Democrats launch impeachment inquiry, Trump to release Ukraine call transcript

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Democrats launch impeachment inquiry, Trump to release Ukraine call transcript

Reaction from Fox News contributors Karl Rove and Sarah Sanders on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," September 24, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, Tucker. I think we have breaking news tonight.

Anyway, good show, Tucker. Thank you.

Welcome to “Hannity.”

It's going to take the full hour to get all of this in. We are going to break this down. We'll give you all the news and information the mob will never give you.

Here's what's happening. We'll start with a summary. The psychotic anti- Trump hysteria, it has now completely overtaken the entire Democratic Party.

What is happening is dangerous to this country. It is grossly political. It will forever alter how any president in the future, in his constitutional role as commander-in-chief, will be able to communicate freely with other world leaders.

The world is less safe and secure tonight as a result of yet the latest partisan witch hunt. We'll break it all down.

What we have, though, at the root of all this is an irrational hatred. Trump rage. It is all this party, the Democratic Party, now stands for today.

And I will predict tonight, they have done Donald Trump a huge favor. It will all backfire and blow up right in their face. Speaker in name only, Nancy Pelosi, she was forced to cave to a radical base that announced an official impeachment inquiry against President Trump. By the way, that's what we've been living through for the last three years.

So, make no mistake: this has nothing to do with Ukraine. This has nothing to do with do with collusion. This has nothing to do with high crimes and misdemeanors, because there are none.

This has everything to do with the left's unyielding, unhealthy, what is an obsessive-compulsive hatred of President Trump. They can't accept that he won. That was November of 2016. They are still there.

And I think they even doubt they can beat him at the ballot box which is why they are trying to do this now. He occupies every single conscious thought in their minds. It's like the moment they make wake up to the moment they fall asleep.

Donald Trump lives in the heads of these psychotic Democrats and their friends in the media mob. He, kind of, lives there rent-free every hour of every second of every day. It is a sickness, but now, it's officially hurting the country as it rules their lives.

So, what are the grounds for impeachment? According to Pelosi today, it's all about President Trump's phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart.

Keep in mind, President Trump ordered the transcript before Nancy Pelosi's big announcement that is going to be released. That will happen tomorrow.

I have numerous sources telling me tonight that the only thing the president discussed with the new president of Ukraine, well, was what he ran on, which was ending corruption, which the new Ukrainian president pledged to do.

And, by the way, does anyone care at all that our president is being spied on? Again, we'll get into a lot more of that tonight. What foreign leader -- this happened -- we have transcripts now of the president's conversations with prime ministers and presidents. Well, what foreign leader will ever again be willing to freely talk to a U.S. president? We'll have more on that in a moment.

But, according to reports, the whistleblower complaint about the call, that will be released by the end of the week. But the radical socialist Democrats, they just couldn't wait another second. They don't care that they haven't seen the transcript of the call.

They don't care that the so-called "whistleblower" was never a whistleblower or and this is second information or hearsay, had no direct knowledge of what happens on that call. They don't care that Ukrainian officials, that's right, and others that actually know what happened on the call, have all vehemently denied the so-called whistleblower's accusations of pressure or any quid pro quo.

And multiple sources confirming again to me tonight that there is no quid pro quo. But according to Nancy, it doesn't even need to be a quid pro quo in order to impeach.

Watch this insanity unfolding earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: You have many other, shall we say, candidates for impeachable offense in terms of the Constitution, but this one is the most understandable by the public. And it's really important to know this, it is -- there is no requirement there be a quid pro quo in the conversation. If the president brings up that he wants them to investigate something, that's -- of his political opponent, that is self-evident that it is not right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Oh, like a dirty Russian dossier. Oh, you only care if you can bludgeon Trump. Tell Vladimir I will have more flexibility after the election.

And what about -- oh, let's just offer Iranian mullahs that want to blow us up, and, well, wipe Israel and the U.S. off the map. Let's give them 150 bucks. Those are the conversations they have.

All right, Nancy. Hold your vote. If you're so worried, let's do this. Let's see how far the radical Democratic Party is willing to take this political stunt. I say to the speaker, well, in name only, order the call. Call the roll, Nancy. I want every one of your Democrats on the record. I dare you to do it.

Now, I'm sure the real speaker, that would be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, will demand it. I also predict you are probably going to buckle, because you know your job's on the line, and you are not in control of your caucus at all.

So, let's get this on the record. Let's see Democratic lawmakers, you know, ones from, oh, look right there, those are all Democratic lawmakers that won districts that Donald Trump won. Let's get them on the record. Do they have the courage to do that? Will they support impeachment over nothing? Will they trash the will of their own constituents? Will they continue to waste time, taxpayer money over deranged political folly that will go nowhere in the U.S. Senate?

And, by the way, Congressman Golden, Congressman Maloney, Congressman McAdams, Congresswoman Susie Lee, and all the rest of them there, what do you see? Thirty-one members of Congress must now come out of hiding. We want to know where you stand on your leader of your party.

Do you answer to your constituents or are you joining the squad of radical socialist that want to ban cows and planes and get rid of the lifeblood of our economy, oil and gas, and tax America into oblivion and destroy the greatest wealth creating system ever design by man? And, by the way, do you want that as much as you want to destroy President Trump? Because, frankly, I have no faith that you will make the right decision.

After all, your so-called leader, Nancy Pelosi, is now totally and completely controlled by a couple of freshman lawmakers in Congress, and the chairwoman who doesn't know the difference between Crimea and Korea. This is the state of these radical, extreme, Democrat socialist party. Everything is going to be free.

For three long years, they have put this country through hell and they haven't lifted a single finger, nothing, to make this country a more secure country, a better place with more jobs, more opportunity, more economic growth.

What are their plans to boost American industry and create jobs? Where are their plans to keep America safe and secure? Where are their plans to solve the murder crisis in America's biggest cities like Chicago and all the other Democratic-run cities for decades that are experiencing horrible schools, horrible violence? Because the answer is nowhere to be found.

That is what today is about, because Democrats -- they have now spent three years hyperventilating every second, minute, hour of every day, about one anti-Trump hoax after another. Russia, Russia, Russia, Stormy, Stormy, Stormy, impeach, impeach, impeach. Oh, collusion, collusion, tax returns, tax returns, obstruction, obstruction, Ukraine, Ukraine.

How does any of this rage help any American? If three long years you have dragged this country and this president, a duly-elected president, through the mud, and we are about to see all of the corrupt dealings and handling of oh, intelligence, and all the lying and all the conspiracy theories that were peddled by the corrupt media mob in this country. And then to top it off now, no world leader will ever want to have an honest phone conversation with any president of the United States. Is that good for our safety and security?

I would think it's a good thing that we have enumerated powers in the Constitution and we have yes, one commander-in-chief at a time, and I can't think of a single time in the history of this great country before Donald Trump where a president's phone calls with other world leaders were repeatedly hacked into and leaked to the public. Now, it happens left and right.

Who leaked the contents of the president's call with the Australian prime minister? Who leaked whistleblower -- well, it's not a whistleblower -- claims about the call with the Ukrainian president?

Trust has now forever been destroyed. Every world leader that gets on the phone with the U.S. president is going to say, oh, it's probably going to be leaked to one day. That will not be an honest conversation that could potentially advance peace in the world. And yet, every House Democrats only seem to care about is their insatiable urge and compulsion to impeach Trump.

That is why tonight, the real leader of the Democratic Party is very pleased. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y.: I think that we all, you know, many of us, especially from districts that are experiencing the brunt of the president's decisions are -- having feeling a sense of urgency around this, but I think the development around the whistleblower, I think these developments are exactly, you know, where we need to be going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right, tonight, if you care about that sanctity of your vote, if you really care about real issues that affect this country, let's see, President Trump created, well, almost 7 million new jobs over the past three-years, almost 7 million fewer Americans are on food stamps, we now have the best employment situation since 1969. Oh, record low up employment for African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, women in the workplace, youth unemployment.

For the first time in 75-years, the mob will never tell this in the media, we are now a net exporter of energy and are completely energy independent, which, by the way, it's time to send Washington a message. That means the Straits of Hormuz are less strategically, geopolitically important than they've ever been to this country. What happens in the Middle East, we don't necessarily need to get involved in entanglements that we otherwise would have in the past.

You might want to tell your representatives that you don't pay them to spend every second of every day, every year after year, hour after hour trying to destroy a duly-elected president. That's what elections are for. You can tell them you are done with this B.S. You're done with the political games. You're done with the never ending witch hunts.

President Trump was duly elected by we, the American people, in spite of deep state efforts to, oh, let's see, spy on him and use Russian lies, or to quote "The New York Times," likely misinformation from the get-go, and that would be Hillary's dirty dossier after -- well, the deep state saved her from going to jail, that would be the Espionage Act.

And, by the way, I wouldn't try it at home, what Hillary did, if you have emails that are subpoenaed, I wouldn't delete them, I wouldn't acid wash a hard drive with Bleach Bit and I wouldn't bust up your devices with hammers, because then you'll be charged with obstruction of justice something they protected her from.

It's been three years now. It's time for them to get over. They lost. Try and beat Donald Trump at the ballot box. I don't think you believe you can.

And, by the way, that won't happen if they nominate sleepy, creepy, crazy Uncle Joe 30330. Thanks to the left's Ukraine hysteria, they have now done America a favor, because now, Joe Biden is finally getting exposed and some richly deserved attention for his own Ukrainian scandal should shock the conscience of every American.

We will come back and we will have tonight more of Biden's abuse of power, in specificity and detail that the rest of the media won't go near.

But joining us first now with more of Democrats' latest, desperate, political stunt is our very own, Ed Henry -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sean, I've got some breaking news.

I spoke to a senior administration official a short time ago who said that the White House is not just releasing the transcript of this July 25th phone call tomorrow. They will be releasing other documents, including a look at what the inspector general at the intelligence committee found about the whistle-blower who started this whole thing, alleging some wrongdoing by the president.

Here's the key information. I'm told by the senior administration official that the inspector general found that the whistleblower had, quote-unquote, "political bias" in favor of a rival candidate of President Trump in 2020.

Now, this official did not have this specific information as to whether or not the whistleblower in some sort of the background search, they found that the whistleblower supports Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren, I do not have the name of the 2020 candidate. But the senior official is telling me, we're going to learn tomorrow and we are learning tonight for the first time here on HANNITY that the whistle-blower who's been held up as a truth- teller, you know, who is just sort of down the middle and just trying to lay out the facts as they see them about President Trump actually, as the inspector general did an investigation here, to get at the root of whether or not any of the allegations against the president are true, found some sort of political bias.

I don't know if they found emails, if there was an interview with the whistleblower. But the senior official is telling me that the inspector general found political bias in favor of a rival candidate of President Trump. I can guarantee you, based what I'm hearing tonight from this official, that we are going to be hearing a lot more about this tomorrow.

This official who is familiar with the transcript of that call also told me that there is no smoking gun in this transcript, that it's nowhere near as inflammatory as Democrats and some of the media have suggested. But I will add that this senior official told me that there are at least a few words in the words of this official, a few words in the transcript that are going to raise eyebrows and that are going to cause political headaches for the White House.

As you can imagine, there is a lot of back-and-forth about the context of the call, the details. But this senior official who'd seen the transcript of the call is telling me that there's absolutely no smoking gun in there that's going to prove anything incriminating or, of course, damaging.

HANNITY: And I have the same report. My sources are saying absolutely no quid pro quo. It's like about three lines they were talking about corruption. The new president ran on an anticorruption platform.

But to reiterate here, what you are saying is the so-called "whistleblower," we know it wasn't a real whistleblower because it was secondhand information --

HENRY: Right.

HANNITY: -- had a political agenda. That is huge news.

HENRY: Yes, the word is bias. But, yes, that's it.

HANNITY: But here's what I would like to say. Is Joe Biden going to release his conversations? And demand -- and I would like to demand that Joe Biden now release all of his conversations that he had when he was vice president with Ukraine, especially now in light of what we learned about Joe Biden bragging on tape about how he leveraged a billion U.S. dollars.

Why would a vice president of the United States ever want a prosecutor in Ukraine fired?

HENRY: Right.

HANNITY: Oh, the guy that was investigating his own son and he was tipped off by "The New York Times" that his own son was being investigated.

There is a lot more to this story, Ed, and I think anybody knows at this moment.

HENRY: Yes, the president is being scrutinized by what he's done. And you're right. There are a lot of people raising questions about what did Vice President Joe Biden when he was in office, particularly because after he left the office, as you've known, you've played the clip, he boasted about getting that prosecutor fired at a time when the Obama administration, not the Trump administration, was holding aid and loans over the head of the Ukrainian government at that time, Sean.

HANNITY: Yes, $1 billion. Oh, you need to fire him in six hours, or -- well, you're not getting the money. Same prosecutor investigating Burisma Holdings, that's the same company that his son was involved in and benefitting to the tune of millions of dollars and we haven't even touched the China issue yet.

Ed Henry, great report.

HENRY: Thank you.

HANNITY: The whistleblower according to the I.G. had a political agenda. I'm shocked. No words yet as to who was spying on the president of the United States.

Now, did Democrats just give the president what will be the political gift the biggest gift that he could have asked for heading into 2020? And what the Democrats think about Pelosi's decision?

Here live in Washington, Fox News Capitol Hill senior producer, Chad Pergram, is with us.

Chad, you know what's going on there?

CHAD PERGRAM, CAPITOL HILL SENIOR PRODUCER: Good evening, Sean.

Well, liberals tonight feel vindicated. On Friday afternoon, I spoke with Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about where impeachment stood. She was a little dejected at the time, was disappointed about how long this was taking.

But tonight, Ocasio-Cortez was ebullient. She said the move by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was precisely what liberals in her district were looking for. She says that her constituents have borne the brunt of many of President Trump's policies.

Now, no one was happier than Democratic Texas Representative Al Green. He has tried on multiple occasions since President Trump took office to impeach the president. Tonight, he was very excited.

Listen to Al Green.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. AL GREEN, D-TX: I feel that I'm being vindicated. It was lonely, but it's not as lonely as it has been. I think this is being driven by history now. I don't think that we have control. I think that events have taken control and it will happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: But there are skepticism among battleground district Democrats. Mikie Sherrill is a freshman Democrat who flipped a district from red to blue in New Jersey. She was one of the seven freshman Democrats with national security bona fides who wrote an op-ed in "The Washington Post" today endorsing an impeachment inquiry. That's a seat that Republicans want to win back next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: This doesn't put you in jeopardy electorally in any way?

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL, D-N.J.: You know, it might, but I think the other national security Dems and I, it might put them in peril, as well, we really felt, though, that this one -- that there was a line that had been crossed.

REPORTER: Do you think the Republican-leaning voters in your district may be upset with you for taking this position --

SHERILL: That remains to be seen. So far, the Republicans I've spoken to in my district have been very supportive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Tom Emmer is a Republican congressman from Minnesota. He runs the GOP's campaign arm. Emmer says, quote, make no mistake: backing impeachment will cost Democrats their majority in 2020 -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Chad, good reporting.

Joining us now with more reaction to tonight's big breaking news, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Well, first, let me get your reaction that we now have the inspector general, yes, blowing the lid on the so-called whistleblower that ended up not being a whistleblower, because this was second-hand information. And also the revelation that there was no quid pro quo involved in this, but this person had a political agenda.

I'd like to know what the agenda was. I'd like to also know, how did anybody get to listen in on a president's call to a foreign leader and leak it? And what foreign leader will ever trust talking to a president in the future?

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF.: I don't know why the Democrats are excited, because, first of all, they just made America weaker. This seems a lot similar to all those attacks they made on the president.

Remember, Sean, they've been going after the president even before he was elected. Remember that text, don't worry, we have an insurance policy so he can never win. And now, a whistleblower that didn't even hear the conversation?

And what Nancy Pelosi did today was nothing. She did not bring an inquiry forward. What -- if you want to know what Nancy Pelosi is going to do tomorrow, read what AOC tweets tonight, because AOC tweeted over the weekend, Nancy Pelosi is now trying to appease the socialist wing of the party. What they're going to happen tomorrow, though, they're going to be embarrassed when these transcripts come out.

And I hope the American public wakes up. Have we not learned what we just went through the last two years? Adam Schiff lying to the American public, saying he had proof, more than circumstantial.

This stuff has to stop. It's making America weaker.

HANNITY: I think you're right and it's hurting the country. And -- but there's this other question here. Where of this information come from? Who was listening in on the president's phone calls?

And if the president of the United States is being spied on from our own intelligence agencies, isn't that problematic? Is there any foreign leader that will ever trust talking to a U.S. president in the future?

MCCARTHY: No. Think after tomorrow, what world leader is going to have an honest conversation with the president of the United States because they know that whatever they say could be leaked out, only because where the Democrats want to go. It only makes whoever is president of the future, that's what we have to have accountability what has gone forward to this president can never happen to anyone in the future.

HANNITY: You know, it's funny. I agree with what you are saying, too.

So, it's an impeachment probe but today really became an official impeachment inquiry. No different than what they've been doing in the last three years. But Nancy Pelosi, they can have a roll, or call the roll, everybody would go on record, and I would like to see that vote happen.

MCCARTHY: That would be nice to happen but you know what? Vote has to happen --

HANNITY: I don't think it will.

MCCARTHY: Why are -- why aren't we investigating Joe Biden and Hunter Biden?

HANNITY: Bingo.

MCCARTHY: Because I promise you this, Hunter Biden, if his name was Hunter Smith, no one would have hired him. He wanted have found a billion dollars in China, and an oligarch in Ukraine wouldn't be hiring him.

But why do you have a vice president who was running for president and who has never won in the Democratic polls, bragging that he held Ukraine hostage to fire a prosecutor that was going to investigate his own son? Why isn't that -- anybody up in arms about that? And why is that not being investigated?

HANNITY: Very well said. So, the guy -- he's making millions in Ukraine, no background in oil, energy, or gas. Wow. Pretty good gig.

You know, obviously, he's pretty well-connected. And then he flies on Air Force Two to China. Amazing thing happens. He has no background at all in private equity. And the Chinese government company, they give him a billion-dollar deal. Whitey Bulger's son is involved. There is a great -- you know, there's a great indicator maybe things aren't great.

And then it became $1.5 billion, no background. I would think Goldman Sachs or any of the big banks might be better contenders for such a deal considering they had no experience.

MCCARTHY: But they weren't flying on Air Force Two sitting right next to their father, and walking off with the last name Biden.

HANNITY: Correct.

MCCARTHY: That's the difference.

HANNITY: All right. Leader McCarthy, thank you.

Tonight --

MCCARTHY: Thank you.

HANNITY: Someone may want to remind Joe 30330 that the Ukraine story is really now bad news for him. He might want to steer clear of the subject entirely instead of using it to trash President Trump.

Joe, let me tell you what's going to happen. You're going to have to now answer questions. How is it your son with no experience in oil, gas or energy gets this deal from Burisma Holdings?

And "The New York Times", Joe, they warned you that, in fact, your son was being investigated. And you did lie to Peter Doocy the other day when you said that he is asking the wrong questions. That was actually the right question.

The question is why former Vice President Biden, did you then take taxpayer dollars, $1 billion, and say, fire him, got about six hours, or I'm not giving you the money, well, son of a B, they fired him?

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The allegations that blocked hundreds of millions of dollars, he blocked hundreds of millions in congressionally approved aid to another country, it is an allegation, unless he agreed to smear his political opponent is not the conduct of an American president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Pretty big change of heart. Just a few hours ago, Biden actually engaged in the very thing that he was accusing President Trump of doing. And today, well, we had one guest of fake news CNN, actually shocking his colleagues with something they don't often hear. A little bit of truth.

How did this possibly sneak in? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT OF EURASIA GROUP: Biden does have a problem, by the way. I mean, I have to say, $50,000 a month for Hunter Biden, clearly to be selling influence, because otherwise, no one would ever pay him that kind of money for a company that, frankly, was pretty corrupt and has been before and has been since under --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And is that Joe Biden's fault or problem?

BREMMER: No, but it's hard to imagine Joe Biden wasn't aware of it.

If this ends up being an Al Franken moment where he gets thrown under the bus so the Democrats can be seen as actually the party that cares about values and rule of law, then maybe that's what they need to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, maybe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Dragging the entire country through this because Joe Biden's son needed to make millions in one case, billions in another, in endeavors he has no experience in?

Now, the very real scandal is not going away. The timeline, as we point out is very damning. It doesn't look good for Joe or son Hunter Biden. In 2014, then President Obama appointed Biden to lead the administration's efforts in Ukraine. Pay close attention, follow the timeline.

A few months later, Joe Biden's son Hunter, he scored a lucrative position on the board of Burisma Holdings. That is a gas and energy company in Ukraine. And as we have stated many times, Hunter Biden had zero experience, gas, energy, or oil. None. Zero.

No experience with the country of Ukraine. What qualified him for such a lucrative deal?

But this giant Ukrainian oil and gas company reportedly shelled out way more than $3 million to Biden's private equity firm. In November of 2015, then Joe Biden was advised by the "New York Times" that his so was under investigation by the Ukraine authorities. In December of 2015, Joe Biden made his first request to the president of Ukraine to fire the prosecutor leading the corruption investigation into his son's company, Burisma Holdings. He's trying to interfere there.

And in March 2016, according to our John Solomon, investigative reporter, Vice President Biden knew this prosecutor was investigating his son, was about to conduct an interview with Hunter Biden. We knew that because John Solomon actually talked to the prosecutor who was fired. That's when Biden leveraged a billion of your tax dollars, U.S. aid, to force the Ukrainian president fire him in six hours or you don't get the money. That's right. The prosecutor that was about to investigate his son and call his son in for an interview.

Now, we know this happened because Biden bragged about it on camera. So, let's be clear about something. It is U.S. law that all federal officials avoid even the of a conflict of interest when conducting U.S. foreign policy. And as you can see, where there's smoke, there's plenty of fire. Anyone in the media mob who calls this a conspiracy theory -- well, they are the ones who have been peddling it for the last three years. They've recognized one except when it's not them.

And it's not, by the way, only the timeline that should cause concern for Joe Biden and his family. You see, his son Hunter also scored another extremely lucrative deal -- follow this time line -- in China, during his father's time as vice president. 2013, Hunter Biden joined his father aboard beautiful Air Force Two, an official trip to Asia, stopping in China.

About two weeks after they got back, Hunter Biden's firm, new firm, scored a $1 billion deal with subsidiary of the Bank of China, Chinese government. Later, that increased to $1.5 billion.

Hunter Biden again, zero expertise as it relates to China, the banking industry, private equity. His firm was not renown for its international banking prowess. Yet, somehow, Hunter Biden, he scored the amazing billion dollar business opportunity. I don't know, Goldman Sachs, I could think of a lot of other companies that were probably more deserving.

And the question tonight is, how? And the question tonight is, why? And make no mistake, Joe 30330 will be held accountable, as will his son because the media has now done President Trump a favor and the country a favor.

Here with more reaction, Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham.

Senator, I don't know. I mean --

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: That's pretty good.

HANNITY: -- I think that if I flew to China and I had no experience in private equity and I got $1 billion, $1.5 dollar deal, I would be pretty happy, but it doesn't look good, does it?

GRAHAM: Well, you know, we've looked at the Trump family and the Trump connections to Russia every way you can. It's about time somebody look at the connections of the Ukraine.

Here is my question, when the Vice President told the Ukraine we take the money away from you unless you fire the prosecutor. Did he have a conflict of interest because the prosecutor was looking at his son?

Tomorrow, when we read the transcript, is there any evidence at all that President Trump threatened to take aid away unless the investigate Biden or do his political begins.

HANNITY: The answer I hear is no Senator, what you hear?

GRAHAM: Well, I don't know, but I will tell you this. If the answer is, yes. I will be on your show very disappointed with our President. If the answer is no, this is Russia times to times ten.

HANNITY: Do you see even just the rush to judgment? We don't know what's here. We do know the Inspector General that Henry that broke the story, that the Inspector General yes that so-called "whistleblower" political agenda. They don't know any of the facts. They don't know any of the details. Now if Donald Trump is going to release his transcripts with Ukraine.

And Ukrainian President, I'd like to release Joe Biden's conversations with world leaders when he was Vice President and may be Barack Obama's as well. Is that fair?

GRAHAM: Yes, I think it's very fair. But I'd like to know, if the whistleblower was not part of the conversation, who told him or her about it?

HANNITY: Well, sounds like the - you think somebody in the deep state that will get you six ways but Sunday according to Chuck Schumer got him.

GRAHAM: Let me tell you. Somebody told this person about a phone call that we're not part of. Did they have a political agenda? Did the whistleblower have a bias? I will make an offer to our known television to the whistleblower. If you want to testify under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee, you are welcome to do so.

I want to find the truth. Here's another question. Was there a reason to withhold aid to this new Ukrainian Administration until we knew who they were? Was it okay for President Trump to withhold money to try to get other countries to give more? These are the questions that somebody needs to ask and answer.

HANNITY: Senator, is this good politically speaking? How do you think this plays out for the Democrats?

GRAHAM: Well, it tells me that they think they are going to lose at the ballot box. The only reason they are trying to impeach the President is because they don't believe they can beat him at the ballot box so they are trying to destroy it. It comes onto this.

If there is no evidence that President Trump tried to coerce the Ukrainian into investigating Biden and withholding aid to Ukraine unless they did Trump's bidding against Biden, then there's nothing here. That will be the only thing that would bother me. It would be okay for the President to tell the Ukrainians, hey, if this prosecutor was fired for a purpose, maybe you should look at it.

HANNITY: How do you get to a point where Democratic Party beyond wanting open border, everything free, crazy New Green Deal, Medicare for all, $36 trillion, some estimates, $94 trillion for the New Green Deal we don't take in for trillion year. They want to stack the U.S. Supreme Court. They want to get rid of the Electoral College.

It seems that this party has lost any sense of constitutional governance. My reading of the constitution is the enumerated powers of commander and chief lie with the President. How does the President effectively be the commander and chief if his phone calls are being spied on and leaks are coming out for people that have political agendas and that this is secondhand information, where did it come from and how is it that they got so much wrong about it already?

GRAHAM: I think what we want to know is the whistleblower is telling us something that they know to be true firsthand, repeating gossip given to them by somebody else. But here's what Trump has done that so important. You can read it for yourself tomorrow. The one thing about this President that I admire is that he is releasing a phone call with the foreign leader that you can make your own judgment.

If there is no evidence that Donald Trump tried to intend the Ukraine by withholding military aid unless the investigated Biden, there's nothing here. But there's a lot here when it comes to Biden. Did he have a conflict of interest when he threatened to withhold aid to the Ukraine unless they thought to prosecutor looking at his son?

Now that needs to be looked at. Was there a reason to withhold aid to the Ukraine after this election apart from Biden? A lot of people in DOD were worried about this new administration. Sean, should give them weapons because we don't know how close they're to Russia?

HANNITY: Let me ask you this if we are at a point here where this is what we are going to do is we are now going to spy on Presidents and release it, I don't know where this all ends up Senator, is America less safe tonight as a result of this?

GRAHAM: America is far less safe when a phone call between the President of the United States and a foreign leader. Whistleblower files a complaint when they were not a part of the phone call. America will be less safe, if there are two standards of justice in this country.

If the Democratic Vice President can threaten to withhold aid to a foreign country unless a prosecutor has fired is looking at his son and nothing happens and they are willing to impeach President Trump on a phone call they know nothing about. That's dangerous.

HANNITY: Last question. Could you imagine any scenario under which a Vice President of the United States is going to hold out $1 billion? I'm not going to have it to you unless you fire a Ukrainian prosecutor? That's investigating his own son. That's the main story to me Senator.

GRAHAM: It real quick. What if Mike Pence calls somebody tomorrow and threatens that government with aid being withheld unless you fire the prosecutor who was looking Mike Pence's son? Do you think that might make it in the news?

HANNITY: Well said, Senator. Thank you, Senator Graham South Carolina. In with more reaction to all those breaking news. That the IG is just breaking found the so-called "whistleblower" had political bias against President Trump. Author to the soon to be released sequel to his number one best seller. It's called "Witch Hunt." Fox News Legal Analyst Gregg Jarrett. Florida Congressman Matt Gates. Fox News Contributor, Sara Carter. Former Independent Counsel Fox News Contributor Ken Starr. Let's talk about the law.

GREGG JARRETT, "WITCH HUNT" AUTHOR: Nancy Pelosi misstated the law today when she said the DNI Director of National Intelligence shall or must hand over the complaint to Congress. That's completely wrong. The whistleblower is not a whistleblower. You can't blow the whistle on the President because he's not a member of the Intelligence Committee and that's what the law says.

Pelosi obviously didn't read the law or she can't comprehend the law even though she said she was an authority on it. Second of all, the President is duty-bound onto the take care clause of the constitution. If he knows of a potentially corrupt act by Vice President trying to extort a foreign country to shut down a probe that involves his son. That's bribery, that's on a services fraud and he President is duty-bound to ask that foreign country, investigate, produce the evidence give it to us. If he doesn't do it, it is a - of this constitution.

HANNITY: So wait a minute, what you're saying is that the President had a legal responsibility ask in light of reports that Ukraine try to influence our elections number one and the tape of what happened here?

JARRETT: Yes and the media is focusing on what the President of the United States didn't do and ignoring what Joe Biden admits on cormorant doing.

HANNITY: That's a great point. From your legal perspective how do you react to Gregg's analysis?

KENNETH STARR, CONTRIBUTOR: I think Gregg is making a terrific point. I've not made it heard all day. This is not been a great day for the constitution. Let's take the politics aside, first of all nothing happened today other than a political show. Under the constitution if there is going to be a House impeachment inquiry, it needs to be authorized by the House of Representatives.

This has been discussed in terms of, well, come on, let's take a vote. Well, my constitutional point is there was no vote. We simply had a press conference. But I agree with Gregg. The President's duties are so important, especially, Sean, in the arena of foreign relations. The conduct of the foreign policy in United States is not involved.

Going to Congress and getting laws passed and whether to veto them, they involve judgment. They involve personal relationships at his ability to speak freely. I completely agree with the concerns that have been expressed. You express them. Chairman Lindsey Graham expressed them. The President needs the confidence and so to foreign leaders that they're going to have these very candid conversations without there being leaks and disclosures. So it's been a very bad day for the constitution.

HANNITY: You know Matt Gates is so funny. The double standard is so flagrant. Here you have a dirty Russian dossier that was used to bludgeon another candidate. Spy on our campaign, a transition in the presidency based on Russia lies. Those paid for by the other candidates.

That would have been indicted if it was anybody else and they are going to lecture. They are going to lecture anybody else about the sanctimonious superiority of their values? I'm not buying it. But this is now the sick political twisted environment that we live in.

REP. MATT GATES, R-FLA.: Most certainly. Allegations of collusion, no evidence, and that ultimately rooted in bias. I don't think I'm going to like the Ukrainian knockoff and neither will the American people. What Nancy Pelosi did today is not only unprecedented and I don't say this lightly Sean, it was unpatriotic, because it embarrassed the House of Representatives.

It undermines the solemn duty of impeachment that a future House may have to undertake if there is something wrong. And there is just deeply un- American about judging the verdict that the President violated his oath of office before Nancy Pelosi has even seen the evidence that we are going to get tomorrow.

I believe what you saw from this speaker today was more about her holding onto power and holding on to the speaker gavel in any sense of justice. Corey Lewandowski previewed this last week when Democrats initially launched their impeachment inquiry. He said that this is evidence that too many Democrats in Congress hate Donald Trump more than they love America. That is a sad admission.

HANNITY: Sara, let's pick up on Gregg Jarrett's point that the President actually had a duty and a responsibility to literally go after any corruption that could have happen. We've seen Biden on tape. We know that his son had no experience in energy or oil or gas, or even private equity with the China deal.

For him to not ask the question would be a big part of it. But now we also know that Inspector General reporting tonight that, yep this whistleblower that wasn't a whistleblower that had secondhand information, yes, that person interestingly had a political agenda. Shocking.

SARA CARTER, "THE SARA CARTER SHOW" PODCAST HOST: Yes, not even shocking at all to me, Sean, because all you have to do is go back to the very beginning. Remember all of the phone conversations that were being leaked between the President of the United States, the President of Mexico, at the beginning of his presidency.

And now we see this happening. We heard about the insurance policy. We also know people within the White House. Very few within the National Security Council have access to those private conversations with the President and other world leaders.

HANNITY: So where - so who would have access and why is a President being monitored and his phone calls with foreign leaders? How will any President in the future be able to conduct serious private conversations? No world leader will trust him.

CARTER: Sean, there are very few people within the White House that would have access to those conversations. The President and the people within the National Security Council need to do a shakedown and they need to find out who inside the White House is actually spying on him.

Now, we know that this whistleblower didn't even have direct access to this conversation. So we know that it was passed from a secondary source. At least we believe that to the whistleblower in order for him to report, in order for it to be leaked. This is what they do over and over again.

This is extraordinarily dangerous to this country, Sean, because they are directly targeting the President of the United States and its constant. And tomorrow, I truly believe there will be egg on the face of Nancy Pelosi and everybody else who is going after the President for these impeachment proceedings.

HANNITY: You, mean egg again.

CARTER: Egg again.

HANNITY: There is going to be a rewind. Gregg, you want to jump in.

JARRETT: Yes this has the potential to blow up in the face of Democrats in the media like an--

HANNITY: Well, let's assume that President didn't talk about what was there any corruption with Biden, you did, you know or anybody else we want to know, because you ran on an anticorruption platform?

JARRETT: Yes, absolutely, and in the end, I think this is going to be terribly bad for Joe Biden. He's already beginning to sink in some of the polls. This impeachment - Democrats have been impeachment happy since the President was elected before he took office. They started talking about impeachment. They drew up articles of impeachment before Trump unpacked his boxes.

First it was emoluments. Then I was the Russian hoax. And then, it was the firing of Comey. Then its Ukraine, you know if the President so much as coughs he is crook and it they demand impeach if--

HANNITY: Cancer, they would impeach him. All right, thank you all. Big breaking news according our very own Ed Henry reporting this hour, the Inspector general of the Intelligence Committee found the so-called "whistleblower" had a "political bias" against President Trump.

Now the White House is set to release the transcript of the President's call with the President of Ukraine amid the impeachment frenzy under weighing Congress. Fox News Chief White House Correspondent, John Roberts. In for breaking news all day, he is live with the very latest from the White House tonight. John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sean, good evening to you and a lot still going on. Senior Administration Official a couple hours ago confirmed to Fox News that the White House will release the whistleblower complaint as soon as it possibly can, if it is legally possible to do it.

The general of council the office of the Director of the National Intelligence found earlier this week that it is not legally possible to do, but the White House thinks that things might have changed now particularly since that whistleblower has informed the Director of National Intelligence that he or she wants to come before Congress.

The White House positioned on all of this is that it will release everything it can regard this issue because it has nothing to hide and that there is no wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Democrats opening that formal impeachment inquiry before even seeing either the whistleblower complaint or the transcript of the call between President Trump and the Ukrainian President, Vladimir Zelensky.

The White House believes that when that transcript comes out, the Democratic case is going to fall totally apart. Here's what the President said about it earlier today when he was meeting with the President of Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: So the country is doing the best it's ever done and I've just heard that they would like to impeach. Our country is doing the best it's ever done. They're going to lose the election and I think this is a this never happened where we're in the election. I mean, if she does that, that's a positive for me in the election. Who needs it? It's bad for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So today was a big day, tomorrow is going to be a big day as well. Here's the timeline of what's going to happen tomorrow. A transcript of the telephone call will be released sometime before 2:00 p.m. I'm told and then, the President has a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President, Zelensky and then, a press conference following that.

Now, Ukraine agreed to the transcript release. The President tweeting "Secretary of State Pompeo received permission from Ukraine government to release the transcript of the telephone call I had with their President". They don't know either what the big deal is, a total witch hunt scammed by the Democrats.

I'm told that there are other steps the President took to limit the presidential that's presidential nature of the release of the transcript. So that Democrats can start making broad demands for other transcripts as they go down the road of their impeachment investigation. Stay tuned, Sean. Tomorrow is going to be a big day in American politics.

HANNITY: I'm calling on Joe Biden tonight to release all of his transcripts with the leaders of Ukraine that are available. Let's get them out as well. That's just fair and balance I think. John Roberts, great reporting all day today, thank you.

Here with more reaction. Former Bush Administration, Deputy Chief of Staff Fox News Contributor Karl Rove. Former White House Press Secretary Fox News Contributor Sarah Sanders. Carl, we will start with you. You didn't like the idea of releasing the transcript. I see it as a dangerous precedent as you do. But my sources telling me no smoking gun, no quid pro quo and President is just asking questions. You are going to get to the bottom of corruption like you ran on?

KARL ROVE, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Look, I wasn't a big fan of it, because I think it is a bad precedent. On the other hand it's to show strength. President has decided, let's be transparent. I think he did the right thing by going to his counterpart in the Ukraine and saying I would like to release this, I don't want to give you any interjection or heart burn. Would you think?

It's all going to come out. But let us not forget that this thing is, as was said earlier by Ken Starr, the House is proceeding in a way that it hasn't done before. This is not a vote to formally begin an investigation of the President. It's a decision by one member, the Speaker of the House who is being pressured politically inside.

She can't put together yet, 218 votes among the Democrats to officially begin an impeachment proceeding. She is keeping her members from having to cast what is viewed as a constitutionally necessary vote to begin the impeachment proceedings. I think that's very dangerous.

HANNITY: The only thing that happened today, Sarah Sanders is we won from an impeachment probe to a formal impeachment inquiry. They changed the title. Now, they could have a roll call. They could have a vote. They could get everybody on the record. And John Roberts earlier today, reporting it maximum they got a 160 Democrats which means this is dead on arrival.

SARAH SANDERS, CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. Frankly Sean, I think the Democrats are being incredibly stupid right now. I know that's a big statement, but what they are not paying attention to is the fact that impeachment is going to fail. Not only is it going to fail, it is going to rally and unite Republicans and help get the President reelected.

My guess is that's not what Democrats want, because Nancy Pelosi has been clear that that is their whole purpose about all of this is, making sure that they stop this President from being reelected. She stated today that it is a threat to Democracy. The only threat to Democracy I see in this entire process is Democrats and Nancy Pelosi who refused to accept the results of the 2016 election.

We've seen it over and over and over again for the last two and a half years. They refuse to let that happen - let that sink in that they lost in 2016 and they fight it every step of the way. They've got to make a decision. Do they love the country more than they hate this President? Today they've made it clear that they've made their decision and it couldn't be a more devastating and wrong decision for the country.

HANNITY: Karl, one thing they haven't factored. They now have been on this kick of theirs for three years. It blew up in their face. Everything they were promising, they didn't deliver. They had the me media mob on their side the whole time. At some point American people see this for what this is that they are willing to divide and drag this country with no knowledge down this political sewer, because they so want power and so hate one guy that won the election. What is the political ramifications of that once it sinks in?

ROVE: Yes, well look, a couple of things. First of all you're absolutely right. The American people are not in favor of impeachment ironically enough from the moment of the Bob Mueller Report it saying no collusion and no evidence that was sufficient enough on obstruction the opposition of impeachment group.

Who thinks that this could dramatically turn around and support impeachment to grow? I don't think so. The Democrats have put themselves in a place, think about this. This is going to hurt Joe Biden badly. We are going to be talking about Ukraine and the idea of Hunter Biden being hired by a Moscow Lenin oligarch in order to demonstrate that he had Jews with the United States.

Remember, it's not only Hunter Biden who gets hired, Devin Archer a longtime family friend of then Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, also gets put on the board of Burisma. So we are going to have people saying, why didn't he think that was the appearance of impropriety that he is over there in Ukraine talking about - the Ukrainians stepping up their anticorruption efforts when his son is on the board of one of the most corrupt institutions, commercial institutions in the country?

It's going to hurt Nancy Pelosi. She is now going to put those 31 Democrats from red leaning districts, in either having to vote for impeachment, in which case they are going to irritate the Republicans constituents or refusing to support impeachment in which case they will upset the hard left of their party in a district it's up for grabs.

It hurts people like Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren. Was taken back with their rhetoric this past week and they have said President Trump has tried to get a foreign country involved in the American election. Really? Don't you remember what Hillary Clinton was trying to do? Don't you think we are, if you think it's so bad for what the President did, because you don't want a foreign country involved in our election, why weren't you critical of Hillary Clinton? Want to be clear that that's exactly what he was trying to do.

HANNITY: Can I answer, that's selective moral outrage. Faint, phony moral outrage.

ROVE: And look, this is going to hurt them with swing voters for exactly that reason. American people are going to look at this. And this critical group of people who are up for grabs in this election are going to see really, that's the best you can do? Especially when it wipes out any other message the Democrats have. Nobody knows what the Democrats in the House are going to do today. It's only going to get worse. Al l they're going to sound like is impeachment.

HANNITY: Thank you both for being with us. Karl Rove, Sarah Sanders. Also tonight, we are getting reports that the so-called "whistleblower" at the center of this fire storm wants to speak to the House and Senate Intel Committee. Catherine Herridge has the latest. She is live in Washington tonight. Catherine.

CATHERINE HERRIDGE, CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Sean, tonight confirmation the nation's Intelligence Chief the Acting Director of National Intelligence Joe McGuire will testify publicly Thursday for the Democrats controlled House Intelligence Committee.

A short time ago McGuire, issuing this statement stunned in by actions "I want to make clear that I have upheld my responsibility to follow the law every step of the way he wrote. As public servants the men and women of the Intelligence community have a solemn responsibility to do what's right, which includes reporting wrongdoing. I'm committed to protecting whistleblowers and ensuring every complaint is handled appropriately"

The top lawyer for McGuire the Intelligence Community's General Counsel found the complaint about the President's calls did not meet the statutory definition of urgent and congressional notification was required. This undercuts Democrat claims today that there is a legal requirement to share.

On Twitter, the President said he wants transparency that he is "Authorized the release tomorrow of the complete fully declassified and unedited transcripts of my phone conversation with the President Zelensky of Ukraine. You will see it was a friendly and totally appropriate call no pressure and unlike Joe Biden and his son, no quid pro quo".

Former White House Official tells Fox News tonight the transcripts of presidential calls are handled by the situation room between four and five intelligence officials type as the conversation unfolds. Their individual transcripts are then cross-referenced and cross checked so the copy is complete. The official said there is no audio recording and the transcripts are shared Sean on a very limited basis.

HANNITY: All right, Catherine Herridge in Washington. Here with reaction Fox News Correspondent At-Large, Geraldo Rivera the author of "Still winning". Fox News Contributor Charles Hurt as well as it is a terrific new book. If you look in the upper right-hand corner, that blurb is mine it's called the "New Red Wave" how conservatives compete leftist aggression why no betrayal and deep state subversion American Senator for Law and Justice, Executive Director our friend Jordan Sekulow. The book is phenomenal I have read it cover to cover.

Geraldo, let me ask you about Joe Biden was warned. He was warned a number of times, he was told that this prosecutor is investigating his son and he goes and he hope - why would a Vice President withhold a billion dollars you fire him I'm taking my money?

GERALDO RIVERA, CORRESPONDENT AT-LARGE: I think the back story that no one is talking about, and maybe it comes from my daytime talk show background. Hunter Biden is a deeply was and has been a deeply troubled young man. He had terrible drug and alcohol problems. He was in and out of rehab all over. He was thrown out of the United States navy for his testing positive for cocaine.

So it's not only that he got jobs he wasn't qualified for. He got an amazing soft landing there $50,000 per month post the Chinese deal we've haven't even talked about. I think that in examining what happened here, I think that the Vice President will be diminished. I think it's sad, because we all have children and we are only as happy as our unhappiest child. This young man has put the Vice President--

HANNITY: The Vice President also lied to Peter Doucy and h e didn't know about the son's dealings with Ukraine. Didn't stop it and then was warned that he's being investigated. And then he leveraged American tax dollars. That's abuse of power.

Jordan Sekulow, you deal with a lot of this and the media mob and their agenda. You see the hysteria and the breathless reporting. It's basically three nonstop years of this. You talk a lot about it in your brand-new book out today.

JORDAN SEKULOW, AMERICAN CNTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: That's right. In the "Next Red Wave" we talked about it as a member of the President's legal team, we've dealt with the Russia situation the Mueller team, the FBI report, the failure after failure of the Democrats and the deep state to take down this President.

But here we go again, Sean. Right at the beginning of your broadcast, it was De-ja-vu all over again. So, the whistleblower is a partisan hack bureaucrat. And the Democrats, I guess, didn't know that when they started their phony impeachment inquiry today, because they don't have enough votes to actually open up an impeachment investigation that requires a majority vote. They don't have those. It's again, this is the Peter Strokz. This is the, we've got to plan. It's another partisan hack who is trying to take down the President.

HANNITY: They have no idea what's in this. There is no quid pro quo. There is no smoking gun. The President is saying, yes, we want to root out corruption like you do.

SEKULOW: They are looking, Sean, for anything they can whatever means necessary. If it wounds the President great, if it takes down the President, that's the best. That's why we wrote to the "Next Red Wave" because I think this is just going to be nonstop. Leaks, whistleblowers, partisan hack, whistleblowers--

HANNITY: Not good for the country, what they are doing--

SEKULOW: --it's horrible for the country.

HANNITY: --they're injecting cancer into this system at a level we've never seen. Charlie.

CHARLES HURT, "STILL WINNING" AUTHOR: Yes, it's truly, truly astonishing. I think quite frankly what we are seeing here is that President Trump kind of called their bluff. He heard all the accusations. They don't even wait to find out what evidence there is, what the actual accusations are.

But he just says, okay fine. He throws it all out there. I think the two biggest takeaways. One is that Trump is still being spied upon, even as President. That is shocking. And if this whistleblower goes in front of Congress and testifies it will be fascinating to see what exposure that opens up to other members of the Intelligence Community that apparently did have access to these calls and share this clearly classified information with someone who was not red in on the conversation to begin with.

And the final thing I keep wondering is, how long are Democrats are going to circle the wagons to protect Joe Biden who is increasingly showing himself to be a terrible candidate?

HANNITY: Why would a Vice President of United States--

HURT: Sean, we're shocked by the transparency.

SEKULOW: They've never got used to this transparency before. They used to bleach bidding and people smashing devices like Hillary Clinton's campaign. This is a transparent President who says, fine you want to see it here you go you can see it, just like he is done at the moment.

REVERA: I understand the revelation and all of the exposing of Joe Biden. But we have to remember the warmy punk, in the permanent government that he's dropped from the President of the United States and his secret conversation with the head of another country.

I mean, how can you trust anything around you if you are Donald Trump? They are stabbing him in the back. They have tried to sabotage his presidency since the minute one, since the second he was elected. I think it's really pathetic and this will rebound on them in a very profound way.

HANNITY: I agree with that completely. All right, Jordan good luck on the book. Charlie, good to see you, Geraldo, good to see you. That is all the time we have left. We'll never be the hate, rage, psychotic media mob, that's them. Let not your heart be troubled. Laura Ingraham taking it away.

Laura?

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