Tom Fitton on Christopher Steele's relationship with the State Department
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This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 11, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, Tucker, great show. Best to you and Tammy.
Welcome to “Hannity.”
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We begin tonight with a Fox News alert. My full monologue in just a moment. But, first, we have major breaking news breaking right now as we now come on the air tonight.
Joining us with this story, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Tom, this just breaking. What I've been able to read in just order is incredible. Let's -- what do you have?
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TOM FITTON, JUDICIAL WATCH PRESIDENT: More documents out of the Obama State Department showing that Christopher Steele, Glen Simpson had special access to a person called Jonathan Winer who was the Libya guy in the Kerry State Department. And Winer was working Victoria Nuland and a top aide for Steny Hoyer, the incoming majority leader at the time, well, yhes, soon to be majority at the time, after the election, all about Russia and obviously targeting Trump.
It's just incredible to see. We worry about the Justice Department and Bruce Ohr and Peter Strzok. Well, the State Department was all hands on deck in terms of targeting President Trump. They were meeting with Glen Simpson, Christopher Steele, Clinton aides, Sidney Blumenthal and other Clinton associate Cody Shearer.
There was more than one dossier obviously going to the FBI and the Justice Department. Not from only Christopher Steele but created by the State Department itself, targeting Trump and the documents show that Jonathan Winer was in contact with Glen Simpson in September of 2016 who then immediately contacted Winer did, Victoria Nuland, a top aide at the State Department. And then after the election, they're working hand in glove with Steny Hoyer's guy on these Russia issues and obviously conveying information that they were gaining from Christopher Steele, who was extremely close to Jonathan Winer.
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He was -- Jonathan Winer was Christopher Steele's contact at the State Department going back a number of years.
HANNITY: Let me ask you, because I got a couple of these. You know, when Winer is writing to Ginsberg, to Christopher Steele, Chris Steele was a friend of mine, very high end business intelligence service based in London. He formally worked for U.K. government.
I spoke to Chris. It's complicated. At another point, another e-mail, about Steele, to Steele and his partner, request for contacts, specific contacts on behalf of the U.S., World Bank, International Monetary Fund. Chris and Chris advices you brief the country team, it would be best if not come in from or through any U.S. official but straight on request in light of the impact on Mongolia and need to know.
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I mean, as you have now had more time with these than me, what do you interpret these things to say?
FITTON: The Steele's relationship with the State Department goes back a number of years. He was well-positioned to launder the Russia dossier information through this person, Jonathan Winer.
Winer admitted that he moved some of the information over to the Justice Department. So Steele has this relationship with the State Department that is longstanding, at least the Obama State Department. Then comes election time. His contact is his vehicle to launder the information into the Justice Department and the FBI, and into working with directly through Victoria Nuland, it looks like, another stop State Department official and Winer, who has no business of doing any of this, as the Libya coordinator at the State Department, on the Russia issues with Steny Hoyer's top guy.
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You know, the question I have here, when you take a step back is, because we see in other documents where the State Department was pushing Russia- related materials to friendly's in Congress, classified information just before the president's inauguration. I want to know what Democrats in Congress knew what and when about the dossier. It's pretty clear that they were in on in as much as Comey, Strzok Page, and the Clinton and DNC gang.
HANNITY: Let me ask you one more question. You say these documents show Fusion GPS and Clinton bought and paid for spy Christopher Steele had a close relationship with the Obama State Department and the State Department under John Kerry is emerging as another center in all of this as relates to going against President Trump and Winer writing an op-ed claiming that Christopher Steele and Clinton confidant Sid "Vicious" Blumenthal approached him with separate dossiers, what do you -- you know, let's tie this together, if you can.
FITTON: There was more than one dossier. You have the Steele dossier and it looks like you have a dossier created by Jonathan Winer at the State Department, using as a source Steele and Sidney Blumenthal, a Clinton aide or pal and Cody Shearer, who goes back for a long time with the Clinton group.
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HANNITY: Yes.
FITTON: This is just incredible in the sense that everyone has been thinking that it's the Justice Department and the FBI, that's where all the bad activity was taking place. Secretary Pompeo needs to be working with A.G. Barr as closely as any other agency had in terms of decoding the deep state conspiracy against then-candidate Trump and then President Trump.
And they were -- they were desperate to get this information out to their friendly Democrats on the Hill just before Trump was inaugurated. And it wasn't to help President Trump. It was to try to destroy him and undermine him.
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HANNITY: All right. Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch, we'll be digesting this now for the next couple of days. Thank you with that report.
It's getting very interesting without a doubt a deep state reckoning. It's happening before our eyes. The single biggest abuse of power scandal in American history is about to be laid bear for all to see.
Sources tonight are confirming to me that things are most likely even worse than we originally thought. We have the new letter from the assistant attorney general, Stephen Boyd, revealing that the DOJ's investigation into the origins of the Russia probe is broad in scope. It is multifaceted.
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And that's not all. According to Boyd, the investigation will cover, quote, activities of U.S. and foreign intelligence services as well as nongovernmental organizations and individuals.
Now, here's what likely this all means. The attorney general, along with U.S. Attorney John Durham, they're now investigating how foreign spy agencies, allies of the United States, were used likely by Obama administration's top officials in the intel community to spy on Trump and the Trump campaign, and the Trump transition team and the Trump presidency.
In other words, to explain this, this investigation is now examining how high-ranking intel officials literally were outsourcing what is politically motivated dirty work to spy agencies and friendly countries clearly to circumvent American laws and the civil liberties of the American citizens and used in an effort to rig a presidential election. That is now how deep this possibly goes. That would mean people like Comey, and Brennan, and Clapper may want to pay close attention because this is not looking good for any of them at this hour.
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We know the attorney general has requested that American's intelligence agencies do these three specific things. One, preserve all relevant record. Two, ensure the availability of witnesses that may be pertinent to the review. Three, begin identifying and assembling all materials that may be relevant to this full comprehensive review.
And there's more. In this very same letter, the assistant A.G., Stephen Boyd, is outlining that the investigation is, quote, a collaborative ongoing effort between the department's review team and the intelligence community, as well as foreign actors, like we were just talking about. One such foreign actor we all know about is Christopher Steele. He's set to be interviewed by American investigators in coming days.
And as you know by now, Steele was the former spy, foreign spy, MI-6, paid by Hillary Clinton, paid by the DNC, even paid by the FBI at one point to create that dirty Russian dossier, the one that, oh, even "The New York Times" says was likely Russian disinformation from the beginning. We certainly know it was full of lies, misinformation and propaganda. And, by the way, he says himself, Christopher Steele, he has no idea if any of this is true, none whatsoever in an interrogatory in Great Britain.
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But this is the same unverifiable information that even its own author won't confirm that, in fact, was used by James Comey, the FBI director at the time, to secure the first FISA warrant in October 2016 against not only Trump campaign associate Carter Page but it opened a back door to spy on the Trump campaign and the entire Trump transition team, then the entire Trump White House when he became president.
So, let's be clear: 99.9 percent of American intelligence officers, officers, workers in this country, they performed dangerous and courageous work. They use the best skills in the industry, the surveillance tools to keep Americans safe from terrorism, hostile actors at home and abroad. But in the height of the 2016 election, just a few select high-ranking bad actors, they abuse all of these powerful tools of intelligence that we entrust to them.
And it's clear tonight they trampled on the rights of many Americans. They committed what is clearly a premeditated fraud on FISA court judges to illegally obtain warrants with information they knew was false. And, by the way, they withheld that from the judges. And they used their top secret access as a back door to the communications and the Trump campaign, Trump transition and even the Trump presidency.
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Remember, Watergate was nothing but a bungled burglary. These actions represent what would be a clear present danger to our constitutional republic. These tools of intelligence are so powerful, it's that serious.
And that's not all. They used undercover informants to spy on multiple Trump campaign officials and yet another attempt to spy on team Trump. They spread Christopher Steele's Russian lies throughout the federal government. They even leaked to it the press to influence the 2016 election.
And, yes, it looks like they used foreign intelligence agencies to spy on American citizens so they can circumvent the American Constitution and American laws, and those associated, they were going after, with Donald Trump. Sadly, what I just outlined is likely just the tip of the iceberg. This is dangerous. This is criminal conduct from top officials in the U.S. government and the Biden-Obama government.
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Now, in coming weeks, months, Barr, Durham, they will conduct as they say a broad investigation. We will get the answers. Make no mistake. We will get justice.
On this program, we take government accountability and the powerful tools of intelligence that are designed to protect us, not be abused. We take it all seriously. However, that's not the case among Democrats on the Hill. We saw this on display yesterday. Jerry Nadler dusting off the cobwebs and the moth balls on a felon, known liar who obstructed justice, John "Everything, every Republican is worst that Watergate" Dean so he can compare Trump to Richard Nixon in front of the House Judiciary Committee, oh, just like he compared George W. Bush to Nixon also.
An embarrassing stunt is just one small part of the Democrat's plan to smear, slander or besmirch President Trump around every turn. For them, this is all about politics, 2020, instead of actually passing laws, serving the American people, making us safe and secure or more prosperous. This is where their focus is.
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Now, Democrats are now attempting to investigate, believe it or not, the Russia hoax for yet a fifth time. And today, they moved forward with a plan. They want to now go after the A.G. and former White House counsel, Don McGahn, in contempt and hold them in contempt for refusing to participate in their sham hearings.
And, meanwhile, Congressman Cummings, he is planning to hold more sham hearings, Barr, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for not turning over documents related to the U.S. Census of all things. And as per usual, Democrats are abusing their power to turn the government into a weapon against political opponents. We'll have more on that in just a moment.
But, first, we turn to the 2020 campaign trail watch where sleepy, creepy, crazy Uncle Joe Biden made several rare appearances today in Iowa and the so-called Democratic frontrunners first event attracted a whopping, well, less than 200 people. And that's on the high side, 200. That's it.
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This was a speech heavily promoted by his friends in the media mob. Compare that to any Trump rally. Compare that to the outside of the Trump rally.
There's a massive enthusiasm gap for crazy Uncle Joe and probably for good reason. Not only does Biden carry the weight of this historically awful Obama-Biden track record but the vice president -- former vice president doesn't exactly inspire any voters.
Today, all 85 at one rally attendees were treated to a meandering, rambling 25-minute speech where sleepy, creepy, crazy Uncle Joe called President Trump an existential threat to the country. Such a powerful, well, statement by Uncle Joe.
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JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I believe that the president is literally an existential threat to America. He is a genuine threat to our core values. America was built in a way we're built -- basic core values, decency, honor, leave nothing one behind, realizing that there's things bigger than you in America, that we have to get together, we have to cooperate.
But this is a guy that does everything to separate and frighten people. It's about fear and loathing.
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HANNITY: Sleepy, crazy Uncle Joe is apparently not happy that President Trump -- well, he continues to question his competency for office. All we need to do is look back at the eight prior years when they were in office. Yes, a disaster. Take a look.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: I'd rather run against I think Biden than anybody. I think he's the weakest mentally. I like running against people that are weak mentally. I think Joe is the weakest up here.
The other ones have more energy. I don't agree with their policies. But I think Joe is a man that is -- I called him 1 percent Joe. Until Obama came along, he didn't do well.
Joe Biden thought that China was not a competitor of ours. Joe Biden is a dummy. Joe Biden thought China was not a competitor. China made $500 billion over a short period of time against Obama, Biden and for many, many years.
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HANNITY: So, after decades in the Washington swamp, well, crazy Joe Biden has acquired, well, a ton of baggage. Much like Hillary Clinton, it could be his downfall.
Last night, HBO's Bill Maher actually admitted what we've been saying that Hillary was a terrible candidate and she also obstructed justice, all while, of course, taking a shot at Trump. But she did obstruct justice and she did, well, commit felonies. Take a look.
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BILL MAHER, HBO HOST: There's a lot of reasons why the Democrats lost and many of them were Hillary was a terrible candidate. That's absolutely true.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: She didn't help the situation with the e-mails in terms of how she handled it.
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MAHER: No, she didn't.
CUOMO: And her actions.
MAHER: Absolutely. Right. And she committed obstruction of justice. If -- Trump did I think in much worse fashion but, you know -- I mean, smashing up your phones and your hard drives --
CUOMO: They had a story about it but it was bad optics (ph).
MAHER: Yes, OK.
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HANNITY: Hat tip to Bill Maher. He actually told the truth, a guy on the left told the straight on truth.
Yes, go ahead, try it yourselves. See if you delete subpoenaed e-mails and acid wash your hard drives and bust up devices and remove SIM cards after the subpoena -- good luck to you. We'll have more reaction to that later in the program.
First, joining us now with a lot more reaction, our top story, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan. FOX News investigative reporter Sara Carter is with us.
Congressman, begin with you. You were there for the circus yesterday.
REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OH: Yes.
HANNITY: You got a guy that we know lied 19 times, obstructed justice, felon and every Republican president is worse than Watergate.
JORDAN: Yes, no -- Sean, here's the fundamental -- the fundamental issue is this. The president was falsely accused of this collusion narrative, falsely accused. Do you investigate the false accusation or do you investigate something Bob Mueller has already spent 22 months on and came back and said there was no collusion and did not indict on obstruction of justice?
So, the Democrats, they're going to do the latter. They're going to focus on continuing to do what Mueller has already done. They're going to continue to do this.
And think about these three key facts. They've got memorandums of understanding between the respective chairman on how they're going to go after the president. They first bring in Michael Cohen who sits in prison for lying to Congress. That was their first start witness.
And their second star witness, as you point out, John Dean, who plead guilty to obstruction of justice and, of course, he came in yesterday to supposedly give us information on obstruction of justice.
So this is just what they're going to do. And it's wrong. And the American people understand it.
HANNITY: OK. The FBI investigation, the House Intel investigation, bipartisan Senate investigation, Mueller report, four conclusions. They want a fifth investigation.
JORDAN: Exactly right.
HANNITY: And you know what? You don't get another do-over. I think the president and his team are right. They will have no part of it and will fight every aspect it.
Sara, your quick reaction -- I know it's just breaking -- to Tom Fitton's Judicial Watch. And you had a column out today about Barr advices Trump to invoke executive privileges as Cummings plans a contempt vote. Explain.
SARA CARTER, CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, first with Tom Fitton's information that he talked about regarding State Department officials and the genesis of this origination of this investigation into President Trump. I truly believe, I truly believe, and I've been speaking to sources all day today, Sean, one in fact is a State Department official, somebody that was there during the Obama administration that said to me, the genesis of this investigation will begin and end with members of the State Department. That's how serious this is.
And that is why as we look at this investigation, and I'm sure John Durham, as well as Attorney General William Barr are looking at, it's not just going to be about what happened with the FBI. It's going to be about who was involved also at State, at DOJ as far as John Brennan, Clapper and all of those other who are concerned.
HANNITY: A question to both of you. Do you both believe at this point that, in fact, in an attempt to circumvent American law, American constitutional rights, civil liberties of Americans, do you believe that there was the outsourcing of intelligence gathering by top intelligence officials in this country to allied countries like Italy, Britain and Australia? And if true, what does that mean?
Sara, you're shaking your head. We'll begin with you.
CARTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. And a part of this investigation should be requesting from our allies overseas exactly what was asked of them, because think about this, Sean. What they could have asked was, could you please monitor this person? Because we believe these Russians or these people are connected to something that is going on in the United States with the election.
I believe that some of our allies had no idea in the beginning what they were actually doing. I believe some of those allies were very upset about the fact that they found out that they were part of -- they were coerced into basically gathering intelligence on a presidential campaign. And I believe those allies based on people I have spoken to will come clean and tell the DOJ exactly what happened.
HANNITY: Jim Jordan, are you -- go ahead.
JORDAN: Understand this fundamental fact. The FBI was on notice prior to October 21st, 2016, prior to going to the FISA court. They were on notice from both the Department of Justice and the State Department about Christopher Steele. The key player in this, the guy who put together the dossier who was paid for by the Clintons. They were noticed of all kinds of problems.
But when they went to the court, they didn't tell the court the Clinton campaign paid for the document. They didn't tell the court that Christopher Steele was biased, so much so that he communicated directly to the FBI -- to the DOJ, that he was desperate to stop Trump, and they didn't tell the court that he had been terminated with the FBI --
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HANNITY: OK, here's my question.
JORDAN: -- leaking information.
HANNITY: Does it go further?
JORDAN: It may. That's what we have to know --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: How do you interpret, Jim Jordan -- how do you interpret this letter and what is being said by the deputy attorney general? When they're talking about other intelligence people, who are they talking about?
JORDAN: I think they're talking about this Azra Turk, this lady who was put next to George Papadopoulos pretending to be somebody else. So, they got to be talking about that. I think they're looking at Mifsud, this guy whose name comes up all the time.
HANNITY: Do you think they've outsourced intelligence gathering?
JORDAN: I do not know but I think Bill Barr and John Durham and the folks at the Justice Department are asking the right questions. That's what you have to do in the investigation, ask the right questions, get the facts, get the information and each and every day, we learn more.
HANNITY: I ask all the time. You think I'm over the target?
JORDAN: I do, I do.
CARTER: You're over the target.
JORDAN: I certainly do.
HANNITY: That's all I want to know. I want to know if I'm over the target.
All right. Thank you all for being with us.
We'll get Senator Lindsey Graham's thoughts coming up next.
Later, you're not going to believe this. NBC has announced who will be hosting, who will be moderating the Democratic debate. And hint -- they picked the chief Roswell, New Mexico conspiracy theorist in the country. I'll explain, straight ahead.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: America must never again be hell hostage to foreign suppliers of energy as we were under the Obama- Biden -- sleepy Joe -- group. Sleepy Joe.
He was someplace in Iowa today. He said my name so many times, people couldn't stand it anymore. No, don't keep saying it. Sleepy guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I'm just telling you, Joe Biden is not going to handle what is coming his way.
Anyway, the president in Iowa today going after Joe Biden's record which is atrocious along with Barack Obama.
Here with reaction to all this and more, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman -- you know, he just cracks me up -- Lindsey Graham is with us.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: I would take No Doze.
HANNITY: Joe Biden is not ready for this fight.
GRAHAM: Yes, going to be fun.
HANNITY: Let me ask you what we talked about in the last segment, and that is the deputy attorney general's letter yesterday. The new developments by Judicial Watch tonight, the seriousness of which this has taken over here.
GRAHAM: Right. So Horowitz will be coming out soon, I hope, with his internal review of the FISA warrant application, whether or not the court was defrauded by the Department of Justice and the FBI. Durham is going to look at all things criminal. He's on the case.
The collusion narrative has died with the Mueller report. The corruption narrative is growing by every day when you find more e-mails like you had tonight.
HANNITY: I often refer to your questioning of the attorney general about Mueller, about the investigation into Hillary, about FISA abuse, the origins -- he gave you all the answers. Now it appears he's implementing what seems to be an exhaustive top to bottom investigation into all things serious.
Do you believe when he talks about intelligence, the deputy attorney general in that letter that he is referring to the possibility of outsourced intelligence gathering to circumvent American law?
GRAHAM: Maybe so. Maybe getting foreign governments to do things that we can do, which every American should be concerned about.
Every American should be concerned about whether or not the FISA court, which is a secret court, was lied to about the source of information to use to gather a warrant. Every American should be worried whether or not our government tried to get a foreign government to do things that we're prohibited doing by law. So, yes, I think he's very much on the case.
HANNITY: Senate, based on what we know now, closed door testimony of Bruce Ohr, August 2016, he warned everybody, Christopher Steele's motives. It's not verified. Hillary paid for it.
Then the State Department meeting, the one Kathleen Kavalec --
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: -- two weeks before the first FISA application. Staunch warning: Don't trust this guy. He's has a political agenda. Comey signed the first FISA application.
Now, we now know it's an unverifiable document and not even its own author stands by it.
How is that not a premeditated fraud on the FISA court, not just to take away the civil liberties of Carter Page but a back door into the Trump campaign presidency?
GRAHAM: I can only imagine if the names were changed and this was about Republicans doing what you just described to a Democrat, it would be front page news all over the world. And the only place you can find it is pretty much on your show and a few other shows. So, I don't know how we get around the fact that Comey tells the President in January 2017, "Here's the dossier."
HANNITY: Unverified.
GRAHAM: Unverified. And that same document was the reason a warrant was issued four times and under oath, Comey tells the FISA court, it is reliable enough to get a warrant. So I don't know how you square that circle, but that's why we have Horowitz and that's what my Committee will be looking at.
HANNITY: Senator, you said - is there not, at this point, incontrovertible evidence that it was - if it's unverifiable--
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: --and it is the bulk of the dossier--
GRAHAM: To this day.
HANNITY: What is in a Grassley/Graham memo--
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: --and it is the bulk of information that that is a premeditated fraud against the court, how is it anything else? Give me any possible theory.
GRAHAM: All I can tell you for sure is that we know that Steele went to the State Department, trying to get the State Department to release the dossier before the election because they wanted Trump to lose, and the State Department told the FBI about this encounter ten days before they sought a warrant. We know in August, as you said before, Ohr tells the state of the FBI and DOJ, you got to watch Steele, he's out to get Trump. I don't know how you explain all this stuff other than it's just a fraud on the court, a political agenda by Steele.
HANNITY: Well, Senator, what if I did this? What would happen to me?
GRAHAM: You wouldn't have a show.
HANNITY: Would I not have a show? Would I be living in a different place?
GRAHAM: I would not be playing golf with you anytime soon.
HANNITY: Ever again.
GRAHAM: Ever again.
HANNITY: By the way, now my back is better, not when I wanted it to be good.
GRAHAM: Good. We'll do it again.
HANNITY: All right. Let me ask you on your end, because now we have Durham, we have got Horowitz.
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: We've got John Hoover.
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: We got the Attorney General.
GRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: Durham and we also have your Committee, which will be leading in all of these investigations. How deep and how far will you go back? Because to me, if we have equal justice and application of our laws, it has to be in the beginning.
GRAHAM: Well, you got to find out how the Clinton investigation began and how it ended was a political (ph) result.
HANNITY: You think it was rigged?
GRAHAM: Well, I think it's pretty clear to me that if you want her to win, you can't indict here. The main reason she wasn't charged with a crime is because people investigating her wanted Trump to lose and her to win. Yes, that's what I think.
HANNITY: 100 million to zero, isn't that true?
GRAHAM: Yes. That's a lot.
HANNITY: And aren't the people that were voting for Donald Trump smelly Walmart shoppers, like me?
GRAHAM: These are the - but the same people did the Clinton e-mail investigation did the counter intelligence investigation, got the warrant. They're all the same people.
HANNITY: Amazing. We're going to be watching closely and you have made a commitment and we appreciate your diligence in keeping up on this. All right, this is one for the ages. You have the number-one Roswell, New Mexico NBC Chief Conspiracy Theorist is now going to moderate a Democratic Presidential debate. I'll explain in a mini monologue.
And later, Hollywood leftist Alec Baldwin picking a fight with Mike Huckabee. Wait till you see the details, and I'm going to play my favorite all-time Alec Baldwin tape straight ahead.
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HANNITY: All right, Fox Nation the perfect companion to the Fox News Channel, it just got even better with five new shows from some of your favorite Fox personalities including me, Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade and much, much more, celebrating what makes America great every single day and you can binge them all for free today. Just enter the promo code BINGE at foxnation.com. You get your first two weeks of Fox Nation absolutely free. Fox Nation, opinion done right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's my brother from another mother, John Rich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real life, you absorb it and then it comes out to your hand on to that piece of paper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dreamed of a dream that was more real in front of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you telling me because of the class size, they couldn't educate these kids?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think both sides are at fault.
UNIDENIFIED FEMALE: Best advice in town right here, maybe in the world. I think you would make an excellent dictator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would rule with an iron fist.
UNIDENFIED FEMALE: We may be a lot of things but we're Americans first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HANNITY: All right. So now, as we have long reported here on this program, journalism is dead, it is buried. I said it in 2007. From the Russia hoax unraveling, ignoring the biggest abuse of power scandal in modern political history, the constant 24/7 every second, minute, hour, every day, the anti- Trump smear media mob. Well, it's nothing - they're nothing more than an extension of the new radical extreme Democratic socialist party. They're literally one team repeating the same talking points, living in the same echo chamber.
And tonight, it's on display more than ever. I couldn't believe reading it but it's true. NBC has now released its moderator line-up for the upcoming Democratic debate later this month. And it literally includes the Chief Conspiracy Theorist, yes, Roswell Rachel Maddow along with Chuck Todd, Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, Jose Diaz-Balart.
Didn't we tell you this will happen? That the media would refuse to hold any of their fake news fanatics accountable? Tin foil hat Maddow, the single biggest liar conspiracy theorist in the country. The person, the one person that pushed the Russia gate lies night after night after night after night for over two years. Here's a small sampling reminder.
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ROSWELL RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: We're about to find out if the new President of our country is going to do what Russia wants once he's commander-in-chief of the U.S. military. We haven't ever had to reckon with the possibility that somebody has ascended to the presidency of the United States to serve the interests of another country rather than our own.
What is the corrective to that? How do you remedy that? These are no longer hypothetical questions. This is where we are. The presidency is effectively a Russia op. It is like negative 50 degrees in the Dakotas right now. What would happen if Russia killed the power in Fargo today?
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HANNITY: Okay. So NBC is rewarding that fake news by giving more air time and putting her in a position of being a moderator? You have to wonder, if you work at fake news NBC and maybe you consider yourself a real reporter, I wonder how those people are feeling tonight? How do the real reporters feel, if there's any left, being passed over for the job by Roswell Maddow, the conspiracy theorist. Of course, the media dilution doesn't stop there because according to CNN's little Jimmy Acosta, the press is as fair as ever.
Saying in a new interview, "I have never witnessed a concerted effort by any news organization to take a stand one way or the other on a political issue to damage one particular party or help another." Okay. I don't know what world he's living in. How can one person be that out of touch? I think he actually believes his own bull thing.
Literally within hours of the interview being published, this banner appeared on fake news CNN. It reads "Breaking news: Biden to eviscerate Trump in Iowa." That sounds like taking a position, Jimmy. And along with the rest of your networks' never-ending attacks on the President like launching a political witch hunt like we've never seen in American politics, reporting lie after lie after lie with breathless hysteria and glee every night, smearing Justice Kavanaugh, attacking the Covington kids, to worshipping at the altar of the great Michael Avenatti, letting him spew one false accusation after another.
The media's reckless bias is more palpable than ever, leading to an all-out credibility crisis and an outright ratings collapse of both of these fake news networks because we, the American people, we see you fake news fraudsters for who you are. Nothing but political activists, dying to take down Trump in 2020.
Here's with reaction America First Senior Advisor Sean Spicer; co-host of The Five, and he has five different shows, Watters' World, Jesse Watters is with us. Sean Spicer, I'm looking at this and I'm thinking, it just fits perfectly. Here's what we're going to do. We'll have a debate moderated by me, The Great One, Rush Limbaugh, Jesse can join us--
JESSE WATTERS, HOST: Thank you.
HANNITY: And Laura and Tucker. How is that?
SEAN SPICER, AMERICA FIRST ACTION SENIOR ADVISOR: You know my position on that. I was in favor of it, last cycle. I'd be in favor of it going forward. But here's what the thing, I'm going to shock you on this. I'm excited that Rachel Maddow is going to be on that stage. One, because it exposes NBC who has always been clear that there's a bifurcation between news and opinion.
That argument goes out the door now. Because these debates that are supposed to be news oriented are clearly now a blend of both, which is fine. But it undermines the entire argument. The second thing is Rachel Maddow is so extreme that she's going to get up there on stage and each one of those candidates is going to have to pay homage to her. And in doing so, it's going to drag them further, further to the left and expose a degree of socialism that they're going to advocate for, which puts President Trump in a much better position.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Yes, go ahead.
SPICER: I just think that this benefits because the American people, this time around, are going to have a very clear choice. The accomplishments of this President over the last four years or what the Democrats are offering. And having Rachel Maddow up there question them, dragging them further and further to the extreme left, and showing the clear choice that this election is about is exactly what I want to see.
HANNITY: Yes, sure, left of mouth (ph) by public admission. Jesse?
WATTERS: Well, I think NBC has to rehab Rachel because she shattered her credibility, her profitability and all of her ratings. Because right now, not even New York Times reporters are allowed to go on her show because she so fringed and she lied to her audience for two years. So, NBC has to realign her brand with the news division to resuscitate her because, right now, she's losing money for them in prime time, and they have so much invested in Rachel, they can't afford another catastrophe.
HANNITY: But if you are reporter--
WATTERS: They're being sued by Covington. Listen, no, Sean, NBC News--
HANNITY: What are you thinking--
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: --a big problem here. They're being sued by Covington boys for about $250 million. They spiked the Weinstein expose. They gambled and lost on Megyn Kelly. They lost Laver (ph). Brian Williams flamed out at 6:30. They can't afford another loss-
HANNITY: Sure, I forgot about Laver (ph) and Brian.
WATTERS: --or problem with their biggest star.
HANNITY: And floating bodies where there's no water, Katrina.
WATTERS: Right.
HANNITY: Easily. I just - you could see it in the Pew Poll. Last word Sean Spicer?
SPICER: I agree. You see 90% plus in poll after poll showing that this President faces enormous headwinds with a media that's against him from day one. I think this is going to continue to expose the clear choice that this President and a Democrat will give us next election cycle.
HANNITY: All right, thank you both for being with us, great observations. When we come back, Hollywood Trump-hater Alec Baldwin is at it again. And my favorite Alec Baldwin tape of all time, matter of fact it is one of the greatest radio moments in history, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right. Alec Baldwin up late in a Twitter freak out last night, naturally unleashing an unhinged rant directed at people with who he disagrees with in politics, this time targeting former Governor Mike Huckabee and his daughter Sarah Sanders, writing "Who knows what the future holds. Well, I'll tell you what it should hold that you who have sucked a government paycheck out of the economy while you were a dreadful Lieutenant Governor and Governor and that daughter of yours, a mouthpiece for fascism that you go away, just go away."
Alec seems to be grasping for relevance as his acting career goes the way of his radio career. My favorite tape of all time. This might even beat out Rush, Howard Stern for the best tape in all of radio. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: When can we take some calls, Ivan (ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whenever we want.
BALDWIN: Do we have calls that are on there now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No calls yet. No calls yet.
BALDWIN: No calls yet. What number do people call to get on the air? I mean do we have that number?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's right there.
BALDWIN: Do I have the call number in front of me? I'm so sorry. That's interesting. We have any calls yet there, Ivan (ph)?
No calls. Let's read some more best scientology (ph).
Is Sean Hannity a scientologist? Alec Baldwin posing the big questions tonight here. Do we have any calls here yet, Ivan (ph)?
None. Boy, it's just incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: He didn't get a call the whole show, and he had to call his mother. Then there was the night me and The Great One, we called in when he was auditioning, and he walked out of his own audition and quit. Anyway, fellow comedian Bill Maher was on fake news CNN last night blasting far left political - maybe Alec should take a hint. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM MAHER, COMEDIAN: A lot of this far left political correctness is a cancer on progressivism. I think when you talk to Trump supporters, they're not blind to his myriad flaws. But one thing they always say is, he's not politically correct. I don't think you can overestimate how much people have been choking on political correctness and hate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Choking on political correctness and hate it. Fox News Contributor Dan Bongino, also joining us Lisa Boothe. Dan, he stumbled on to a couple of truths last night. It's interesting. Back in his ABC politically incorrect days, it was conservatives like me and Rush who hate him, but defended him.
DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
HANNITY: And liberals are nowhere to be found when it really comes to freedom of speech and he admitted, yes, Hillary did obstruct justice. Kind of rare for a liberal.
BONGINO: Yes. Maher is an interesting guy when it comes to free speech. He's against boycotts, which I know you are as well.
HANNITY: Dead set against him.
BONGINO: Obviously you guys are completely - yes, dead set against him. And he's been consistent. You guys share almost nothing in common ideologically but you can agree on that. But, Sean, he's right about this political correctness and the culture. The best analogy is it is like a - political correctness is like a guided missile. It hones in on a target, typically conservatives, but it can change course mid-flight, meaning they change the rules on you mid-flight.
And we see this with the language. Where they change the rules mid-flight and they say, "You can't use he and she pronouns anymore." And everybody is looking at each other like, "What? We can't? We've always used he and she pronouns for hundreds of years, thousands of years. What are you talking about? It's just crazy." And it's eventually catching up with them.
HANNITY: I sometimes listen to Howard Stern on Sirius. I don't even want to call it pinching (ph) to it, because he's like the one guy that just says it all and gets away with it. Anybody else cannot get away with it because, especially conservatives, they're taping every second, every minute, every hour so they can catch you. Play got you and get you (ph) can't.
LISA BOOTHE, CONTRIBUTOR AND SENIOR FELLOW FOR INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S VOICE: But I think it's part of the reason why people liked President Trump. Because he said what was on his mind and it also let Americans believe that he was authentic. Especially in comparison to Hillary Clinton who is afraid of her own shadow, who changed her opinion, basically just put her finger to the winds and changed her opinion based on what she thought the Democratic Party wanted. But Bill Maher is spot on. Political correctness is not just a cancer for the left, it is a cancer for the country. And it has gotten so bad as a society that we can't say things that are objectively true. For instance -
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Lisa, I don't like Bill Maher, so I don't have to watch him. Nobody has to watch anything or listen to anything they don't want to watch or listen to. That's called freedom. How about you use your freedom?
BOOTHE: But, Sean, here's the problem. We've gotten so bad as a country with political correctness. As I mentioned, we can't say things that are objectively true. For instance, that a biological man is going to have a competitive advantage competing against women in sports.
For instance, look at Dan Bongino. Do you think that - Dan has going to have a competitive advantage over someone like me if we were in a track race together or playing any other sort of sports, and it is idiotic to say anything otherwise. But we as a society are conditioned to somehow believe that is stating the objective truth is offensive, it's insane. It's a distortion of the truth and it's unhealthy for the country.
HANNITY: Dan, last word? You've been through this yourself.
BONGINO: Oh my gosh, repeatedly, and it gets old. But Maher had another good point, Sean. To stop this you need one person with enough clout, a Donald Trump type, in this social media era with his media presence to just say, "Listen, I don't give a damn about your new rules. That's dump, it sounds stupid and I'm not going to do it." And all of a sudden, everybody realizes the emperor has no clothes on. I don't like - "hey look, the emperor has no clothes." It's simple as that. And Maher is right, he nailed that Trump is that guy. He just doesn't care what they think.
HANNITY: And you know what? That's what people love him. A disrupter, an iconic class and his policies work. Enough said. Good luck crazy Uncle Joe. When we come back, our Villain of the Day actually compared pro-life beliefs to racism. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right. Presidential Candidate Senator Kirsten Gillibrand explained her title as tonight's villain of the day, now, for insulting all pro-life people by comparing them to the worst of society. Unbelievable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KRISTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think there's some issues that have such moral clarity that we have as a society decided that the other side is not acceptable. Imagine saying that it's okay to appoint a judge who is racist or anti-Semitic or homophobic. And all these efforts by President Trump and other ultra-radical conservative judges and justices to impose their faith on Americans is contrary to our constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Okay. I'll just let that speak for itself. All right. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left this evening. Remember, we will never be the rage-destroy-Trump-media-mob but let not your heart be troubled. Laura Ingraham, who made fun of me last night, is next.
Hi, Laura.
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