This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 3, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: This is a Fox News Alert. Welcome to 'Hannity.'
We are following five big major breaking news stories tonight. President Trump -- he wows the crowd at a rally in West Virginia, and he punches back very strong on this phony Russia narrative. We're going to have highlights and reaction.
Then West Virginia's democratic governor, Jim Justice -- he joins the president on stage tonight to announce that he is switching to the Republican Party, more evidence Democrats are in complete disarray.
Plus, clearly conflicted, compromised special counsel Robert Mueller expands his political witch hunt by empaneling a grand jury. And an absolutely shocking report about the Obama ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, Obama holdovers, the deep state shredding your Constitution, your 4th Amendment rights and unmasking the American people!
Plus, the deep state targets President Trump yet again by leaking transcripts of phone calls he had with world leaders! Ever remember this happening before? That's all in tonight's breaking Opening Monologue.
So earlier tonight, President Trump -- he got out of the D.C. sewer and swamp to make his message and take it directly to you, the American people, by holding a huge, large rally in West Virginia, where he just eviscerated and slammed the Democrats, and of course, the media's obsession with Russia and the special counsel. Watch the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reason why Democrats only talk about the totally made up Russia story is because they have no message, no agenda and no vision. The Russia story is a total fabrication. It's just an excuse for the greatest loss in the history of American politics. That's all it is.
What the prosecutors should be looking at are Hillary Clinton's 33,000 deleted emails! And they should be looking at the paid Russian speeches and the owned Russian companies. Or let them look at the uranium she sold that is now in the hands of very angry Russians.
Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign. There never were. We didn't win because of Russia, we won because of you. That I can tell you!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The president -- he's 100 percent right. Before President Trump fired up the crowd, the West Virginia governor, Jim Justice -- he joined the commander-in-chief on the stage to announce he was leaving the Democrats and joining the Republican Party.
This is more proof the Democratic Party is in total disarray. They have no agenda. And it's so simple to understand why those on the left -- they have no message, no ideas, no real plan, and only hatred and animosity and resentment for President Trump. That does not help one American citizen have a better life or make us a safer country.
I'm going to combine right now the third and fourth stories of the night. The deep state strikes again, and The Wall Street Journal reporting tonight Robert Mueller, the conflicted one, empaneling a Washington grand jury into this Russia probe.
If you have doubt what I have been telling you for months about the deep state in America, well, I just want you to take a look at The Washington Post. They're publishing transcripts of the phone calls that President Trump had with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia.
Do you remember this ever happening before? And if you ever doubted media bias in this country, you need to do what I did. Read the transcripts of the phone calls. They are exactly what the president was promising all of you on the campaign trail. Yet the media -- they distorted purposefully what the president said, cherry picking his words.
This type of thing never happened to President Obama or President Bush. As a matter of fact, President Trump, if you really look at it, he has faced leaks at a rate of seven times that's greater than the previous two administrations. Remember, at one point, we reported 125 leaks in 126 days, and we've been saying -- and it's only getting worse every day!
Here is the biggest danger of all of this. This is important. 99 percent of our intelligence community -- they put their lives on the line, they protect America against real evil in our time -- North Korea, ISIS, Iran, radical Islam, China, Russia. They're doing a great job, 99.9 percent.
These unprecedented leaks, illegal, unprecedented leaks about the president, including conversations now with world leaders -- it is shredding the United States Constitution before our very eyes. And when you add it all up, major laws are being broken by this deep state.
And as a result, these deep state actors are now being successful in preventing the president from fulfilling his promises to you, who you voted for, what you voted for. This is the greatest challenge of our time, and I don't overstate this.
What's happening now is this. The deep state, that one-tenth of 1 percent -- they have now taken these powerful tools of intelligence and they are weaponizing them! These are tools that are supposed to be used to keep you, the American people, safe and to inflict -- they're using it for as much political damage to stop the president. And yes, they want to remove the president from office.
We're also learning more about these deep state actors. As of tonight, we have been telling you The Wall Street Journal reporting that Mueller -- OK, he's empaneled a Washington, D.C., grand jury. Also tonight, according to another report, the FBI is looking into the finances of the President Trump. Wait a minute. I thought it was about Russia. They're looking at his family. They're looking at campaign associates. They're looking now at the Trump Organization. How is this about Russia?
This, what I warned you about, investigative creep, is beyond the pale. This was supposed to be about Russian election collusion. Look how far it has now expanded. It is so deeply corrupt, beyond anything I've seen in my lifetime. Robert Mueller is now carrying out a political witch hunt. And Mueller is close friends with James Comey, the star witness in the case, which could be a violation of two laws.
But there's much more. Mueller has put together a Democratic hit squad that has donated tens of thousands of dollars to, let's see, Democrats, including Hillary and Barack Obama. Take a look at that chart on your screen. Eight of the 16 members of Mueller's team have made political donations to Democrats, while the other eight, according to public records, haven't made it at all. Oh, really? Not one Republican donor, eight Democratic donors? Does that sound fair and impartial to you? Or does it sound more like a politically motivated witch hunt?
Imagine if the tables had turned, a bunch of Republicans investigating a Democratic president. The left in this country would be in an uproar. The investigation would be stopped like this investigation should be stopped. And that, by the way, is only the beginning of Mueller's massive conflicts of interest.
It is why earlier this week, Congressman Trent Franks called for Mueller to resign. And again, as my friend Gregg Jarrett has pointed out -- he'll join us in a minute -- grand juries -- you got to remember this. They are completely one-sided, heavily favoring government prosecutors. Defense attorneys are not allowed in to talk to the grand jury, and prosecutors can put forward any evidence they want. It's why they have the old saying 'you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.'
This is now very serious. And this can't be ignored. Mueller conveniently picked, hand-picked, Washington, D.C., to empanel a grand jury. It's a city Donald Trump got 4 percent of the vote -- 4 percent!
This is now the deep state gone rogue versus you, the people, and the president of the United States. The weapons of intelligence, the powerful weapons, have now been turned on the president and turned on you, the American people. And our Fourth Amendment rights are being trampled upon. Take a shredder. Crimes are being committed. Nobody is seemingly investigating!
Also tonight, our fifth and final very important story. Who are these deep state operatives? We have more evidence now that the Obama administration weaponized the tools of intelligence and the intelligence community in part to target the president and his administration and the transition. This is what we refer to when we say the deep state. That is them shredding the Constitution.
We don't have equal justice under the law, leaking purposefully, selectively to undo the results of an election, to delegitimize the president. And as I said, if they can, they want to take him out of office.
Take a look at this headline from The Washington Free Beacon. 'Former U.N. Ambassador Power unmasked hundreds in the final year of the Obama administration.' And sources that spoke to The Free Beacon said that this was, quote, 'unprecedented' for an official in her position.
Why did she want this information as U.N. ambassador? This is the type of thing we have been telling you about, we've been telling you and warning you about.
Now, we also learned this week, thanks to our friend, Sara Carter, who will join us in a minute from Circa News, that former Obama national security man Ben Rhodes is now the person of interest in the House Intelligence Committee's investigation!
Congress is questioning other Obama officials, Susan Rice, Brennan, about the unmasking. And don't forget, Comey -- he, too, can be in trouble. And Sara Carter last week reporting the FBI general counsel -- he's under investigation for leaking classified information the press? What's going on here? And The Hill's John Solomon has reported that former Obama director of national intelligence, James Clapper -- he made it easier for officials on the executive branch to unmask members of Congress and their staffers.
All of this is not happening in a bubble. All of Hillary Clinton's email crimes -- deleting, BleachBit, hammering devices -- we have no special counsel for that. We don't have a special counsel for Uranium One, 20 percent of American uranium, $145 million in kickbacks. We don't have a special counsel for the Ukrainian election interference. What's the difference between that and Russia? We don't have a special counsel for those that are unmasking and leaking intelligence. We don't have a special counsel for Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's IT staffer. Why did they have broken hard drives in this guy's garage? We don't have a special counsel for Comey having his friend leak information to the press, removing government property from the FBI.
This is now -- this is how serious this is. This is a war between the deep state and you, the American people, and the president of the United States. This is a war against the Constitution. Crimes are now being committed. The pathetic Republicans in Congress have shown themselves to be impotent in a moment they are most needed.
I'm going to tell you the most serious part. Tonight, if I'm in the Trump administration or if I voted for President Trump, like many of you did, I'd be concerned tonight because all that deep state noise we have been hearing from the left-wing media, the destroy Trump media, by the Democrats, by weak Republicans have no led us to where we are today.
I have been warning you every night for months. Now it's real. The deep state leaking, causing hysteria, is real. Media-induced breathless hysteria is real. The hysteria, the noise has resulted in Mueller's hiring. Mueller's out for blood! Republicans are not doing anything. You, the American people, are the ones that are losing as a result of this sewer and swamp of D.C.
And as of now, tonight, sadly, I have to say the advantage goes to the deep state. The advantage goes to the corrupt, lying, establishment media. The advantage goes to corrupt Democrats. This is a huge loss for equal justice under the law, our constitutional republic, a huge loss for the Americans in poverty, on food stamps, out of work, the American people that voted for this president, a huge loss for the Constitution that we love of the United States.
Here with reaction, from CircaNews.com, Sara Carter, and attorney and Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett.
Gregg, let me go to what -- you wrote me something today, and I added to my monologue. I didn't steal it. I want to give you full credit. I'm not like -- I give full attribution on this show. You're the one that's warned me and said, Hey Sean, let me remind you about grand juries and the ham sandwich. Why don't you tell people why this is so dangerous.
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS: There's only one other nation in the world other than the U.S. that employs a grand jury. It's Liberia! And there's a reason why because everybody now realizes that grand juries are an unDemocratic farce. They're one-sided, as you pointed out. The defense is never there to cross-examine witnesses and to challenge the evidence. Prosecutors spoon-feed only incriminating evidence and nothing exculpatory.
It is as unDemocratic as you can get, it is the antithesis of justice. It's even worse here because Robert Mueller empaneled a Washington, D.C., grand jury, where Donald Trump got a mere 11,000 votes compared to Hillary Clinton's 260,000 votes. I dare say there's probably not a single person on that grand jury that likes Donald Trump. So it is doubly unfair.
HANNITY: Four percent -- I'd would love to be before that grand jury or have a prosecutor going after me. Oh, Hannity, only 4 percent of the people in this room like you. The rest hate your guts and would vote against you.
Sara Carter, before I get to the very specifics of what McMaster did, which -- it's inexplicable to me. I can't understand this. Before I get to that, am I right about the threat this deep state is posing the country, that the leaks caused the -- the special counsel, that the leaks and the hysteria in the media caused us to be where we are, and we're now facing a clash of the deep state versus the American people and the president?
SARA CARTER, CIRCANEWS.COM: Well, there's enormous concern that our 4th Amendment has just been shattered with this information that's being delivered. So what we know, Sean, is that a lot of these leaks, right, a lot of the unmasking that took place of Americans coincides with the leaks that were coming out in the media.
That's what's being discovered by the House Intelligence Committee. Now we see Ben Rhodes -- it's expanded to Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to Obama and Susan Rice. We see now that Samantha Power with the story in the Free Beacon -- hundreds of unmaskings. This was unheard of before! This just never happened before in our republic.
So we have to ask ourselves, what were they looking at? And one more point, Sean, and a lot of people don't realize this. Out of all of the reports that were viewed, that were viewed by the House Intelligence and U.S. intelligence officials, they told me that according to what they've seen, only the Obama officials wrote a very simple thing like, need to know, national security, but they didn't file the paperwork that was filed by the analysts.
HANNITY: How does the ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power -- how does she unmask hundreds of Trump officials? How is that possible? Under what rationale could that happen? And am I right when I say -- you say 320, I say 350 percent increase in unmasking, especially sped up during the election cycle, seven times more than the last two administrations. And we see the selective leaks and the impact it has had in the narrative in this country, and all these other scandals with evidence are ignored, Sara!
CARTER: Well, remember, John Solomon and I disclosed that. In 2011, the Obama administration loosened the rules. Nobody knew about this. They loosened the rules so much so that people within his administration were able to do this without having to file the enormous amount of paperwork that it would require to do.
And so people within his administration, high-level officials like Susan Rice, like Samantha Power, John Brennan, former head of the CIA, and others were able to unmask Americans. Remember this was highly protected. These are so classified...
HANNITY: All right...
CARTER: ... that only a handful of people were able to see them before.
HANNITY: Before? So this is so unprecedented. All right, Gregg Jarrett, let me go back to the legal side with you and pick your great legal mind.
I look at Uranium One. I look at Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I look at Ukrainian collusion. I look at deleting, BleachBit, hammering shut, destroying hard drives -- I look at the unmasking, intelligence leaking. And I'm thinking the evidence is overwhelming and incontrovertible. I don't see special counsels on these issues. Why?
JARRETT: Well, the imbalance was made clear tonight by the president when he said, What about 33,000 emails that were deleted and wiped clean? Arguably, that could be obstruction of justice because those documents were under subpoena.
And as for a quid pro quo pay to play, there is sufficient evidence here, an abundance of evidence to reopen that investigation. But you have to do it with a special counsel, as the House Judiciary Committee is now demanding of the Department of Justice. Why? Because remember -- go back to the testimony of Jeff Sessions. He recused himself from anything related to Hillary Clinton during his confirmation hearings.
HANNITY: I do to...
JARRETT: So it's got to be a special counsel.
HANNITY: All right, Gregg and Sara, stay with us after the break.
And also tonight, you don't want to miss it, President Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, here with reaction to Robert Mueller empaneling the grand jury, and Newt Gingrich all tonight. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We won because we totally outworked the other side! We won because millions of patriotic Americans voted to take back their country!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Have you seen any Russians in West Virginia or Ohio or Pennsylvania? Are there any Russians here tonight, any Russians?
They can't beat us at the voting booths, so they're trying to cheat you out of the future and the future that you want! They're trying to cheat you out of the leadership you want with a fake story that is demeaning to all of us!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Good for the president fighting back earlier tonight at his rally in West Virginia. You heard the crowd reaction.
We continue with Sara Carter, Gregg Jarrett.
Let me go back to your piece. Inside the White House, why would H.R. McMaster allow Susan Rice, who was investigated for unmasking, like Samantha Power, like Ben Rhodes, like the general counsel, James Baker, of the FBI, like Comey and so many other deep state people -- why would he possibly grant a waiver? And is it true McMaster disagrees with the president on the issue of Iran and the Obama deal? Does he support that?
CARTER: This is the concern. According to the sources that I've been speaking with both in the West Wing and in the intelligence community, H.R. McMaster completely at odds with the president on the Iran deal. And this is one of the biggest issues.
There's concern within the intelligence community, as well as in the West Wing, that he's moving people out that would give reason or cause, people like Derek Harvey and others, Ezra, Ezra Watnick-Cohen -- Ezra Cohen- Watnick, as well, moving them out, people that would basically stand with the president's policy on Iran. What's more concerning, I think, for a lot of people...
HANNITY: Aren't they also involved -- aren't they also involved? Because I know two of the people. And I've interviewed one of -- one person and talked to another. Wouldn't they be helping expose the deep state?
CARTER: Yes. You're right, Sean. And they're looking into this deep state, the fear that there are people within the bureaucracy that are still pushing out these leaks, that are working against the president's policy.
And they're asking...
HANNITY: Is McMaster one?
CARTER: ... what's going on here?
HANNITY: I'll be blunt. Is McMaster one? Because it's inexplicable, that decision.
CARTER: According to the sources that I've been speaking with, they believe that he is allowing this to happen...
HANNITY: Oh, my gosh!
CARTER: ... that he is pushing this forward, and that is a huge concern. And you have to ask yourself, even if -- even if Susan Rice is given this -- you know, what is a courtesy from McMaster, she's under investigation. So she can continue to look at classified information!
HANNITY: I know! That makes about zero sense. There's no justification for that. And I'd like an explanation from the White House on that.
All right, let me go back to special counsel, special prosecutor, Gregg Jarrett. My experience has been what we're seeing. We start with Russia, now we've moved on to finances, then we move on to obstruction, and maybe it ends up three years later, like Scooter Libby, on a perjury charge because he wouldn't say something that they wanted him to say to Patrick Fitzgerald about the vice president.
Is -- is -- you know, is there any way to fight back against these unprecedented powers? And then you've got all these Democratic donors hired by the special counsel, Mueller, which makes no sense to me, seems categorically abusive and unfair to me.
JARRETT: Everybody wants a special prosecutor, Sean, until they get one, and then they hate it because of mission creep or investigation creep and it goes on ad nauseam sometimes for years.
It's the duty of acting attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, to limit the scope of the special counsel.
HANNITY: Where is he?
JARRETT: He's not doing that.
HANNITY: Where is he?
JARRETT: Well, that's a very good question. One of his problems is he has a conflict of interest. He's both prosecutor and witness in the same case. He is required under the special counsel law to recuse himself...
HANNITY: You can't make this up!
JARRETT: ... and he isn't doing it. So you've got Mueller, who should recuse himself, Rosenstein, who should recuse himself, and nobody is limiting either one of them. And it's part of the frustration I think you can viscerally feel when the president addresses the issue.
HANNITY: All right, guys, thank you both. We will -- we are going to stay all over this. And if they're going to investigate these things, they've got to investigate Hillary! They've got to investigate Ukraine. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, seriously? The leakers? When are they going to be put in jail? They're shredding the Constitution, violating the law, committing felonies.
When we come back, one of President Trump's attorneys, Jay Sekulow, reacts to the empaneling of a grand jury. Newt Gingrich weighs in, and much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of the Russia story is a total fabrication. What the prosecutors should be looking at are Hillary Clinton's 33,000 deleted emails.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I just hope the final determination is a truly honest one, which is what the millions of people who gave us our big win in November deserve and what all Americans who want a better future want and deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: President Trump on fire at a rally earlier tonight in West Virginia. Joining us now with reaction, one of the president's attorneys, he is also the chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, Jay Sekulow. Jay, let's got back and I want to get your general impressions about the news today. And help me out here about investigative creep. And what was the mission of the special counsel?
JAY SEKULOW, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Let me start with the last part. The mission of the special counsel was to, and it's very specific, I'm holding the mandate in my hand. And that mandate says it's to investigate allegations regarding Russian government's effort to interfere with the 2016 election, and also if there was any coordination and links between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of the president.
Now, if, in fact, the stories that are circulated -- and by the way, "Bloomberg" did this about three weeks, nothing happened there. That proved not to be the case. This idea that they are investigating real estate deal from nine and 10 ten years ago, that's not inside the scope of the mandate.
So our view would be very clear that the special counsel's office has to stay within its mandate. If it be it goes beyond the mandate, there are venues and methods upon which you challenge that. Whether it's directly with the special counsel if necessary, whether it's with the deputy attorney general, there are ways to do that. So this idea that you're talking about mission creep -- yes, go ahead.
HANNITY: Do we know who was subpoenaed? And on top of that, what is the announcement mean for the investigation going forward?
SEKULOW: We don't know who has been subpoenaed because all of this is supposed to be done, by the way, grand jury deliberation is supposed to be done in secret. So obviously something leaked.
HANNITY: Who, whoa, whoa, did you say secret.
SEKULOW: Yes, right.
HANNITY: In this day and age. Good luck with that.
SEKULOW: Yes, right. But that's the way it's supposed to be.
Now, here's what happens. This idea that this has been an impaneled grand jury as if a grand jury has been set up just for this, there's no evidence of this. Grand juries sit in cities like Washington, D.C., in major metropolitan areas, are constantly in session. So all that probably happened here, and this is normal in an investigation, and I think there's been a lot of media hype on this, but what's normal in an investigation is a grand jury is utilized to get evidence. It may be documents, it may be witness testimony, and the subpoenas are issued that way.
It doesn't mean, by the way, that anybody in Bob Mueller's office has appeared before a grand jury to ask for anything. Those subpoenas are issued on behalf of the grand jury through in this case the special counsel's office and the clerk of the court. So there is no evidence as it exists right now, we don't know of any evidence of Robert Mueller or people within his office going before a grand jury with anything right now.
HANNITY: So we start out with the Russia collusion story, but of course we'll ignore Ukraine, Uranium One. We'll ignore deleting of emails, BleachBit, smashing devices and obstruction of justice and unmasking come and leaking, let's ignore all of that, and the list is so long. So let me guess. Now they've moved into finances and possible obstruction of justice even though Rosenstein is the guy that recommended, again, he sent a letter saying the president had a right to fire Comey.
SEKULOW: The constitution, actually the right -- I want to be clear on this because this is an important legal issue. The right to -- James Comey himself acknowledged that he served at the pleasure of the president. And that's, by the way, not something James Comey created. That's Article II of the United States constitution. That's the president's inherent power constitutionally.
HANNITY: So here's my question, though. So let me guess, so now they're going to go into finances and the fact that Donald Trump sold a property to some Russian oligarch in 2008 and made a profit, because the Russians knew then even though Democrats and the media didn't know on November 7th or 8th and couldn't even believe it on the 9th that he'd run for president and win. Is that how that worked 10 years ago?
SEKULOW: That is so beyond the mandate that is in existence for the special counsel that our position would be they cannot reach any of those issues.
By the way, what you just said, think about that for a moment. The idea that somebody in 2008 that bought a piece of property from the then real estate developer Donald Trump, remember the old Johnny Carson, Carnac the Magnificent, and they could think of the future and say, aha, 10 years from now, he might become president of the United States. If that's where this were to go, which I don't believe it will, that's so far out of the mandate it cannot happen. You cannot allow that to happen.
HANNITY: Here's my worry, though. We already see investigative creep. We already see a conflicted special counsel. It's not something you can comment on, I'm sure. But I've watched these things go on and on. Have they contacted the White House? Did they look for information from the White House? Is that something you could talk about?
SEKULOW: I refer you to the White House's special counsel Ty Cobb. And he's addressed that and said the White House will fully cooperate. I'll tell you this, with the grand jury information today, we have no reason to believe that the president is under investigation here. We haven't received anything. So that's where it is right now.
HANNITY: How long does it go on?
SEKULOW: How long does it go -- it shouldn't go on very long. Look, how long the ultimate investigation goes on, only the investigators are going to know that. But if you look at the two issues surrounding the president, this idea that somehow everybody and James Comey, that's obstruction of justice, that's his constitutional power. James Comey acknowledged it. I don't think it goes on that long. It sure shouldn't.
HANNITY: I want to see the leakers exposed and those that violated the law in leaking intelligence exposed too. Where's that investigation? All right, Jay Sekulow, thank you.
When we come back, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich weighs in straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am thrilled to be back in the very, very beautiful state of West Virginia.
(APPLAUSE)
And I am proud to stand before you and celebrate the hardworking people who are the absolute backbone of America, thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Welcome back to 'Hannity.' That was President Trump earlier tonight firing up his crowd at his rally in West Virginia. Here with reaction, the author of eight, nine, 10 weeks on The New York Times
bestseller list, 'Understanding Trump,' former speaker of the House, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich.
So I'm contending tonight, and I think Gregg Jarrett actually said this, all of the noise, all of the deep estate leaks, when did we ever see a president's conversation with prime ministers and president ever become public like this? All of that noise has created what Mueller did today, in spite of hiring all Democrats, even Clinton's attorney. And I am saying the goal to stop the president's agenda is working. This is a real threat. I think everything now has become real. Thoughts?
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think it's a very real and I think it has been all along. The Mueller threat is probably the most deadly because he has the power of the law, he has the ability to indict people. He has the ability to negotiate and let some people off if they'll testify against other people. I regard the Mueller example as the deep state at its very worst and it worries me a great deal. And it fits the whole case that we've seen about the Justice Department at times being out of control. So that worries me a lot.
On the other hand, you watch the governor of West Virginia and you suddenly think Trump somehow just keeps grinding forward. He's making progress every week. He's getting things done. He's beginning to move toward a tax cut bill that will be historic. He's gotten more judges approved than Obama had at this point, and Obama had a Democratic Congress. Despite everything, I think that the Trump system is gradually beginning to really work.
HANNITY: But the forces that I talked about, you mentioned the deep state which I talked at length about in my opening monologue. And then the media, and then the Democrats, and, frankly, the Republicans being so pathetic in my opinion in not advancing the president's agenda. But then you've got the leaking, then you've got unmasking. Then you've got real corruption. You've Debbie Wasserman Schultz, you've got Hillary Clinton.
All of those things get ignored. The noise creates where we are tonight, and I cannot believe the double standard. I know I should be used to it but this is beyond the pale of anything I've seen.
GINGRICH: That's because I think the fact is Dennis Prager's essay on a second American civil war is right. This is not a double standard. It's a very simple standard. If you're the left, you hate Donald J. Trump. If you're the left, anything you can do to undermine him is OK. And if you're the left, you automatically ignore scandals no matter how big.
Take for example the Debbie Wasserman Schultz scandal that involves some Pakistanis who were involved in information technology in the House over a period of 13 years, got millions of dollars, stole from the House. We have no idea how much information they got. This actually involves 37 different Democrats. It doesn't just involve one. This scandal, in a world where the news media was serious about covering scandals, this would be a page one story every day because it reads like a novel it's so unbelievable.
HANNITY: OK, but we're like a voice in the wilderness.
GINGRICH: Look at Hillary Clinton -- I think we are the voices that are necessary to gradually rally the country. And I think the reason that we sometimes get attacked is from the standpoint of the left when you and I and others like us, and Rush, for example, celebrating his 30th anniversary, think about the impact you and Rush have had on radio and how much you changed America by telling the truth, by building an audience that follows the narrative and understands what's going on.
HANNITY: We're going to take a break. We'll come back. I specifically want to get into all the issues with the deep state because I think it all originates there. More with Newt Gingrich straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Washington is full of people who are only looking out for themselves. But you know this. You know it better than most. I didn't come to Washington for me. I came to Washington for all of you, that I can tell you.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, that was more of the president earlier tonight at a rally in West Virginia. Welcome back to HANNITY as we continue with former speaker of the House and author of The New York Times bestseller, 10 weeks now, "Understanding Trump," Newt Gingrich.
So my theory, I'll try to break it down very simply, is that, how did we get here? If it weren't for the deep state, 125 leaks, 126 days, seven times the past two administrations. If it wasn't for the media echo chamber. If it wasn't for week Republicans who do nothing except sig on their hands and they won't even use their subpoena powers, they're not legislating, we don't get here.
Samantha Power, Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, Clapper, Comey, now the general counsel of the FBI, all of these people potentially involved in leaking intelligence and unmasking people. Have you ever seen anything like it?
Did you ever see a prime ministers conversation with a president or another president's conversation with the president leaked like this?
GINGRICH: No. I think what you have is you're exactly right. The administrative deep state, its lobbying allies, its news media allies, are all determined to try to destroy Donald J. Trump. It's a very straightforward fight. And I recommend to everybody Sidney Powell's book "Licensed to Lie" about the Justice Department which goes through in detail both with the U.S. Senator Stevens and then later with the Enron case in Texas, how deeply corrupt parts of the Justice Department are.
The fact is the Susan Rice case is unbelievable. The ambassador to the United Nations was even worse to Susan Rice. You go down this case after case after case. The story we got today, or apparently yesterday, when more of Huma Abedin's emails came out, and there are direct quotes of this person gave a million dollars to the Clinton Foundation, we need to take care of them. How can you not be indicting these people for plain, outright corruption?
HANNITY: Where's Robert Mueller on this? Robert Mueller is now involved in investigative creep. He's hired all his Obama, Clinton, Democratic donors, and even Hillary Clinton's attorney. Where are the investigations into these matters that I keep talking about every night?
GINGRICH: I think there's some movement in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in some sense. But I agree with you. Look, I think the Republicans should be dramatically more aggressive in taking all of this on. I think for one thing, there ought to be subpoenas that expose all of the financing of the Clinton Foundation back to its beginning to allow us to find all the flow of foreign money, and we will be stunned at how much foreign money was financing the Clintons and their activities. So I look at the effort to distort what the Trump family has done, and then I look at the open public record of what has been done by Bill Clinton, by Hillary Clinton, by their allies. And I think it's an astonishing double standard.
HANNITY: Do you think we get there? Do you think we actually -- how concerned are you that this gets to the president, that this gets to his family?
GINGRICH: I'm very concerned that Mueller sooner or later will get somebody just because he's brought in so many headhunters who are so vicious and so dedicated and so leftwing that they're going to find somebody for something. I don't think they get to the president. I think this is going to be a running brawl for a while. And I do think the Congress ought to be asking what's the basis for what Mueller is doing?
How can he just be expanding what he wants to look at endlessly, and why aren't people frightened when they watch the pure power of the government which ultimately can crush anybody if it works at it. There's something almost sick about the system as it currently works.
HANNITY: Mr. Speaker, thanks for being with us, we appreciate it.
When we come back, you need a smile on your face? Our conservative duo, our friends Diamond and Silk back to give the final word, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. My friends, the dynamic duo, they are back, Diamond and Silk. They have the final word on President Trump and his rallies like we saw earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNETTE "DIAMOND" HARDAWAY: Hey, Sean, here's our final word for tonight. We absolutely love how our president is bypassing the media and these organizations and taking his message directly to the people. And that's we, the American people. And yes, he's doing a phenomenal job, with the stock market booming. The economy is growing. We absolutely love it.
Now, we know that these snowflakes and the left, they try to sneak into the rally to disrupt in order to obstruct the president's message. So Sean, the more they hate, the more our president will educate so that we can all elevate, and all of us can make this country great, again.
Now, Sean, that's our final word for tonight. Back to you, Sean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Wouldn't it be great to make America great? In all of this, they forget about the people. We will have a lot more on this tomorrow evening.
As always, thanks for being with us. On this show we will always be fair and balanced. We will see you back here tomorrow night.
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