. Well, guess what? In 298 days, thank goodness, we, the people, we make the final decision. Joining us now with more, author of the book, bestseller, "Guilt by Accusation", Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz. Texas Congressman, also former prosecutor, Louie Gohmert, is with us. Good to see you both. Professor, I'll start with you tonight. OK, when the Supreme Court, when there was a conflict between the judicial and executive branch, I will defer to you, professor. And the executive branch seeks a remedy like in the case of executive privilege, and the court decides to take it up. I would think seeking remedy in the court is the constitutional thing to do. They didn't want to wait for the court's decision which I would anticipate sometime in, oh, maybe June. What do you think, Professor?

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, "GUILT BY ACCUSATION" AUTHOR: Absolutely right. Checks and balances in separation of power requires the president or anybody in the executive branch is asked to disclose material that might be covered by executive privilege, the executive branch has an obligation to say no to the partisan House of Representatives committee and say, look, if you want to have a subpoena recognized, go to court. Get the court to validate it. That's what they did in the Nixon case. That's what they did in other cases. But to hold a president impeachable on obstruction of Congress for simply exercising his constitutional authority as head of the executive branch, to impose and invoke checks and balances and judicial review would make Alexander Hamilton turned over in his grave.

HANNITY: Well said.

DERSHOWITZ: In Federalist 78, he says, when you have a conflict between the two branches, the umpire is the judicial branch. So the Democrats in the House should have gone to court, they could have done it on an expedited basis and sort -- review and sort enforcement. They probably would have won some of them, probably would have lost the Bolton case because that is as the president said in the interview, paradigmatic example of executive privilege. Getting advice from your national security advisor about national security issues, the courts would generally uphold that claim of executive privilege. Maybe others they wouldn't. But you cannot expect the president as head of the executive branch simply to capitulate to a partisan majority in -- on a committee of Congress.

HANNITY: Let me ask you Louie Gohmert, because I read the Constitution and I'll defer to you and Professor Alan Dershowitz, both lawyers. But my reading is that it is the sole power of the House of Representatives to impeach. That is their role. But that is their only role. The trial, it is the constitutional role of the U.S. Senate and it is the chief justice that will preside over the hearings. Now, they have impeached this president. They're going to have managers present their case to the Senate, OK? Now I know some Republican senators may be saying, well, maybe we should call other witnesses. But if it is the House's role to impeach, my question is, why would the Senate not do anything except listen to their case and not do the -- the takeover of the role of the constitutional job of the House? Can you help me with that?

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): Well, of course, you're right about that and Professor Dershowitz has made it very clear too, that the only real abuse of power is by the House of Representatives in demanding that the president not protect executive privilege, and may not go to court to get it defined. So, yes, the House did not do its job on impeachment. There was no high crime. There was no misdemeanor. There was no treason, bribery. They dropped all of those things. So, they -- we know and you and I have talked about it, Sean, when the Democrats are accusing the president and Republicans have doing something, that's exactly what they are doing is projecting. The abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, that's exactly what they've been doing. And all of the garbage about clear and present danger, we've got to act now, we've got to violate our own rules and not allow the minority party to have witnesses. We have got to move forward and then sit on it for a month or so, that just shows the hypocrisy. And we haven't -- the majority has not done its job in the House. And you're right. The trial ought to go forward --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Real quick -- Professor, just a quick 15 seconds, do you agree with Louie on that and me on that?

DERSHOWITZ: Yes, I do and Hamilton again in Federalist 65 said, you need a speedy trial. You need to have a trial right away. Impeachment and removal are part of the same process. And it undercuts the process when there's undue delay for partisan tactical reason.

GOHMERT: Great point.

HANNITY: All right. Guys, thank you both for your insight. Very insightful. Very helpful. Next week and again we expect this to begin on Wednesday. U.S. Senate, don't go in there and do the Houses job. They have a role, let them present their case and you vote. You hold the trial. Tonight, we're also tracking to major situations out of the Middle East. Now breaking just moments ago, we are learning Soleimani was not the only high-ranking Iranian terrorist targeted over the weekend. Look at these new reports, the leader of Iran's so-called elite Quds forces in Yemen also the subject of a U.S. strike. Although the mission was allegedly not successful, it is clear that U.S. has been working to incapacitate the leadership of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Now, despite the mullah's promise to drive the U.S. from the region, the president is undeterred. Obama, and Biden, the era of appeasement and trying to bribe dictators, pretty please like us if we give you $150 billion please -- there's not going to be appeasement. Those days are done, no bribery and we no longer supply billions in cash to the world's number one state-sponsored terror that says death to America and wants to wipe Israel off the map. The president will never allow them to have a nuclear weapon. We can't risk that with that insane ideology of the mullahs running Iran. And unlike Obama and Biden, the United States is not going to cut and run just because Iran would like to try to intimidate us. There will be a price to pay if they want an escalation. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: The Iraqi prime minister has notified Mike Pompeo about potential plans drawing up plans for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq, period. You ran on pulling out of the Middle East. Why not use this opportunity to say, we're done.

TRUMP: I'm OK -- I'm OK with it, by the way --

INGRAHAM: You're OK with removing our troops from Iraq?

TRUMP: That's what they say -- just so you understand, that's what they say publicly. They don't say that privately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Interesting. The president has committed to peace. We know the Trump doctrine. He doesn't want war. He will sit down with anyone. He got criticized for sitting down -- saying, I will sit down with Kim Jong-un, and Putin and all these bad actors. I'm not going to bribe you, we'll talk. Let's see if we can talk. And we're not going to have boots on the ground. We're not going to have protracted conflicts. I'll beat you like we beat the caliphate in Syria. He won't allow the world's most hostile regime to cross the red line. That is to attack the sovereignty and kill Americans. Unfortunately, Iran is ruled by what is a reckless, evil, irresponsible, radical dictatorship, a theocracy. On Tuesday, according to our intelligence, they downed a passenger plane with a Russian-made antiaircraft missile, killing 176 human souls on board, including dozens of Canadians, Ukrainians and Iranians. Well, now, new video has emerged showing the plane getting struck with what looks like, yep, some kind of missile before falling out of the sky. But the rogue regime in Iran, they are still denying that the plane was hit with the missile, claiming the U.S. is spreading lies about the crash. According to reports, Iranian bulldozers have already been seeing clearing the debris before investigators actually arrived and Tehran is currently refusing to turn over the plane's black boxes. Meanwhile in the Arabian Gulf, earlier today, a Russian warship came within feet of ramming a U.S. destroyer. As I have said many times on this program, the government of Iran, the Russian regime are -- these are hostile regimes. Russia is ruled by a hostile actor. We know his name, Vladimir Putin. That must be detoured and countered whenever possible. Here now with more, our own Benjamin Hall. Benjamin, what's the latest?

BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, remember that Russia is always very keen to remind the world that it plays a role in the Middle East. And we have seen these kind of provocations before, particularly when they're not in the headlines. Well, today was a Russian spy ship that aggressively approached a U.S. destroyer in the North Arabian Sea. It swung dangerously behind the USS Farragut, coming as close as 60 yards, only turning away after five warning sirens signaled a collision. The USS Farragut had significant backup, though. It was on routine operations as part of the powerful Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group. After around 10 to 15 minutes, the aggressive Russian ship pulled away.

President Putin has been active in the Middle East all week, though it has gone under the radar. He's visited allies Assad in Syria, Erdogan in Turkey. He's held naval drills with other allies, the Iranians and the Chinese. He has even offered to mediate between Iran and the U.S. It does seem as if Putin doesn't want to be left out of the current tensions. He is trying to show that he has a role to play in the Middle East and don't forget, as you pointed out, that was a Russian missile which brought down that Ukrainian plane -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Benjamin Hall, thank you. And during his interview with Laura Ingraham, President Trump, he made news with a very important revelation about Soleimani not previously known. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Don't the American people have a right to know what specifically was targeted without revealing methods and sources?

TRUMP: Well, I don't think so, but we will tell you that was probably it was going to be the embassy in Baghdad.

INGRAHAM: So, they have large scale attacks planned for other embassies and if those were planned, why can't we rebuild that to the American people? Wouldn't that help your case? I can reveal that I believe it would have been four embassies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Four U.S. embassies being targeted, Soleimani, what was he doing in Baghdad, right? The president had to act. Joining us now with more on her interview which will air in the next hour, the host of "The Ingraham Angle," Laura Ingraham. First of all, I've now -- thank you for sharing part of this interview with us. Number one, there were people in this business that are not so gracious as you, let's just put it that way. And you're amazing. But more importantly, my -- my staff told me first, this interview is phenomenal.

INGRAHAM: Oh, thank you.

HANNITY: You talk about all of it. Impeachment, you talk about Soleimani, the Trump doctrine. You covered a lot of ground. Why don't I just get your general thoughts on the interview today?

INGRAHAM: Yes, I think the president seemed incredibly confident and very -- very at ease given what he's been facing, Sean. You documented it since he came down the golden escalator how they have targeted, how they have targeted his family. Now, they are trying to impeach him after failing on Mueller. So, like he's now used to this, you know, minute-by-minute tussle. And on the Soleimani thing, especially, he's like, the guy was going to take out major U.S. installations. And he doesn't think it's his obligation to share every minute detail of that with the -- with the Hill. And he said -- which is key -- that, you know what, it might not trust the Hill, given a lot of the leaks that have occurred, given what he thinks is essentially unfair and fraudulent dealings on some of these other investigations. So, when you try to impeach a successful president on bogus grounds, it has a spillover effect on the trust issue on other issues.

HANNITY: Maybe through the prism of you being with the president today and the time that you spent with him, we now see an emerging Trump doctrine which, by the way, seems like everything else between the border, the tax cuts, originalist justices, ending bureaucracy, new freer, fair trade deals, doesn't want boots on the ground, protracted conflicts. The president took a lot, Laura, going in here. Two drones were shut down. We had literally Straits of Hormuz, they're pirating tankers to impact the free flow of oil at market prices and a hit on Saudi Arabia unprovoked. But the red line was killing Americans. Now he's given the Iranians an out. So it seems like he really -- he doesn't want conflict of war but he's ready to act and is not willing to bribe. That's the Trump doctrine.

INGRAHAM: Yes, I think -- yes, I think it is prudent realism and action. I mean, that's -- to me, what's been demonstrated by his reluctance to kind of fall into perhaps the trap that the Democrats almost -- and I say almost -- appear to want him to fall into which is escalate this thing, ramp this thing up, missiles flying back and forth, the loss of a lot of American lives potentially. He didn't want to do that. And I think he wanted to send a message, you do this and you're going to pay a big price, don't push it. And I think the Iranians know that despite all their bluster. But I don't know, I mean, you spent so much time with the president, Sean, I think there are very few individuals -- and he did say this about himself -- could withstand the daily onslaught that he's had to withstand and take and produce the results that you just ticked off on trade and judges and everything else. Very few people could handle that, none of these Democrats could.

HANNITY: This is amazing. We only tapped 1 percent, all of it coming up, well, in about 37 minutes. Laura Ingraham, great job today. We're proud of you. We appreciate you sharing that with us. All right. Coming up, liberal media just pawning over the 2020 Democrat candidates. You won't believe the biased coverage. That and other breaking news, straight ahead on this busy news week tonight, straight, as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He made millions and millions of dollars a year. Ukraine took care of him. How about China? He walked out with $1.5 billion to manage and he never did it before. He didn't know anything about oil and gas. He was making a fortune. So where is Hunter? Where the hell are you, Hunter? I sort of hope it's Joe, because he will hear "where is Hunter" every single debate nine times a debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That was the president last night asking questions to mainstream media mob should be asking. Never will. Of course. Instead, Democratic contenders like, oh, Elizabeth Warren, they are getting cushy pieces like this one focused on her skin care routine. Anybody want to know about mine? Meanwhile over there conspiracy TV, Roswell Rachel Maddow, Area 51 conspiracy DNC channel -- well, they are talking and taking an in-depth look at the resemblance between Bernie Sanders and Larry David. We have the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here with "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David -- no, wait. Oh, "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David. But here they are together. If you become president, you got to be flying back and forth just to play him on "SNL".

LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN: Yes, that's true. It's not going to be easy for me. It will be great for the country. Terrible for me.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm getting you a good job for four years and you're complaining.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not related at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Why don't Trump ever get that kind of coverage? No. All right. Joining us now, former White House press secretary, FOX News contributor, Sarah Sanders, Michael Best Law president, former GOP chairman, Reince Priebus. Reince, you've got to get back in the game. I told this to Mark Meadows. I think we need you back in the game. I'm appointing you something, I don't know what. But, look, you watch what they are doing to the president. Now we're going to have the Schiff show, sham show impeachment show, that will end very quickly, expeditiously next week, Sarah. And -- but this has been every single day. We have our montage. We run it all the time, impeachment two days after he's elected. Impeachment through 2017, '18 and '19. Now, they impeached him over nothing because they didn't get what they wanted from Mueller. But the American people speak out in 298 days. How does this play out?

SARAH SANDERS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I think that it plays out exactly how we thought it would from the very beginning. We know it's been a huge waste of time, a huge waste of taxpayer dollars and frankly, it hasn't played well for Democrats. We saw them push every single day, telling us how urgent it was to get impeachment done. And now, all of a sudden, we have all the time in the world to sit back and wait while Nancy Pelosi gets controlled more and more by the far left wing of her party and refuses to send the papers to the Senate. It's been a sham from day one. It's going to be wiped away in the Senate. And I think it's gong to be a great day to watch the president get fully vindicated in the Senate and then get to stand in front of Nancy Pelosi and all of her crazy colleagues as he delivers a beautiful and amazing State of the Union and talks about all the successes of his last three years as president. I think it's going to be a great day.

HANNITY: You know, let's just for a second, let's look 298 days down the road, Reince Priebus. And I've got to be honest. I -- I want everybody in this country to understand what is at stake here. This is America literally on the brink. The America's freedom, you know, $94 trillion and 10-year New Green Deal, the $52 trillion Medicare-for-All deal, we can afford any of this. But and I always want to play like you are behind a touchdown, no timeouts, you're down by six, and you need the touchdown and the extra point, in two minutes, doing the two minute drill. That's how I want you to look at this election. You're behind.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER RNC CHAIRMAN: Well, look --

HANNITY: But here is my question, imagine that we get these words, we can now project Donald J. Trump has been reelected the 45th president of the United States, they're going to lose their minds, all of them, the mob and the press.

PRIEBUS: But they're going to -- but look at this week. I mean, the week started on a knife's edge with Iran. It turns out that the president made the right call. It turns out Iran retreated. He had a solid jobs report today. And the key middle class wage growth up 3 percent to 5 percent. You know, the same thing happened in 2016, Sean. I remember days on the plane and I'm sure Sarah does too, where the president opened up "The New York Times" and not just find one bad story on the page, but every day, some days, every single story on the front page was bad. Everyone said he can't win. He's -- you're going to be wasting your time. You're wasting your money at the RNC. And obviously, on election night, President Trump wins the presidency and shocks the world. So, back to the Hunter Biden issue though. You know, I think the Republicans might want to consider getting very bold about this, exert executive privilege over John Bolton, exert executive privilege over Mick Mulvaney, call in Hunter Biden and find out what the truth is, because the center of the Democrats' case is that, you know, was it reasonable for the president to ask about -- about Biden? Well, if that's the center of their case, well, bring in Biden and find out, exert executive privilege over the rest.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I want all of that to happen --

PRIEBUS: Go ahead.

HANNITY: -- but let the House present their weak case. The Senate listens to their wake case. That's their sole responsibility of impeachment, tell us why they impeached him and then call the roll. Get this done, then investigate Mr. Quid Pro Quo Joe --

PRIEBUS: Sure.

HANNITY: -- you're not getting the $1 billion unless you fire the guy that's investigating my zero experience son being paid millions. That needs to be getting into the bottom of because that's the very thing I thought they were supposed to be upset about, Reince?

PRIEBUS: Well, it's time to make them nervous about the games that they are playing today with the United States Senate. And I think Hunter Biden is going to be a big issue. I do think we need to be careful not to play it -- all of it too early where it gets old potentially in the general election, but Hunter Biden should be investigated and there needs to be a strategy behind it.

HANNITY: Last word, what -- what do you think about -- do you agree with me, Sarah, should we just call the roll, get this done? Yes, but then I think they should investigate Hunter and zero experience Hunter and quid pro quo.

SANDERS: Absolutely. I say we get this impeachment sham over with and out of the way. And let's look into the Bidens. I think there is so much information there. Look, Joe Biden spent half a century in Washington, D.C., swamp, the last thing we need after President Trump is come in and drained is to have the Bidens come back and fill it up again. I think we ought to clear the deck, get the impeachment out of the way, but let's look into all the corruption and make that part of the campaign if need be.

HANNITY: Well said, both of you.

PRIEBUS: We have to do it (ph).

HANNITY: All right. When we come back, a lot more breaking news. It appears Hillary Clinton getting yet another free pass.

Later, find out why I'm standing with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and I am defending her, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. The Department of Justice probe into the Clinton Foundation is reportedly ending with a whimper? Really? No findings of wrongdoing, huh? Despite overwhelming evidence Clintons operating the pay- to-play scheme to sell influence inside the State Department and a future Clinton White House. And when that didn't happen, of course, donations fell off the cliff. Look at this, new Clinton emails just obtained by our friends at Judicial Watch provide even more examples of her using her unsecured, nongovernment email to transmit yet again classified information. That will put us in jail. Where's the accountability? Where's the equal justice and application of our laws? And also just breaking tonight, FBI Director Wray submitted a declaration of the FISA court saying the FBI is going to implement all of the inspector general's recommendations to improve the accuracy of FISA applications. Meaning, nothing like the Steele dossier should ever be in a FISA application again. With all due respect, Director Wray, that's not enough. Sorry, the premeditated fraud on the FISA court to spy on a candidate and a transition team and a president, I'd like to see a little more outrage from you. This is the world's premiere, number one law enforcement agency, 99 percent of FBI guys are the best in the world. Really? That's all you -- that's your reaction? Not enough for me. Author of the bestseller "Witch Hunt", we are joined by FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, and FOX News contributor Sara Carter, and Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton. Tom, again, great work you're doing, Freedom of Information Act, more evidence, more emails, more classified information. What -- is anyone else going to get away with that? I don't think I would.

TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH PRESIDENT: Well, you know, Huber was appointed by Sessions to take the heat off of to appoint a special counsel, but there's been no investigation. So, a non-investigation evidently is going to result in non-prosecution. That's no surprise. The same Justice Department, Sean, is depending Hillary Clinton in court. We were in court three weeks ago. They had six lawyers for the Justice Department and State Department. They are still coordinating with the Clinton lawyers to oppose Judicial Watch's efforts to get answers. And the FBI at the same time the Justice Department is leaking and they don't want to do anything on Hillary Clinton, the FBI is still finding, as you point out, more Clinton emails. On top of that, we have new Page-Strzok emails. Even they were complaining about the way the Obama FBI was giving special favors and basically kowtowing to the Clinton lawyers in terms of letting them get away with murder.

HANNITY: Let me ask you from the legal side of it, Gregg Jarrett, again more damning evidence. Are there any other options, I mean, or do we believe, do we know that Barr and Durham are digging down deeper? Because I find the laissez-faire Director Wray a little infuriating at this point.

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: I agree. I think Durham is the serious investigation. The John Huber investigation into Hillary Clinton, that was always a phantom probe, an investigation in name only. Did Huber ever interview anyone? Did he interview, for example, William Campbell, the whistle-blower that connected Hillary Clinton to the Russians and the takeover of American uranium assets. I just got off of the phone with Campbell's lawyer -- no, Huber never bothered to interview the whistle-blower. Look, the Clintons became enormously wealthy through quid pro quo arrangements that were funneled through their foundation. The worst of which was $145 million paid by uranium at the same time that Clinton CFIUS committee allowed the sale of those uranium assets to go through. She all but hung a "for sale" sign on the office door and became wealthy by influence access peddling and other actions of corruption.

HANNITY: And your take, Sara Carter?

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I can't agree more with Gregg on the Uranium One issue. As for Director Wray, you know, this wasn't some clerical error or administrative failure inside the FBI. This was basically FBI, senior FBI officials just trampling all over the constitution and people's civil liberties. This is about the FBI falsifying documentation to spy on an American. So, this is -- this is outrageous that this is all he has to say. I mean, it has to be more than that. And I certainly hope -- John Huber, Sean, his entire investigation was a sham. It was feckless, he didn't interview anyone, just as Gregg stated and as Tom discovered, there is a two-tiered justice system and something has to be done. These people tried to unseat a duly elected president. They were sending disinformation out on people. They were destroying people's lives. And people like Lieutenant General Michael Flynn are now facing a sentencing date while all of these people who are known liars are walking around free, getting book deals and making a lot of money. So, yes, something has to change, and I hope it does.

HANNITY: All right, guys. Great work to all of you, by the way. You all played a very big part in getting us here. The vindication in the I.G. report was massive. Getting it right now is going to be another heavy lift for everybody. And I really want to further vindication hopefully with the Durham/Barr report. Take a bow all of you. You did a lot for your country. When we come back, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, well, she's under fire tonight and some Democratic colleagues are mad at her. The group PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, are ticked off at her. But I'm going to defend her. When we get back, you'll find out why, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. The radical wing of the extremist Democratic socialist party is being led by none other than, of course, the real speaker, not speaker in name only Pelosi, freshman New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Tonight, AOC reportedly irked Democratic Party bosses by refusing to pay party dues and bankrolling the furthest left candidates that she could find even against her own colleagues. Now, the animal rights group PETA has put her even further in trouble if you will. Now, I actually support the congresswoman on this issue. She adopted what was a purebred French bulldog, instead of setting the example by adopting a rescue pup. OK. I'm taking the side of AOC. Here with reaction, FOX News host of "Watters World" all things to him and, of course, co-host of "The Five", Jesse Watters. And Tammy Bruce -- by the way, foxnation.com, Tammy's new show is amazing. Good to see you both. You know, I like dogs. I only like dogs, I'll admit it. I'll admit. I have one dog. Finally had a dog, my parents wouldn't give me a dog, Tammy, until -- my whole young life, I was deprived. I got a dog when I got older. And my dog Snowball 17 years old, the dog died, I went to my bathroom and cried. I loved my dog.

TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS HOST, "FOXNATION.COM": Oh my.

HANNITY: Pick your own dog. We don't need the government of PETA telling us what dog to pick.

BRUCE: Well, but look, even this choice of the dog, she is using it for publicity, so her -- to all of her actions are meant to signal who she is and what matters to her and how she behaves, and why you should like her. This is for publicity. It's like Joan Crawford adopting a kid for publicity. I mean, there is -- so when every action you take is about you, then it -- I think it can be criticized. I'm a dog lover, I think they're fabulous. But clearly, though, if you're all progressive or just living, breathing human being, you know of the problems when it comes to overpopulation, you know there is all kinds of dogs in shelters, including some purebreds, by the way, and I think that that's important. So, I think it is fair to criticize her. I think it is also like she's not giving --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Tammy, she liked that dog. If you like that dog, pick a dog you like, I will -- come on.

BRUCE: Yes, well, I --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUCE: Any dog, every dog is wonderful and adorable.

HANNITY: Well, Snowball -- Snowball for the record was a rescue dog. I've had other dogs. I've had a Bernese mountain dog right now, Gracie. I love Gracie. Jesse, what's your -- I think Jesse is about --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUCE: -- shelters.

HANNITY: Jesse is going to agree with me. It's going to be Jesse and Hannity's world I think in a second.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST, "THE FIVE": I agree with you, Sean, the only thing is, the dog is French. So it's not going to protect her -- it's going to rollover the minute she's ever attacked. So, she has to be careful about that.

HANNITY: Oh, jeez.

WATTERS: It's not really a strong dog.

HANNITY: Why can't you get in trouble on your own show? Why do you save it for my show? Why don't go on your show and get much trouble?

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: I'll get in trouble again.

HANNITY: What's that?

WATTERS: I'll do it again and here's this -- I'm going to make a prediction. She's got a boyfriend. They have moved in together, AOC and her boyfriend. They have now gotten the dog together. AOC will now be married within a year.

HANNITY: All right. Before you do this, I don't want to hear your prediction. I don't want to hear it.

WATTERS: That's my prediction. She will be engaged. And then you know what happens after that, marriage and then you're going to -- I'm not even going to say it. I'm just going to predict the marriage.

(CORSSTALK)

HANNITY: What is wrong with you? Tammy, I don't care.

WATTERS: It's what happens in relationships.

HANNITY: All I'm saying is she got the dog she wants. Can we have freedom to pick our own dogs without being lectured by the PC squad? Tammy, please!

BRUCE: If there wasn't a massive issue with mass -- you know, putting dogs to sleep, alone in shelters --

HANNITY: Oh my gosh.

BRUCE: -- being abandoned. I mean, again, any dog will look at you and you will fall in love with any dog. And if you are going to say you are a progressive, then at least really do the right thing in that regard. It's not asking very much. But she clearly, this is part of her hypocrisy in general. There is all kinds of dogs out there.

WATTERS: I think you are being tough on AOC. She should be able to adopt whatever type of dog, even if it's a French dog.

BRUCE: Sure.

WATTERS: That's fine.

BRUCE: Oh, sure, she can. But we can call out the hypocrisy.

WATTERS: I got a poodle, I got a mini poodle. And it's humanized me.

HANNITY: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, who, whoa, whoa, whoa. There is a dog that's never going to convince me to adopt them. I don't like poodles, sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

BRUCE: Jesse, it's French.

WATTERS: Really? Your dog's name is Snowball.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Snowball, Snowball, and many sheep dog.

WATTERS: Snowball, and you don't like the mini poodle?

HANNITY: Snowball was a mini -- like a mini sheepdog. No, like a mini sheepdog. The hair over the eyes and everything.

WATTERS: You'd fall in love my poodle if you ever met him.

HANNITY: There's never a poodle that I have ever met that I liked. I just admitted that on national television, I cried in my bathroom -- oh, I lost my dog.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: You are very sensitive, Sean. I never saw that coming.

HANNITY: Listen, I'm not a crier. I'm not. But that made -- that was upsetting. All right, guys. Thank you both. When we come back, the president weighing in on the royal family feud, plus a preview, the great one Mark Levin. We'll tell you about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. President Trump, he is now weighing in on the royal family feud. Here is what he told our own Laura Ingraham. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Would you be able to give her any advice for some of the rogue royals? Like what's happening there? It seems like there's a lot of tumult.

TRUMP: I think it it's sad, I know. I think it's sad. She's a great woman. She's never made a mistake. If you look, she's had a flawless time.

INGRAHAM: Like Harry should go back, come back and --

TRUMP: Well, I think -- I think -- you know, I don't want to get into the whole thing. But I find it. I just have such respect for the queen, I don't think they should be happening to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: An amazing interview. Laura's interview with the president coming up in seconds here. So -- and thanks to Laura for helping us and sharing some of it with us. All right. Another quick programming note, Senator Cotton joins the great one, Mark Levin, Sunday night, number one show, 8:00 p.m., right here on the FOX News Channel. Here is a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I was very disappointed at all my Democratic colleagues to say over the last few weeks because if you got a chance to take a mastermind like Qassem Soleimani off of the battlefield, you take it. And I commend the president for doing so. We should have done a long time ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. That interview 8:00 p.m., right here, FOX News, on Sunday night. You don't want to miss it. All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this weekend. OK, we will never be the hate Trump media mob or the Democrats. We will be all over there next week. Impeachment.  Let not your heart be troubled -- an amazing interview. You're going to watch the whole thing, Laura Ingraham interviewing the president starts right now. See you Monday.

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