This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," October 30, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I’m Chris Wallace.
With just over a week until Election Day, a campaign bombshell. The FBI reopens its investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e-mails.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately.
WALLACE: The Republican vice presidential nominee, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, responds to the stunning announcement.
GOV. MIKE PENCE, R-IND., VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We commend the FBI for having the courage to reopen this case, because no one is above the law.
WALLACE: We'll talk with Pence live, and we'll ask the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, why the FBI is re-examining what Clinton did four months after saying the case was closed.
Then, Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook responds.
Plus, we'll ask our Sunday panel how the FBI's announcement reshapes the presidential race.
All, right now, on "Fox News Sunday."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.
The presidential campaign has taken a dramatic turn with the FBI announcement it's reviewing new evidence in the Clinton private e-mail case. That was triggered by a separate investigation into sexting by former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Both the Trump and Clinton camps are calling on the FBI to release the details.
We're going to spend the full hour drilling into the effect all this may have on the race. We'll speak with Donald Trump's running mate, Governor Mike Pence, Clinton campaign manager, Robby Mook, and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes.
But, first, we want to get the latest from the FBI investigation from chief intelligence correspondent, Catherine Herridge -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Chris, a law enforcement source tells FOX News that thousands of records are involved. The New York FBI team assessed them as relevant, telling their colleagues on the Clinton e-mail case, quote, "We think we've come across some documents pertinent to your investigation."
Clinton wants the evidence public, which is not standard in ongoing cases.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLINTON: Voters deserve to get full and complete facts. And so, we've called on Director Comey to explain everything right away, put it all out on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: A source close to the FBI probe could not recall issuing a subpoena for Abedin's records, adding they did not believe the device shared by Abedin and Weiner was searched by agents. Abedin told the FBI in April that she sent State Department e-mails, including this one from Clinton, to her personal Yahoo account, where it was easier to print. In June, Abedin swore under oath in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that she looked through all her devices that could old government e-mail.
On Thursday, FBI Director James Comey was briefed on the findings. And that same day, he decided to reinitiate the e-mail case and notify Congress. The director's decision is described to FOX News as driven by the sheer volume of records and the commitment he made under oath.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAMAR SMITH, R-TEXAS CONGRESSMAN: Would you reopen the Clinton investigation if you discovered new information that was both relevant and substantial?
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: It's hard for me to answer in the abstract. We would certainly look at any new and substantial information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: In his memo to employees, Comey said they don't know if the e-mails are significant. The former FBI agent said anything suggesting intent, lying to investigators, obstruction of justice, or sharing classified information with a foreign entity would warrant such a move.
The director notified the attorney general of his decision, which the Justice Department did not support and there's no expectation that a review can be complete before Election Day, Chris.
WALLACE: Catherine, thank you.
Joining me now live here in studio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Governor, welcome back to "Fox News Sunday."
PENCE: Thank you, Chris.
WALLACE: What is your reaction to the FBI reopening the Clinton case?
PENCE: Well, we commend the director of the FBI and the FBI for following through on their word before the Congress, that if there was new information, pertinent information, sufficient to reopen this investigation, that they would inform Congress of that fact and they would move forward.
Look, this is a clearly very serious matter, and we respect the institution of the FBI and are confident they'll handle this in a professional and timely way.
WALLACE: But FBI officials note that they are just starting to look at these e-mails. They don't know whether any of them are classified. They don't even know whether they may be duplicates of e-mails that they've already seen in the investigation. So, shouldn't you and Mr. Trump be cautious in talking about how significant this is?
PENCE: Well, I think we have been cautious. But the simple fact is that the decision by the FBI this summer was incomprehensible to millions of Americans. The director of the FBI literally called a press conference in which he chronicled one violation of the law after the other and then announced that he was not going to pursue charges or recommend charges against Hillary Clinton in this case. And two days later, he literally undercut that decision by going before the Congress and saying in so many ways that Hillary Clinton had misrepresented the facts.
You remember that famous dialogue between Trey Gowdy and the director of the FBI, where he said that Hillary Clinton said that nothing marked classified was on her e-mails, was that true? The director said it was not true. She had never sent classified e-mails -- that was not true.
So I think what we already know here is troubling to the American people, and it's convincing millions of Americans that Hillary Clinton is just a risky choice in this election. I think that's why --
WALLACE: But let me --
PENCE: -- since Friday, you see more momentum, but frankly, there was enormous momentum in our campaign before Friday because the American people are focusing on the choice.
WALLACE: You say she's a risky choice. How does this alter the campaign's message in what is just now nine days? How do you use this to raise new questions and change voters' minds?
PENCE: I don't think it alters the campaign at all. We had tremendous momentum in this campaign before this announcement came.
WALLACE: I’m talking about the message.
PENCE: Well, the message is very, very simple. That the American people have been troubled about the fact that Hillary Clinton continues to refuse to turn over some 33,000 e-mails.
But beyond that, it's Hillary Clinton's record as secretary of state that weakened America's place in the world. It's her desire to continue the failed economic policies of this administration that have literally stifled the American economy.
The news on Monday that Obamacare premiums are about to go up 25 percent next year all across the country on average is deeply troubling to the American people. And Hillary Clinton's commitment, as she said to you in that presidential debate, to have people on the Supreme Court that represent a particular view point as opposed to people on the court who will strictly construe and uphold the Constitution, that's our message. That's why people are rallying around Donald Trump.
WALLACE: But --
PENCE: I think it’s why you see the polls closing so dramatically.
WALLACE: I want to get back to this question of the FBI announcement, because the fact is, as you try to press your case in these final nine days, your campaign has a big money problem. I want to put it up on the screen. As of October 20th, the last filing day, the Clinton campaign had $62 million cash on hand. The Trump campaign had just $16 million with Trump donating only $31,000 in the first half of the month.
Now, Trump announced Friday that he's kicking in another $10 million. But you're still way behind and Trump is way short -- a third short of $100 million that he had committed -- promised he was going to commit to the campaign. The question, has he told you that he's going to put a lot more money in this campaign in this last week now that you have this new revelation?
PENCE: Well, I think -- I mean, I’m grateful for the extraordinary generosity that Donald Trump and his family have continued to show to this campaign. And --
WALLACE: But has he told you he's going to put more money in?
PENCE: He's made it clear we'll have the resources we need to drive our message. But, look, I mean, from the outset of this campaign, Hillary Clinton has had most of the media, the money, and the special interests on her side. But Donald Trump has made a connection with millions of Americans because he's talking about making America stronger, making America more prosperous, and the remarkable thing is against this avalanche of paid advertising in states around the country, you still see tremendous momentum in this campaign. And it's really important to say, Chris, before Friday's announcement literally you saw tremendous momentum as people are coming to the polls.
WALLACE: But here’s the problem --
PENCE: We're seeing absentee ballots in key states.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Governor, here's the problem. One of the key concerns a lot of voters have about Donald Trump is his temperament. I just want to show how Trump, how dramatically he changed his mind about the FBI and Comey in just a few hours on Friday. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The FBI rolled over, and the Department of Justice rolled over.
I have great respect for the FBI for righting this wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: For weeks, Trump has been saying that the election is rigged. Now in the course of a couple hours on Friday, he says, well, maybe it's not as rigged as I thought it was. Is that presidential?
PENCE: Well, I think what you see here is an example of real leadership. I mean, Donald Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Wait, how is that leadership to say -- I mean, in other words, the argument -- sir, the argument that you could make is Comey, whether you liked it or not, made a good-faith decision last July. He made a good-faith decision on Friday. And neither of those show it's rigged. But Trump was ascribing the worst possible motives to it.
PENCE: That's because we thought the investigation should never have been closed, Chris.
And Donald Trump -- the reason why he's appealed and people all across this country, the reason why you see the momentum in this campaign is because people find in Donald Trump someone that just speaks his mind, straight -- you know, tells people exactly where he stands. And it was just incomprehensible this summer when the director of the FBI came out and he literally indicted Hillary Clinton in the press and then said we're not recommending that she be indicted.
When anyone in the service -- I mean, you've got General Cartwright and others, people who have done a fraction of the number of things that Hillary Clinton has done in the mishandling of classified information have been prosecuted, and frankly as I said in my vice presidential debate, if my son or Tim Kaine's son had mishandled classified information the way that Hillary Clinton had and the FBI said she had, they would have at least been court-martialed.
It was incomprehensible. Donald Trump continued to make that case. But now with new information, I think we all want to recognize that the FBI is stepping forward at this moment and has demonstrated real integrity to keep their word to Republicans and Democrats in the Congress and say we have found what's being described now as a volume of information, new information, and that we have reopened the investigation.
And it's important they told the Congress that before this election. We're confident they'll work through that in a professional, timely way, but --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Let me ask you, though, you said, Governor, that Trump and one of his strengths, you say, is that he speaks his mind. You've got a lot of ammunition going into this final week. You've got this new investigation by the FBI or at least its review of the e-mails. You've got the WikiLeaks and the revelations about the Clinton Foundation. You've got the Obamacare premium spike that you've just mentioned.
But Trump gets so easily sidetracked. In the same week, he was threatening -- sir, he was threatening to sue NBC for releasing the "Access Hollywood" tape. He was threatening to sue the women who had accused him.
What do you say to voters who may worry that Hillary Clinton is corrupt but worry whether or not Donald Trump is competent?
PENCE: Well, I think -- I think people look at the totality of this campaign, they look at the agenda we're running on. They look at the totality of a career of a man who has built an extraordinary business. And they know they're looking at a leader in Donald Trump.
And Donald Trump has an agenda. Our contract with the American voter, people can go online and read it. In the first hundred days, after we not only elect the Trump/Pence team but re-elect Republican majorities in the Congress, we're going to turn this country around. We're going rebuild our military. We're going to revive our economy through tax relief, repealing Obamacare, better and smarter and tougher trade deals, and we're going to appoint members to the Supreme Court who will strictly construe the Constitution in the tradition of the late and great Justice Antonin Scalia.
WALLACE: Governor --
PENCE: That along with the backdrop of all the politics of personal enrichment that has been at the very center of 30 years of the Clintons in public life the American people want to see come to an end.
WALLACE: Governor, as I said in the debate, your time is up. But thank you very much.
Governor, thank you. Especially thank you for coming here to Washington to visit with us.
PENCE: You bet.
WALLACE: Now, we want top turn to the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Devin Nunes of California.
Mr. Chairman, the Clinton campaign is suggesting that the e-mails that the FBI has found may just be duplicates of ones that they've already seen. I want to play for you an exchange that Director Comey had in a congressional hearing last month when some Republicans were complaining about the fact that he had closed the case and there were a bunch of new developments.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM SENSENBRENNER, R-WISCONSIN CONGRESSMAN: Would this not require a reopening of the investigation to solve those issues?
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I haven't seen anything that would come near to that kind of situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Chairman, do you think it's likely that Director Comey reopened this investigation with just 11 days to go before the election with no idea what's in the e-mails and whether or not this is a substantial development or not?
REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALI., CHAIR, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: To me, Chris, this has to be a substantial development. I just don't see Director Comey opening this case back up 11 days before the election unless it is quite serious.
Now, look, we don’t -- there's a lot of different scenarios here that are possible. Is it possible that maybe some of these e-mails are part of the 33,000 that are missing? Is it possible there are communications between Huma Abedin and her husband, the former congressman?
There are a lot of scenarios that are possible here, but I think after the several meetings that the Congress had with Director Comey, he was quite clear that the investigation was done and that he would only open it if there was significant information. My guess is, there must be something significant.
WALLACE: These e-mails were apparently on a laptop that was shared by Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner. As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, does it concern you that Anthony Weiner apparently had access to what may have been classified information?
NUNES: Well, it's the job of the House Intelligence Committee and part of the legislative branch to provide oversight over the executive branch to ensure first and foremost that classified information remains classified. And that's why, you know, I just can't believe that we've called on Director Clapper to investigate this, to possibly pool this more classified information given out, should Hillary Clinton's staff be given classified briefings at this point? I think it's a question that needs to be answered.
Now, look, at the end of the day, we don't want to speculate here, but it is our job to make sure this information remains classified.
WALLACE: You brought up the director of national intelligence, General Clapper. You have said more than that. You have said that you believe he should ensure, the director of national intelligence, that Hillary Clinton never gets access again to classified briefings and classified material. You're talking about the person who in just or a week could be our president-elect.
NUNES: That is right, because we are a separate branch of government. And I believe that the information that -- you know, it's just not believable that Secretary Clinton, with all of her experience, decades of experience, decades of receiving classified information, would not have known that she was looking at, analyzing, communicating in classified information over an unsecured network. It's not believable.
Now, if you go back to what Director Comey sad, he gave a pretty strong indictment back in July, but what he really said was, look, she should have known, she was reckless. He just didn't have enough information to indict her on this.
WALLACE: The word out of the FBI is that this investigation -- and I think from all of our sense of the kind of metabolism, if you will, of the FBI -- will not be concluded by Election Day. Would it be fair to say that if Clinton wins and if Republicans hold on to be the House, you continue to be the chair of House Intelligence, for instance, that there will be investigations, more investigations of the woman who could be our president-elect?
NUNES: Well, we will clearly investigate all of the information that we have as it relates to classified information being put on unclassified networks where Russians, Chinese, other bad actors could get ahold of the information. And look, I know --
WALLACE: Even if she's the president-elect, Chairman?
NUNES: Well, look, I know this is rhetoric, but this is Hillary Clinton's fault. This is Hillary Clinton who set up a private server. This is not House Republicans.
And on Friday, Friday night, Secretary Clinton holds a press conference in Iowa and basically she attacks Director Comey, which is ridiculous, and then she goes and during the Q&A portion, she says that a letter was sent -- some letter was sent by the director of the FBI to House Republicans.
Now, look, she knows better. She was a United States senator. She was a first lady. She was secretary of state.
She knows good and well that Republicans and Democrats, the chairman of House intelligence and the House and Senate and ranking members were all notified of this information. So, you know, just Friday night is another concern of mine. I mean, she knows the game. She knows what's going on here.
WALLACE: Chairman Nunes, we want to thank you. Thank you for your time today. Always good to talk with you, sir.
Up next, Hillary Clinton tells the FBI, get all the facts out. We'll talk with her campaign manager Robby Mook when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: A look outside the beltway in St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, where Hillary Clinton campaigned this week.
Joining me now from Clinton headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, to discuss Friday's shocker is Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook.
Robby, what's your reaction to FBI Director Comey's announcement, and why do you think he did it?
ROBBY MOOK, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Chris, thanks for having me.
You know, we were very surprised by this letter. And what we're asking at this point is Director Comey just get all the information out on the table, all of it, so that the American people can judge for themselves.
This issue was vetted through for months. Director Comey came to a conclusion. We believe the voters have already made up their minds on this issue. So, we find it very strange that ten days out, that he's putting this letter out there.
And we discovered last night from Yahoo News that he and the Justice Department may not have a warrant to look at these messages. So, we just want all the information out there.
WALLACE: Why do you think he did it?
MOOK: I don't know. And this is the problem, Chris, is that -- you know, this letter was put out there. We have no information whatsoever about what might be in those e-mails. And again, according to Yahoo News, it appears that he may not have seen any of these e-mails at all.
So, we think he has a responsibility to the American people to get the information out there so they can judge for themselves.
WALLACE: Well, you talked about the responsibility of the American people to get all the information out. There is someone who knows what's in all those e-mails and that is Huma Abedin. Has Secretary Clinton asked her what's in those e-mails?
MOOK: Well, Chris, the problem with what you're saying there is we don't know. We don't know where these e-mails are from. You're making an inference that it could have been Huma Abedin. Your guess is as good as anyone.
And this is why Director Comey needs to get all the information out there.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Well, I’m asking you a direct question. Has Secretary Clinton asked Huma Abedin what was on that laptop that she shared with her husband Anthony Weiner?
MOOK: She hasn't. You just offered a hypothetical on the table. Let me offer you some hypotheticals that I’ve read in the press. I’ve heard a hypothetical that these e-mails have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton whatsoever, that she didn't send or receive any of them.
WALLACE: That doesn't matter. It's still the question of what's in the e-mails. So, why wouldn't she asked Huma Abedin, did you have e-mails on the laptop and what's in them? Why wouldn't she ask her?
MOOK: Well, Chris, you and I are on the same page here. I want to know what's in these e-mails, too.
And Director Comey has put out a letter. It has three paragraphs. It says nothing about Huma Abedin. It says nothing about who these e-mails were to or from. He just says he has information that may be significant we don't even know if it is.
You showed some of his testimony to Congress just now where they asked, "If there's significant information, would you reopen the case?" and he said, "Yes, we will take a look at it." The problem is we learned from Yahoo News last night, we don't even think he's taken a look at any of this. We don't know if anybody has.
WALLACE: But again, there is at least -- there's credible reporting out there that this came from the laptop of Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin. Why on earth wouldn't Hillary Clinton say to her closest personal aide, was there any stuff on your laptop, and what was it?
MOOK: Chris, again, I appreciate your question because people want answers. There's nothing about Huma Abedin in the letter that was sent out.
WALLACE: I know, but why wouldn't Clinton ask her?
MOOK: Well, why wouldn't Clinton ask anybody? They could be e-mails from anybody in the world.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: There are no reports it's anybody else except Huma Abedin.
MOOK: Again, you're putting out some hypotheticals. There are other hypotheticals that have been put out there.
WALLACE: It's on t front page of every paper, including, I suspect, although I haven’t read it, Yahoo News.
MOOK: Well, again, I appreciate what you're asking because everybody wants to have the answer. And there's a person who can answer this question. And that's Director Comey.
He should -- he should put out more information, get everything on the table. Release the information itself. At least provide more detail about what he's talking about.
But ten days out from an election, he's come under intense criticism from former Justice Department officials who said this is entirely a breach of protocol. There's a standard that, you know, six weeks from an election, you don't put out insinuation like this. And all that's in that letter is innuendo.
WALLACE: OK, I want to --
MOOK: We have no details whatsoever.
WALLACE: Robby, I want to move on and ask you about Secretary Clinton's reaction. Here's part of what she said on Friday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: If they're going to be sending this kind of letter that is only going originally to Republican members of the House, that they need to share whatever facts they claim to have with the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Robby, why would she say something that is so flatly untrue? I have a copy here -- it's not very long. It's the letter that Comey sent to Congress. On the front page, it's got the eight Republican chairmen of the committees. If you turn it over, next, you’ve got the eight top Democrats on the committee.
Why would she say it was just sent to the Republicans when, in fact, it was sent to the Republicans and Democrats?
MOOK: You know, Chris, this has been really overhyped.
WALLACE: Well, she said it, I didn't.
MOOK: We were all surprised by this letter. She looked at the front page, and as you just said yourself, on the front page of that memo, it lists those Republican chairs. Were the Democrats CC’ed at the end? Absolutely.
She looked at the front page. She acknowledged, we all acknowledge this was sent to everybody. What we're concerned and disturbed by is that Director Comey sent a letter saying we have some information, I don't know if it's significant, I don't know if it isn't, he didn't say where it came from --
WALLACE: But, Robby --
MOOK: -- he didn’t say what it was about. He didn't even say whether these e-mails were sent or received by Hillary Clinton. And furthermore, another hypothetical that’s out there is that these are duplicates that have already been released. We need all the information, and Director Comey needs to get it out fast.
WALLACE: But, Robby, I want to make one more point about this letter. You say it's hype. Comey sent the letter about 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday. Your campaign chairman, John Podesta, put out a statement at 3:45 p.m. in which he made exactly the same charge that this letter had been sent just to the Republicans, not to the Democrats. Three hour and 15 minutes later, Hillary Clinton makes the same charge.
This was a talking point of your campaign and frankly was a dishonest talking point.
MOOK: Chris, if your question is whether Democratic leaders were CC’ed on that letter, the answer is absolutely yes. What's disturbing about this, again, is that a three-paragraph letter with no information whatsoever about what the FBI is talking about was sent to the individuals named on the letter.
It took Jason Chaffetz about, I don't know, 15 seconds to leak that out to the press. And now, all your interviews this morning have been full of hypotheticals and conjectures.
Director Comey owes it to the American people, releasing this just a matter of days before the election, to provide all the information. That’s what we’re asking. Just to get all of it out there and the voters can judge for themselves.
We think the voters actually want to hear about what these two candidates are going to do to make a difference in their lives, not more re-litigating of this e-mail.
WALLACE: Robby --
MOOK: And we recognize that the director was under tremendous pressure from Donald Trump and Republican leaders --
WALLACE: And now, he's under tremendous pressure from your side.
The last question I want to ask you is that you're acting as if it was the director who brought this into the election when the fact is that it was Hillary Clinton who brought this into the election.
I want to go back to the e-mail exchange on March 2nd, 2015, when The New York Times broke the story about Hillary Clinton using private e-mails. We're going to put it up on the screen.
Clinton adviser Neera Tanden, "Why didn't they get the stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy."
Campaign chairman John Podesta, "Unbelievable." Tanden, "I guess I know the answer, they wanted to get away with it."
Robby, it was Clinton who delayed and it was Clinton who brought this into the presidential campaign.
MOOK: And it is Secretary Clinton who has said this was a mistake. It is Secretary Clinton who cooperated fully with the investigation. And it was Secretary Clinton who accepted the outcome of that investigation. And what secretary Clinton is doing now is saying, if there's new information, get it out on the table. Let's get it out. These could be duplicates.
Again, it's been reported these e-mails may not have been sent or received by Secretary Clinton. We don't know anything. And this close to an election, this unprecedented announcement of new information, when – when, again, it's been reported by Yahoo! News that – that the FBI may have not even seen it. That – that – that Director Comey sent this unprecedented letter shortly before the election when he doesn't even know what the information is. That's disturbing. And we're just asking him, get everything out there that he knows.
WALLACE: Robby, thank you. Thanks for joining us today.
MOOK: Thanks.
WALLACE: Always good to talk with you.
MOOK: Yes, you as well. Thanks for the opportunity.
WALLACE: Up next, we'll bring in our Sunday group to discuss Director James Comey's stunning announcement.
Plus, what would you like to ask the panel about the FBI decision to reopen the Clinton e-mail investigation? Just go to Facebook or Twitter @foxnewssunday and we may use your question on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Coming up, a political stunner from the FBI just days before the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It might not be as rigged as I thought. What?
CLINTON: This new information may not be significant. So, let's get it out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: We'll ask our Sunday group about its impact, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY PELOSI, D-CALI., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: This is a great man. We are very privileged in our country to have him be director of the FBI.
TREY GOWDY, R-SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN: That is not the FBI that I used to work with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Well, that was then when House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy had sharp reactions to FBI Director Comey recommending no charges against Hillary Clinton. But this is now. And now it's Gowdy who is applauding Comey, while it's Pelosi who is expressing concerns.
And it's time for our Sunday group.
Syndicated columnist George Will. Charles Lane from The Washington Post. Gerald Seib, Washington bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal. And Washington Examiner contributor Lisa Boothe.
Well, George, what do you make of Comey's decision to reopen the investigation and to tell Congress about it, over the objection of the Justice Department?
GEORGE WILL, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Well, it's – it’s baffling that – the headline coast to coast is, FBI has new evidence. There's no evidence whatever yet that there is new evidence pertaining to the e-mail thing because this is a contentless October surprise at this point. What Mr. Comey said is the e-mails appear to be pertinent. Well, they can be pertinent without being significant because they can be redundant in demonstrating extreme recklessness. The category the FBI invented to avoid accusing her of gross negligence, which is a felony.
So we, perhaps, and we don't know this, perhaps the FBI has already seen these documents. They don't know whether they're duplicates or not. This – after the – Mr. Comey has said no reasonable prosecutor could have looked at what they've already looked at and proceeded with a case.
Now, the "i" in the acronym FBI says investigation. The duty of the FBI is to investigate and when it thinks it has concluded an investigation, to pass its conclusion on to the prosecutorial arm of the Department of Justice, not to write letters to the legislative branch of government. People say, well, this is happening 11 days before the election. No, no, 17 million votes have already been cast. It's happening in the middle of the voting.
And, finally, it is said that one of the reasons he rushed to do this, Mr. Comey, is he was afraid of a leak. The FBI can't be trusted not to leak its own investigations? As Chairman Grassley of the Senate Judiciary committee said with some understatement, that the country, at this point, immediately needs some context for all this.
WALLACE: Well, that – that raises the question, Gerry, about why Comey did this. As we saw in a couple of exchanges so far earlier in the show, he was being pressed by Republicans to reopen the investigation. And he’s – not – first of all, what he'd seen so far, nothing was of that nature. And I think he used – repeatedly used the word "substantial." It had to be something "substantial" to reopen the investigation. Can you imagine that he does what he does, in effect reopens the investigation, tells Congress about it, he can read the calendar, 11 days before the election, without any idea what's in here?
GERALD F. SEIB, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, that seems to be the case, though. I mean, you know, the – the assumption in this town right away was that he must have found something big or he wouldn't have done this. And then I think upon reflection, it's not clear the FBI has even seen these e-mails. There's a court order required to read the e-mails. There’s no allocation that has been delivered yet.
WALLACE: Well – well – but it – certainly the – the part of the FBI that was investigating the sexting scandal – and I can't believe that we're talking about this – they must have seen it because they seized the laptop. They've had it for about a month. And they – he said they came to him with something. So they must have known that there are e-mails here.
SEIB: But was the something the existence of the e-mails or the substance of the e-mails? That we don't know yet. But I think the – the point, and more – more directly to respond to your question, is that I think Director Comey had to be convinced that he was in an impossible situation. That if he didn't say something now and it became clear after the election that something new and potentially significant had arisen and he hadn't said anything, he would be excoriated for that. Instead, he's being excoriated for this. He's managed to accomplish bipartisanship in Washington. He’s gotten everybody mad at him.
WALLACE: We asked you for questions for the panel and a bunch of you are skeptical about the FBI announcement. We got this on Facebook from Carl Baker. "How can these new e-mails be more damning than those found in the previous investigation? As the FBI has already made it clear that she, "Clinton, " is untouchable, what’s the point of this new investigation?"
Lisa, how do you answer Carl?
LISA BOOTHE, WASHINGTON EXAMINER CONTRIBUTOR: I don't know. I mean I think we're all operating a lot of hypotheticals here because there isn’t a lot of information that is absolute that is out there. All we really know is the letter the FBI Director Comey sent to Congress, as well as the internal memo that he sent to his FBI colleagues, I mean that’s really all the information that we know definitively.
But, you know, watching the interview you did with Robby Mook, I mean, it's very interesting for the Clinton campaign to say that they want the information out there when Hillary Clinton had taken the unprecedented action of setting up a private server in the first place, deleting tens of thousands of e-mails and then stone walling the process and lying throughout it.
And if you look at the attorney general as well, who's being critical of the FBI and Comey's decision as well, the attorney general has no moral high ground to stand on either because she compromised herself in – in meeting with Bill Clinton and then had to defer to FBI Director Comey entirely throughout this entire thing. And so I think FBI Director Comey is, you know, between a rock and a hard place because what is he supposed to do? He either releases the information now, which is ultimately what he decided to do, or release – the release –
WALLACE: Well, he didn’t release the information.
BOOTHE: Or, rather, send the letter, or wait until after the – the election. And then how is that going to go? So, I mean, what – there really isn't a good decision for him to make here and it’s not like he has a lot of cover when attorney general essentially has laid this entire thing at his feet.
WALLACE: Chuck, there are two, I think it's fair to say, maybe there are more, but two leading theories inside the beltway right now. One is that Comey is involved in a cover your rear end operation because of all the heat he took when he announced last July that the case was closed, despite his political, not legal, but his political indictment of Clinton. And the other is that there must be something that somebody has read that he thinks is significant enough that he can't ignore it. Where do you come down?
CHARLES LANE, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, I think they could both be true, actually. And I think that I tend to sort of sympathize with the view that the FBI director was kind of, as – as Lisa put it, between a rock and a hard place. Either way he was going to be under a lot of heat. But I think what this speaks to is a broader breakdown in the ordinary institutional processes of our criminal justice system. You are not supposed to be discussing the ongoing investigations publicly. You know – that’s just rule one because that can lead to innuendo, smearing of innocent people. It's closely related to the presumption of innocence in our Constitution. And now things have gotten so screwed up that the target of the investigation, Hillary Clinton, is essentially begging to have the ongoing investigation take place in public.
This is related to the mistake Loretta Lynch made by – by visiting with the former president. She's now out of the game. So no one in the Justice Department can exercise control over the FBI director. They're saying, well, we told him in a meeting this wasn't a good idea. Why didn't they just say, we order you not to do it? I don't understand that. We have a complete breakdown. And that's something that ought to – if everybody in this country wasn't worried about whether their party was winning or not, that is what is really so disturbing about this whole thing.
WALLACE: All right, we have to take a break here, but when we come back, we'll turn to the political impact of all this, whether the FBI decision will reshape the race just nine days before the election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary has nobody to blame but herself for her mounting legal troubles. Her criminal action was willful, deliberate, intentional, and purposeful.
CLINTON: It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the campaign trail this weekend in the wake of the FBI announcement it's found new e-mails relevant to the Clinton investigation.
And we're back now with the panel.
And the news is breaking while we're on the air. Our colleague Bret Baier has just sent us an e-mail saying he has two sources who say that Anthony Weiner, who also had co-ownership of that laptop with his estranged wife Huma Abedin, is cooperating with the FBI investigation, had given them the laptop, so therefore they didn't need a warrant to get in to see the contents of said laptop. Pretty interesting development.
Let's talk about the politics of all this, because we actually have an election in nine days.
Gerry, there was, I think it's fair to say, a growing sense that Hillary Clinton was leading in this election and probably going to win it, but now that's called into question. I want to the put up a new ABC News/Washington Post poll that is out this morning. It shows that this is now a one-point race in a four-person contest. Clinton, 46 percent, Trump, 45 percent. And this was taken this weekend, post-FBI announcement.
Let's go to the impact on whether – about supporting for Hillary Clinton, 63 percent say no difference, but 34 percent, that’s one in three, say it makes them less likely to support Clinton, and there is a sizable Democratic component in that 34 percent. So the question, Gerry, is, does this sense that Hillary Clinton was sailing to victory here, does that go out the window now?
SEIB: Well, look, I think this race was destined to tighten anyway. They always do at the end. I mean you have undecided voters who are starting to drift toward Donald Trump a little bit anyway because if they hadn't decided at this point, they may have already decided not to vote for her. You have some Gary Johnson voters, the libertarian candidate, his support was shrinking. And those people look a lot more like Trump supporters than Clinton supporters. And – and you also have some Republicans coming home, which tends to happen late in the game anyway. So I think there was going to be some tightening. This probably increases the tightening.
But you also have to say on the other hand that a lot of the country is already locked in one way or the other and there may actually be a small silver lining for Hillary Clinton that a lot of her voters were getting a little apathetic, it’s all over, we won. They're probably more motivated now. So I think in the aggregate it's clearly not good for her. I think the extent that it impacts the race is hard to – it’s hard to predict at this point.
WALLACE: Lisa, I – the Clinton e-mail scandal has been going on for literally a year and a half now. And a lot of people, including myself, felt that it had already been priced into the polls. You – we – you – you knew how you felt about it, and that – and that was already reflected in who you were going to vote for. Does the opening – reopening of the FBI investigation change that?
BOOTHE: I do, because if you look at polling after FBI Director Comey had given his press conference, 56 percent of voters disapproved of Comey's decision to not recommend an indictment, but 60 percent of independents did as well, including 31 percent of Democrats. So I think there was this general sentiment that she kind of got away with something. But having the cover of having the FBI not recommend an indictment sort of shielded her and protected her from some of that criticism.
And now that door is reopened. And if I'm Donald Trump, I'm not going to get into the nuance to much of this because there's still a lot of lingering questions. All he has to say is the fact that we have a candidate for the first time in history facing an FBI investigation.
And also, he has been on the campaign trail driving this message of draining the swamp, of corruption in government, running as the outsider. And, you know, what better narrative do you need than this to make that point.
And, you know, to Gerry's point, I do think this helps Donald Trump, but it also helps on the down ballot races because now Senate Republicans running in tight races don't have to be on the defense. They get to go on the offense.
WALLACE: Let me pick up on what Gerry was saying, and Lisa. George, does this energize Trump supporters who may have been losing hope, as the polls seem to be going against them? What impact does it have on people who were going to hold their nose, unenthusiastically, and vote for Clinton because of that and now might just stay home? And to pick up on Lisa, what pact does it have on the Republicans trying to hold on to the Senate?
WILL: Well, it could well be that by slowing whatever momentum Mrs. Clinton had, it does help the down ballot Republicans. But it does strengthen the fundamental Trump narrative, which is burn it down, blow it up, I’m terrible but who could be worse than the people running Washington? It’s the Casey Stengel vote. Let me explain. 1962, the New York Mets are en route to losing a record 120 games. Their manager is Casey Stengel. One day he looks down at his bench and says, can't anyone here play this game? And I think people look at Washington and say, no one there can play the game. And so it strengthens in a sense the perverse Trump message, which is, I may be awful, but I’m – what could be worse than what we've got?
WALLACE: And – and – and why do you think it could have an impact on the Senate races?
WILL: Well, because some people can say, well, let's get – let’s go out and vote for people for whom we could have some enthusiasm. Maybe – maybe a Senate candidate we like, a gubernatorial candidate.
WALLACE: And I suppose it also adds to the argue, if Clinton is going to be the president, that they need a check on her.
LANE: Need a check in place, yes.
WALLACE: Chuck, is this a potential game changer in your mind? And, to get to this question, which I was talking about a little bit with – with Mike Pence, can Trump take advantage of it? Can he stay on script? Lisa said, you know, he's just got to make this point, keep it simple, you've got an FBI – you've got a presidential candidate who’s under FBI investigation. Can he stick to that?
LANE: In answer to that question I would say, if anybody in politics could blow this, it would be Donald Trump, because he has fumbled away so many other gifts. So, yes, of course it's possible he could fumble it away. But to the first part of your question as to whether or not it's a game changer, I'm going to say a tentative no simply because the polling on this race has been – even though the margin of Hillary's lead has been variable and it's now at a lower ebb, she's never really been behind. Not since the conventions. And I think that as – as you were saying before, the e-mail thing is largely priced in. And as George pointed out, millions of people have already cast their ballots.
Having said that, I think what is interesting about this is that Hillary is now trying to actually turn it into an advantage. The way she's talking about it is to cast herself as the victim of this sort of perfidious FBI director and in effect enflame and arouse the Democratic base over this issue.
WALLACE: OK, I was going to – let me pick up on that, because I'm surprised that she decided – she had to address it at some – but she is, as you say, making it a – a kind of, as you say, that she's the victim and – and taking on Comey in a very aggressive way.
LANE: And there’s – when you really think about it, there's no other play, because in truth the e-mail thing is a mistake. Her own people have admitted it. She's admitted it. The only way to turn this to her advantage at this late date is to present it as sort of a dirty trick. She's not saying that openly, but the – let's face it, there's a lot of conspiracy theorists in the Democratic Party base too, as well as the Republican ones, and she is attempting – and who knows, maybe it'll work – to cast herself as the victim of a dirty trick.
WALLACE: Lisa, final thought?
BOOTHE: This is also the FBI director that she had previously praised after he had come – come to – came to his former conclusion and –
WALLACE: Yes, but, come on, the political hypocrisy on both sides is extraordinary here.
BOOTHE: Oh, no. Oh, 100 – well, --
WALLACE: The Republicans were – you know, you had Trump saying it's rigged.
BOOTHE: OK. Absolutely. I concede that. I mean everyone’s a little bit full of it here. But real quick regarding the down ballot. The better Donald Trump does at the top of the ticket, the better those Senate Republicans in tough races are going to do. So that's how it also helps the down ballot.
WALLACE: Thank you, panel. See you next Sunday, two days before the election. Who knows what we'll be talking about then.
Up next, from flying papers to pig skins to an FBI bomb shell, it was some week on the trail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Look at the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the battlegrounds in this election.
Well this week ended with a stunning surprise, but that's not the way it started. It's remarkable to see how much can happen in seven days on the trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If we win on November 8th, we are going to Washington, D.C., and we are going to drain the swamp.
CLINTON: Now, Donald Trump says he can still win. And he's right. That's why it's so important everyone gets out and votes.
IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP’S DAUGHTER: Two years ago when we promised the city of D.C. that Trump would be coming to Pennsylvania Avenue in 2016, we had no idea what we were foreshadowing.
SEN. TIM KAINE, D-VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His hotel is at about 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue. That's going to be the only building with a Trump in it.
CLINTON: I ate my piece. And I highly recommend it, especially if you're a chocolate lover.
TRUMP: The plane skidded off the runway. But I just spoke to Mike Pence and he's fine.
PENCE: Any landing you walk away from is a successful landing.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want you to run through the tape. I don't want you to do an Usain Bolt and kind of look back, all smiling.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: She is absolutely ready to be commander in chief on day one. And, yes, she happens to be a woman.
TRUMP: The investigation is the biggest political scandal since Watergate, and it's everybody's hope that justice at last can be delivered.
CLINTON: It's imperative that the bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay.
KAINE: Only have a couple – well, there goes my notes. OK, it's going to be a lot shorter speech now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Who knows what twists and turns this campaign will take in the final nine days. And that's it for today. Have a great week and we'll see you next "Fox News Sunday."
Content and Programming Copyright 2016 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2016 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox