Hannity Takes on 'Blind Allegiance' Author, Part 1
Sean battles Frank Bailey over his controversial book about Sarah Palin
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 25, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Last night, I went head-to-head with the former aide to Governor Palin who wrote the scathing and controversial new book, "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin, A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years."
Our conversation was so heated that it continued after the show ended. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Let me go through this with you because this is really serious. Because, I read the book, I see the e-mails that you got, you printed out all of these e-mails.
You told that the U.S. attorney in Tennessee that you made a copy of all the Palin e-mails. Was that true? When you made a copy of all those?
FRANK BAILEY, AUTHOR, "BLIND ALLEGIANCE": When her accounts were hacked. Absolutely, I did everything I could to protect the Palins.
HANNITY: All right, so you did it, but you actually kept the e-mails for yourself?
BAILEY: I didn't keep them for myself. I --
HANNITY: You had a CD?
BAILEY: -- out to the Palins.
HANNITY: All right, but in essence you're releasing all these e-mails in public and my question is --
BAILEY: No, that is not accurate.
HANNITY: You are releasing a lot of them in your book.
BAILEY: Sean, I am not releasing any of her personal e-mails.
HANNITY: How many e-mails are in your book?
BAILEY: You know, of my own personal e-mails, 30, 40, 50,000 e-mails. These were e-mails sent to and from me. You're confusing two very different issues.
HANNITY: Let me ask you a question. I don't save e-mails that people send me. How long were you thinking back, I'm going to save these e-mails?
And eidn't you originally have a Sarah PAC, you know one of the -- for Sarah Palin PACs, weren't you seeking one of those people on that website to help co-author the book?
BAILEY: Absolutely not.
HANNITY: I have an e-mail that your wife was discussing this herself.
BAILEY: This person was talking about a screenplay.
HANNITY: A screenplay and a book.
BAILEY: I don't --
HANNITY: And your wife was e-mailing back -- is it not true that your wife was --
BAILEY: Why don't we want a leader that will reduce the size of government? She grew government every single year. She put a Planned Parenthood --
HANNITY: Why did you stay with her?
BAILEY: Sean, I talk about that. It is a great question. I confess that in the book, but Sean, she put a Planned Parenthood judge on the Alaska Supreme Court who was just nominated by President Obama on to the Ninth Circuit. That is not a conservative leader. That's not someone who believes in your principles.
HANNITY: I'm trying to understand. I'm looking at you and I'm looking at the motivation because here you've got Sarah Palin's picture on the cover of your book. This is a back about Sarah Palin. This is a woman you say from early on, you saw all of these problems. You reveal personal information about her relationship with her husband, her relationship with her children in this book. I'm thinking, you save all these e-mails all the years you're working for her.
You think all these horrible things about her for all in period of time. You don't speak out. You are an accomplice to all this. Now you are trying to make money off this. I just want to know why? Why would you be so -- because loyalty to me is key. If I can't work for somebody because they don't live up to my principles, I quit. Why did you stay and now why are you trying to make money on it?
BAILEY: Many of the points you bring up are absolutely incorrect if I never made a dime off of this --
HANNITY: You wrote a book. Are you doing this book for free? Did you get an advance?
BAILEY: Of course I'm not doing it for free, Sean.
HANNITY: So you are making money off of it. That's my point.
BAILEY: Off of our difficult story of our life, my wife and children labored through some of the bad decisions that I made. And the decisions that I made to actually carry out things for Sarah Palin
HANNITY: I'm trying to understand this. Why the hell did you stay if you thought she was that awful?
BAILEY: You know, Sean, we absolutely need leaders that are honest.
HANNITY: You're repeating -- you're not honest!
BAILEY: I am truthful. I told the truth. You can check the facts of this book. Where is my chalkboard moment on Fox News?
HANNITY: You know what is dishonest? You're full of crap. You are sitting here sanctimoniously, talking about her children, which is unforgiveable -- I never talk about.
You ever hear me talk about Bill Clinton's children -- daughter, Chelsea? No. Did you ever hear me talk about the Obama kids? No. You say they got bad grades because of their mother. The mother wasn't around. The father was out doing his job. The kids are getting bad grades. I don't want to hear from my daughter, Bristol.
You layout all this garbage and you stayed there and you did the dirty work and you're the one under investigation and you're the one that might be indicted.
BAILEY: Check out the truth, Sean.
HANNITY: That's the truth. You are being investigated, true or false?
BAILEY: I have done everything they've asked for.
HANNITY: Are you being investigated by the attorney general?
BAILEY: No.
HANNITY: Yes, you are. The attorney general just recently reaffirmed. You say it's frivolous. This has been pending for over a year the attorney general issued a statement recently reaffirming the investigation. True or false, sir?
BAILEY: There is an ethics complaint like 20 plus that went against Sarah Palin when she was governor. There are many frivolous complaints. We have been told that thing is absolutely baseless. I've done everything that the attorney general's office has asked me to do.
HANNITY: The thing is you sit here and you throw your rocks and took your cheap shot at me in your book as well. You know something, I'm looking at you, right in the eye and I'm telling you, that if you did all these things and you said all these things for her and you compromised your values, you should have put your cover on the book. And you should have said you compromised your soul. You don't go after children. You sound like a disgruntled bitter guy that betrayed her boss and now is trying to capitalize on it.
BAILEY: What do I have to be disgruntled over? I got an amazing front seat --
HANNITY: You have an investigation and you may go to jail.
BAILEY: Come on! I got an amazing front seat to politics. I got a chance to send up 15 judges to operate in our state. I mean, I got an amazing opportunity. I'm not --
HANNITY: Thanks to Governor Palin.
BAILEY: Absolutely. I'm not bitter. And thanks to the hard work of a lot of hard --
HANNITY: This book isn't bitter?
BAILEY: That's right, it's not. It is owning.
HANNITY: How would you like it if I spent time around your wife, your children, your family and I saved all your e-mails for years and had opinions that were evolving about you, but I kept working with for you, I kept being friends with you. Saving your e-mails and wrote about your kids. I wrote about your relationship with your wife. And I betrayed you -- wait a minute, how would you feel? Answer that question.
BAILEY: I will. But if I put myself out there as someone that I'm not, I would hope that somebody, somebody who loved me, somebody who cared about me, would say, you know what, Frank, you are wrong. She surrounded herself with people that are cheerleaders, and that's sad.
HANNITY: If I was in your -- I would go to you privately. I wouldn't publish your e- mails.
BAILEY: People have.
HANNITY: I wouldn't publish your e-mails.
BAILEY: People have and people do.
HANNITY: I wouldn't talk about your children or your wife or things that I learned in friendship because you know what? That's a betrayal. You're doing this for a buck. It's sad.
BAILEY: That's crazy, Sean.
HANNITY: It is true. Put your own picture on the cover of the book.
BAILEY: My picture is on there. You know my boy said to me --
HANNITY: By the way, was that photo cropped?
BAILEY: Were your books Photoshopped at all?
HANNITY: No, not that I know of. I have no idea.
BAILEY: Well, that's the thing, it's up to the publisher.
HANNITY: But wait a minute, you put your picture with you behind her, but that's not a real picture is it?
BAILEY: My boy looked at that picture and he said daddy, why are you so sad?
HANNITY: But that's not a real picture! You had a picture of her with other people that you cropped and put you behind it!
BAILEY: Are you just taking off of her talking points?
HANNITY: I don't have her talking points! I have not talked to the governor about this! Excuse me! I have not talked to the governor about your book, no!
BAILEY: You are taking talking points from -- OK.
HANNITY: But I read on the Internet that you photo cropped it. Is that right or wrong?
BAILEY: Absolutely, it's fine!
HANNITY: So it's the illusion that you're sitting behind her.
BAILEY: It was a difficult, difficult day in the life of Frank Bailey.
HANNITY: All right, I got to go. Frank, appreciate it, thank you.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
Content and Programming Copyright 2011 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2011 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox