Hannity: The Mueller investigation is a perjury trap
If the leaked questions that Robert Mueller wants to ask President Trump are true, the special counsel is laying a huge trap for the president.
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 1, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to 'Hannity' tonight.
So much out in the news, Robert Mueller's witch hunt into Trump-Russia collusion, it's now on day 349. So, tonight, after 50 weeks of investigation, we still have zero evidence that Donald Trump did anything wrong, absolutely zero.
Now breaking just moments ago, this is huge from "The Washington Post", Robert Mueller threatened to subpoena the president of the United States and take the president before a grand jury. This witch hunt is way out of control. Ed Henry has a full report coming up tonight.
Plus, according to information first leak to "The New York Times", Mueller has dozens of questions that he wants the president to answer. OK, coming up, we will reveal the special counsel's most insane and ridiculous questions and why this report is full of crap. And we'll also show you how Team Mueller is trying to set a trap for the president.
And also, according to new congressional report out, a group of secret donor, they paid huge dollars, millions of dollars to take down president Trump after you elected him. We'll explain that. I also have my questions.
Now, while Trump remains the focus of this intense legal speculation, our two-tiered justice system is totally ignoring crimes from Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and so many others. So, stay tuned, we have a list of serious crimes that, in fact, really need to be investigated and will have the very latest from James Comey's Trump-derangement tour, the media's latest blatant display of bias is off the hook and an important update from the caravan of migrants demanding entry on the southern border.
Sit tight. It's time for tonight's breaking news opening monologue.
(MUSIC)
HANNITY: We start with a Fox News alert. There is absolutely zero evidence that President Trump ever colluded with Russia in any, way, shape, matter or form. And now, Robert Mueller's merry band of Trump-hating Democratic sycophants are completely and totally desperate to find anything, something on President Trump.
Late last night, "The New York Times" released a report allegedly detailing questions that Robert Mueller wants to ask Trump before the investigation concludes. If any of these leaked questions are true, be warned, Mueller is laying a huge perjury trap for the president of the United States. Which means two things, one, he has nothing. And two, it proves everything I have been saying about him and Andrew Weissmann and company.
Two of America's top attorneys are now sounding the alarm. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, PROFESSOR, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: The questions are very inartfully drawn, they are written as open-ended questions. They are not cross examination questions. They are not sharp questions designed to confront and test. They are really designed to let him ramble and talk. I suspect that that's the strategy of the special counsel, because they know that may be President Trump's weakness. If they were to ask him direct, tough, questions to which you could answer yes or no, that might not give them the advantage that they are seeking.
JOE DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: The questions are an intrusion into the president's Article II powers under the Constitution to fire any executive branch employee. To ask questions as Mr. Mueller apparently proposes to do about what the president was thinking when he fired Comey or Flynn or anybody else is an outrageous sophomoric, juvenile intrusion into the president's unfettered power to fire anyone in the executive branch. It is a symptom of how ridiculous this appointment was by Rod Rosenstein when he made the appointment with no evidence of a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joe diGenova and Alan Dershowitz are exactly right. This is a perjury trap for the president of the United States. And even more frightening are the contents of this inquiry.
Note all of the questions that include the term, what did the president think? What did the president think about James Comey? What did the president think about Jeff Sessions' recusal? What does the president think about the special counsel?
Well, I have a question for Robert Mueller tonight, when did thinking or thoughts ever become a crime? When did the United States start regulating what you may or may not to be in a person's mind? Are we going to criminalize thoughts? This list of insane, juvenile ridiculous questions goes on, including one about a statement to our friend Maria Bartiromo, the president's reaction to news reports and what discussions Trump had about terminating the special counsel. Excuse me. He never terminated him!
And again, more questions about the president's thought process. Remember, this is supposed to be -- originally was supposed to be about Russia collusion and investigation. Not to some persecution of the president on ridiculous thought patterns.
Rush Limbaugh captured it well today. He said the president should only agree to a Mueller interview if, in fact, President Trump gets the Hillary Clinton treatment. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: If Trump could secure the same identical circumstances that were granted to Hillary Clinton, then why not sit down for the interview and answer the questions? But, of course, I speak facetiously, because everybody knows that Donald Trump is not going to get to the Hillary Clinton treatment extended by James Comey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: You know, not under oath, not recorded, pretty much meaningless, send in a pro-Trump person like Peter Strzok interviewed Hillary. Yes, that's right, if we have a fair system of justice, President Trump should absolutely get the Hillary treatment for any interview with the FBI.
And just like Hillary Clinton's interview, after the exoneration was written months later, oh, Trump's interview should be conducted not under oath, not recorded, not be transcribed, and the exoneration written months in advance. And oh, yes, someone with a pro-Trump bias, let's say, me, I will conduct the questioning.
If Hillary Clinton -- how about Rush, or the great one, Mark Levine? Good idea.
If he gets the Clinton treatment, anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok for the interview, maybe, I don't know, we have a good choice of people, lots of conservatives that can interview him.
None of this is going to happen. We know that. We now know, sadly, in America, we have a two-tier justice system. We don't have equal justice under the law, equal application of our laws.
While the president is targeted in a totally off the rails witch hunt, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, all of these other deep state actors have never been charged with a crime, despite mountains of evidence that we have. For example, despite her total exoneration from the FBI, our friend, Fox News legal analysts Gregg Jarrett will join us, revealing multiple serious crimes that Hillary Clinton should be charged with, starting with 18 USC 793, mishandling, destroying classified documents, 18 USC 1505, the obstruction of justice. Remember, Bleach Bit, deleted emails, busted up devices. No charges over the multiple crimes related to her campaign shady practices relating to the Steele dossier.
Next stop, let's look at James Comey. Well, he's not under any criminal investigation as of now. Shouldn't he at least face scrutiny over 18 USC 641, the theft of government property of records after he took these Trump memos outside of the FBI? What about 18 USC 1924? The mishandling of classified information.
And remember, when James Comey lied to Congress about night signing off on Clinton's exoneration letter once before that interview took place, that's against the law, 18 USC 1621. We've got Andrew McCabe, House Republicans have referred McCabe to the I.G. for multiple crimes over lying to the FBI and McCabe was fired for lying to the FBI.
Let's see, oh, General Flynn? Why has he not been charged with a crime in this case?
Of course, don't hold your breath for an investigation into Loretta Lynch, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok or any of these anti-Trump deep state actors.
What's behind this sadly in the United States of America today is a two-tiered system of justice. It is simple, the deep state hates who you chose to be your president. They are hell-bent on seeing Donald Trump delegitimized and hopefully on their side removed from office. Obviously, that means they don't want him to succeed. And that would mean even if Americans suffer in the process.
Breaking this week, a group of wealthy secret donors -- get this -- they poured as much as $50 million into an investigation of President Trump after his 2016 election, based on the dossier. This is in the House Intel Committee report -- get this -- the top-secret anti-Trump donors even utilize the services of Christopher Steele, the foreign national, the author of the dirty dossier that we know was filled with Russian lies.
Without a doubt, this deep state is conducting a full scale political attempt to take down this president. And perhaps, the most pathetic deep state actor of all, James Comey -- well, the guy that refused to come on this show, I offered him four hours of airtime -- he's continuing his anti- Trump book tour, and is actually claiming that Trump's criticism of the deep state is dangerous for the country.
How dare he? How dare he be honest? No president has faced this before.
Comey also took some time to fantasize about what if the deep state's choice -- his choice - when, in fact, he exonerated Hillary Clinton when he knew that she committed crimes and wrote the exoneration before investigation. But he is thinking, but what if Hillary had actually won?
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would your life be like if she won?
JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I also don't know the answer to that. I think I would still be the FBI director.
(LAUGHTER)
And the reason I say that is, someone asked me to compare the two, and it's too hard to compare the two, except Secretary Clinton is someone deeply enmeshed in the rule of law, respect for institutions, a lawyer. And so, given that background, I'm reasonably confident that even though she was unhappy with the decisions at the FBI made, she would not fire the FBI director as a result. But, look, again, I don't know that for sure.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: No. I don't even think that she would have kept you around.
Let's turn to another anti-Trump actor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows who has been on the show a lot, along with several other House Republicans, they have drafted articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein over the extremely slow release or just flat out obstruction regarding subpoenaed documents related to the Clinton email investigation and, of course, the dossier and FISA abuse and the Russia investigation.
Today, Rosenstein fired back, trashing Congress. Congress has a constitutional duty and authority of oversight. Mr. Rosenstein, I would think that you read that in your Constitution.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: They can't even resist leaking their own draft.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would do you care to elaborate on that?
ROSENSTEIN: I saw that draft. I mean, I don't know who wrote it. There been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time. I think that they should understand by now that the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted. We're going to do what's required by the rule of law, and any kind of threats that anybody makes are not going to affect the way we do our job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And Congress is going to do their constitutional job and demand that you hand over the documents that they have subpoenaed a long time ago. Congressman Meadows responding on Twitter, writing, if he believes being asked to do his job as extortion and Rod Rosenstein should step aside and allow us to find a new deputy attorney general, preferably one who is interested in transparency. And I'll add also the law.
Also breaking tonight, Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Chairman Gowdy, they're requesting more information from the Justice Department surrounding fired FBI Director Comey's friend, Daniel Richman. He's the guy who used his special designation in the FBI to leak information to the press, which, of course, we know Comey wanted. Is Rosenstein going to cooperate on this one? I'm not holding my breath.
And next up, we have yet even more examples to give you from the abusively biased press in this country and their age-old tactic called bias by omission. And according to a report from NewsBusters tonight, on Monday, well, network news broadcast ABC, CBS, NBC, guess what, they completely failed to mention the South Korean President Moon suggested Donald Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. They never mentioned it. In fact, according to the NewsBusters, they only mentioned of the Nobel Peace Prize was used by ABC and NBC to mock Trump supporters who started chanting in Michigan, "Nobel, Nobel", during his rally over the weekend.
And while the media is not ignoring Trump's serious progress on the world stage, which they always do, they are mourning the tragic fight of the caravan of migrants at our southern border that want to enter this country illegally that don't respect our sovereignty. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC: The crisis at the border, a caravan with more than 100 migrants seeking asylum, arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico, but told there is no room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ABC: This is literally the end of the road for these migrants. You can see them camped out here by the dozens against the morning chill. They are literally sleeping up against the border.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC: Border showdown. The standoff escalates over that caravan of migrants from Central America. Denounced by the president, they're now at the U.S. border. Will they be turned away?
NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS: This caravan of Central American migrants traveling for more than a month is at the U.S.-Mexico border trying to cross. U.S. officials are trying to keep the group of nearly 200 people out. They want asylum. But have not been allowed to start the application process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: What the media is failing to emphasize is the Department of Justice has filed a criminal illegal entry charges to 11 members of this caravan, including one felony charge to a person who was previously deported. Now, many of these migrants scaled the border fence in California, look at that, after making their way from Central America unabated through Mexico. Mexico that routinely throws people out or in prison if they enter illegally from El Salvador, Nicaragua, or Central America.
These images that you are watching, the wall climbing, and attempting to illegally cross the border is a clear and obvious indication of how many of these migrants value our laws, respect our sovereignty. And what's worse, Mexico's total inaction. It shows what kind of so-called ally we are dealing with south of the border.
Here with the reaction to this monologue, Fox News contributor Sara Carter, criminal and civil rights attorney, and defense attorney David Schoen, and Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.
Gregg, considering we cited with you, the comments of Dershowitz, the comments of Joe diGenova, this leak which I know part of which is not true, but trying to get into the mind of the president the way they are with those ridiculous questions.
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: These questions look like they were prepared by a first-year law student who flunked out for being actively stupid. Most of the questions are either irrelevant, because they are an intrusion on the president's executive privilege or the questions as you point out, you know, the thought police. According to Mueller's theory of the law, if the president so much of dreamed about firing the special counsel, Mueller would prosecute him for obstruction of justice.
HANNITY: Let me go to David Schoen.
David, I agree, this is juvenile. The idea that maybe the president thought, OK, I have a lot of thoughts about some people. A lot of which are meaningless if they do not follow by any action whatsoever.
DAVID SCHOEN, CIVIL RIGHTS AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The questions are problematic on a number of levels, what they make here slim and clear is a following that we have said over and over and over again. There is one agenda here that is to get the president before Mr. Mueller to enable -- in order to charge him with obstruction of justice or perjury.
Those people in Congress who are considering this "protect Mueller" bill must really rethink that. This is the wrong time. It shouldn't -- besides being an encroachment on Article II, and it is certainly that, it never should be considered.
Mr. Comey in his book tour made clear with these questions that the agenda -- he said, how would he prosecute Mr. Trump? The questions he had in mind are the very same thing -- get them in front of you so you can charge him with obstruction of justice. That's the abuse of the special counsel regulations that were passed. They create a whole new class of charges so that Mr. Mueller unilaterally can charge the president with perjury, obstruction of justice, intimidation or anyone else who he believes or wants to believe is interfering with his so-called investigation. It's very dangerous.
HANNITY: Sara, let me go to the attack today by Rod Rosenstein as it relates to all -- Mark Meadows and the Freedom Caucus. And let me add one other thing, Rosenstein actually said that there are serious consequences if, in fact, the FISA courts were lied to and if it was found that they were false, didn't he sign off on one of those renewal applications? And didn't he just implicate himself right now?
CARTER: He implicated himself and he implicated Comey. And that's a very important question, Sean, because this is something that they're going to be taking a look at. We know the inspector general. Part of his reports are going to be looking directly at that, the FISA application, what was in that application on Carter Page?
And the people that signed it, they should know better. They should have thoroughly read through that FISA application. They should know exactly what they are signing off on. And it shouldn't just be ignorance.
HANNITY: Who do we know signed off on those applications? We had the original application?
CARTER: That's right. Look --
HANNITY: Then we had the three subsequent applications, that's a year.
CARTER: That's right.
HANNITY: And Comey still says he has no idea what was in the dossier. The bulk of information used to obtain that warrant.
CARTER: And Comey says -- not only does he say that, he said he didn't even know. Remember that he couldn't even say that Hillary Clinton campaign and that the Democratic National Committee actually paid for the dossier. He kept trying to blame the Republicans, even though we have evidence out there that in April, when Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC took over with Fusion GPS, then they hired Christopher Steele, that former British spy on the dossier.
I mean, there is one lie after another after another. And that's for the extortion bit that Rosenstein tried to say --
HANNITY: Who are these guys that signed off on an unverified, uncorroborated Russian dossier that never told the judges in their applications, renewal applications, Gregg Jarrett, this is -- this is a year's worth of lies.
JARRETT: It was Comey. It was McCabe, Sally Yates, and Rod Rosenstein.
HANNITY: Well, then, how can he appoint Mueller if he signed off on one of the FISA warrants?
JARRETT: And how can you sit of deciding whether or not a case should be brought against the president when he Rosenstein is a key witness in the case, in the firing of Comey?
HANNITY: How does he --
JARRETT: He's conflicted. He should have stepped aside and recused himself.
HANNITY: -- how does he recommend himself to his own comments today that if, in fact, they never -- the FISA applications, if it's false information, there are serious consequences --
JARRETT: Right.
HANNITY: -- he signed --
JARRETT: Right.
HANNITY: -- one that had false information or at least unverified.
JARRETT: Rod Rosenstein has no business being the deputy general. Hell, he doesn't have any business being a lawyer. If he doesn't understand the fundamentals of conflict of interest, then, you know, he is violating all kinds of codes of professional responsibility. And he shouldn't be a lawyer.
HANNITY: David Schoen, on Rod Rosenstein and his own words today, when he signed one of those FISA applications and if I am right, Sara, bear me out on this, he signed the last one and they still don't know, remember, it was Deputy McCabe and it would not have been an application without the dossier?
SCHOEN: Look, this has to be investigated, but your viewers should know that these applications you're talking are asking a very secret special court, only created in 1978, to authorize the most broad intrusion on the lives of Americans and others that's possible under the laws --
HANNITY: Spying on Americans.
SCHOEN: -- in a secret procedure -- that's right. I want to say one more point about these so-called questions that are out there. If this is really were for informational purposes, there's absolutely no reason the questions of that nature couldn't be put to the president in writing and couldn't be responded to through a lawyer proffer rather than --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Would you have let Donald Trump talk to this team that Mueller has put together? I would never allow it.
SCHOEN: Absolutely not, and no criminal defense lawyer worth his or her salt ever would.
(CROSSTALK)
JARRETT: It is a perjury trap.
I will give you one example that it is a perjury trap. Mueller wants Trump to recount the conversation in the Oval Office with Comey. If the president were to deviate one word from Comey's account, Mueller would charge him with perjury.
HANNITY: Last word, Sara.
CARTER: Absolutely. I mean, he should not speak with him if he doesn't have to. And John Dowd was right, his former attorney, when he fought them on it, and said there's no way the president is going to answer these open- ended questions.
HANNITY: I got to go. Thank you all.
All right. More breaking news. A live report from Ed Henry, and later tonight, Roseanne Barr, a blunt message for her anti-Trump critics and so much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right. Here now with some breaking news from the White House, more in "The Washington Post" breaking story that Robert Mueller threatened President Trump with a subpoena, we have Fox News chief national correspondent, our friend Ed Henry.
Big news tonight, Ed.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Sean. "The Washington Post" basically saying this happened in early March, rather extraordinary meeting Robert Mueller, raising the possibility of a subpoena to compel testimony from President Trump in this Russia collusion investigation. There will be constitutional questions over that, and the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Fox confirming that John Dowd, then the lead Trump attorney, told Mueller, quote, this is not some game. You are screwing with the work of the president of the United States.
Now, I have spoken to some in the president's orbit who are furious about this leak. They think that Dowd may have put this out there, along with last night's leak about Robert Mueller's list of questions. Dowd in a phone call denied that to me.
Others in the president's orbit saying maybe the president once these leaks out there so that everybody is on the same page about exactly what Mueller is asking. Plus, the White House can use the leaks as they did today is to say all of this is a witch-hunt.
The bottom line is, the list you've been talking about, over 40 questions, is so broad that people close to the process are telling me tonight it makes it less likely that the president will ever sit for an interview with Mueller. The president as I noted today charged as a witch hunt. He railed against the leaks. Insiders here focusing on the part of "The New York Times" story saying that the list of questions from Mueller was compiled by the president's lawyers, led at the time as I noted by Dowd, after a series of consultations that Dowd, you see him there, had with Mueller.
Dowd tonight told me, quote, it's not me pal, insisting that he is not leaking this information out, but he left the president's legal team earlier this year after concluding that Mueller's long list of questions could put the president in legal jeopardy if he sat for an interview. This leak is widely seen as an attempt to sabotage any interview.
"The Times" added that the leaker was a person outside of the legal team, meaning it would not likely be the White House lawyer Ty Cobb or new outside lawyer Rudy Giuliani only basically replaced Dowd since he is currently on the team. While the president wants to do an interview, I told you some of his advisers now telling me tonight, it's less and less likely, because they see this as a pile on.
Mueller pressing for answers about the president's interactions with James Comey, General Flynn, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, plus questions about whether he communicated with lawyer Michael Cohen about real estate deals in Russia which would seem to cross that red line the president talked about last year about how he did not believe it would be fair for his business dealings before he was president to be investigated.
Meanwhile, last point, Republicans Trey Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte today are trying to probe some of James Comey's leaks, sending a letter to Sessions and the Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, seeking documents on one of Comey's friends, Daniel Richman, you remember him? Comey used him as a go- between to release some of his memos. Rosenstein today said that he is not going to be extorted by -- that's a word that he used, these articles of impeachment against him being drafted by House Republicans.
I can tell you, Republican Mark Meadow tonight said that's ridiculous and that Rod Rosenstein, he said, should stick to facts instead of rhetoric, Sean.
HANNITY: All right. Ed Henry at the White House, maybe he should read the Constitution, something about checks and balances. Congressional oversight is part of that. Thank you.
Joining us now with more reaction, Florida Congressman Ron DeSantis, NRATV contributor, former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino.
I agree with Gregg Jarrett, David Schoen, Joe diGenova, Congressman, I agree with Alan Dershowitz. This is a perjury trap. This is juvenile. The idea that you're going to ask the president what was in your mind is an absurdity. And it shows just how far this has gone from so-called collusion with Russia.
REP. RON DESANTIS, R—FLA.: You are right, Sean, very few of the bullets involved the campaign. It was mostly during the transition and then during his presidency. So you have a situation where Robert Mueller, he is a DOJ employee, effectively. So he has an inferior officer in the executive branch. What gives him the right to conduct oversight over basic presidential decisions?
It has nothing to do with any type of criminal activity. What was in your mind when you talked about Sessions resigning or this or that? He does not have the right to subpoena the president for that, I don't think the president should submit to those questions.
And I agree with Alan Dershowitz and I agree with you, Sean, I think really they're not trying to investigate a crime, they are trying to manufacture a processed crime.
HANNITY: Yes. Dan Bongino, no good lawyer in the right mind at this point, knowing what we know, knowing the abusively biased team like Weismann and company that was appointed by Mueller, would any lawyer ever let this president go before this man at all?
And the idea I've read the threats, he's threatening the president early in the process when they hand it over before and cooperated and never exerted executive privilege, are you kidding me?
DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: You know, Sean, do you see the danger in this?
HANNITY: Yes.
BONGINO: They are not investigating a crime here. They are investigating Donald Trump. There is a difference. You know, when you do -- I was a former federal agent, when you do it is you investigate a crime and you find people. You do not find people and then go find the crime.
I read the questions, and Sean, these questions are very strategic. Notice how they are left open-ended. Now Ron is a lawyer, he can tell you this too. This is what you do when you interview people as a federal agent.
HANNITY: Of course.
(CROSSTALK)
BONGINO: You ask open-ended questions.
HANNITY: No yes or no questions.
BONGINO: Getting him to talk -- exactly, bingo.
HANNITY: And then Gregg pointed this out, congressman, if there is one thing that deviates and you are on a witch hunt, there is no prosecutorial discretion, the only way he gets that is Hillary Clinton. She gets -- she gets a rigged investigation. The Hillary standard is not going to apply for Donald Trump with Robert Mueller and his merry band of Democratic donors and people that withhold exculpatory evidence like Andrew Weissmann.
No, he is not going -- he will be under oath unlike Hillary, he won't have a friend interviewing him like Hillary had. The double standard is so flagrant here, do we have equal justice under the law, congressman? Do we have equal application under the law or not in this country?
DESANTIS: And just think about, just the fact that these questions are being generated, was there a copious number of questions that were asked of Hillary and her FBI interview? That was a perfunctory thing. They have already decided not to bring charges. Comey wrote the memo two months before they even interviewed her.
So the lack of zealousness and then the overzealousness here I think is very, very striking. I mean, look, it should be concerning to all of us. That's one of the biggest problem with this investigation is that they've been trying to nail anything they can to the wall, and of course you and I and Dan, we all watch the Hillary case where they didn't go after BleachBit.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Where is Jeff Sessions--
DESANTIS: They did not to go after Huma, they didn't go after any of it.
HANNITY: And how does Rod Rosenstein, be one of the -- one person that signs off on a dossier mandated application to a FISA court when they are lying to the FISA judges, how does he not recuse himself? Where is Jeff Sessions saying you never should've been in this? Get out!
BONGINO: Sean, Rod Rosenstein was also the United States attorney in Maryland on the Uranium One precursor case, the TENEX case. This guy is so conflicted, how he hasn't recuse himself or redesigned at this point is amazing. He signed that FISA warrant to Carter Page.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: He implicated himself tonight when he said, serious consequences if there is false information on a FISA application. Well, he signed one that was not verified or cooperated and Hillary paid for it and they never told the judge.
BONGINO: He needs to get off this case like yesterday.
HANNITY: All right. By the way, full disclosure--
DESANTIS: And Sessions--
HANNITY: -- I do want Ron DeSantis to win and be the next governor, unless you do not want me to endorse you, then I will take it back.
DESANTIS: Thanks.
HANNITY: All right, guys, thank you. When we come back, more breaking news where you see Roseanne Barr responding to critics upset with her for supporting President Trump. We got Watters versus Jessica Tarlov, that and more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: The "Roseanne" reboot continue to score huge ratings which of course is rattling the left since Roseanne Barr is an outspoken supporter of President Trump. She responded to her critics last night. This is -- this is a priceless in an interview with Jimmy Fallon. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: But then also with your big hit comes people that aren't so happy as well if you say that you are a supporter of Donald Trump.
ROSEANN BARR, ACTRESS: Yes, people are mad about that.
FALLON: Yes.
BARR: But you know, I don't give a (muted). Well, everybody had to choose for themselves according to their own conscience--
FALLON: Sure.
BARR: -- who they thought were the lesser of two evils. You know, everybody chose that. So I'm not going to put anybody down who didn't vote like me. This is America. It is a free country. And you know, when you weigh it altogether, you know, I just think I just felt like we needed a whole new thing. All the way. Bottom to top.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And we got it, the economy is changing. And look at what's happening on the foreign policy front.
Meanwhile, the left continues to also viciously go after Kanye West for his support of President Trump earlier in an absolutely wild interview with TMX on our friend Harvey Levin where West defended his praise for President Trump, took shots at the liberal group, well, some of the liberal groups out there in the media. Here are some it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, RAPPER: It's the mob! The mob tries to tell you what to think. The mob tries to make all blacks be Democrats for, you know, food stamps or something. I've never been into politics. I just love Trump, that's my boy. It's like the media and the liberals and the echo chamber and all of that, as having the most sore loss of all time. Like that we are going to keep putting out. It's like torture porn. We are going to keep showing you negative, negative, negative, negative, negative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And later in the interview our friend Candace Owens, well, she joined Kanye. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDACE OWENS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: In many ways I feel that the black community is going backwards, that we are literally going away from what Martin Luther King Jr. dreams. He dream in the day where we wouldn't have these things and say because I'm black therefore I must think this, because I'm black, therefore I have to subscribe to all of this.
I defected from this mentality. I said, you know what, I'm not a victim, I am a victor. And this became the most controversial thing on the internet. Donald Trump has not put forth a single policy that has harmed the black community. In fact, he's put forth many that have helped them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. Joining us now, here's two shows, not one, two, co-host of 'The Five,' and host of 'Watters' World' that you living in, and Fox News contributor Jessica Tarlov, he is going to get you one of these weeks.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS CO-HOST: Maybe tonight.
HANNITY: It could be coming--
(CROSSTALK)
JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I'm undefeated. So.
HANNITY: OK, I get to decide. All right. I'm the judge and jury here. All right. Here's the thing, Newt Gingrich now though he said, you know, at 10 o'clock on election night, 2016, a mass psychosis and traumatic event happened in the mind of liberals. They snapped and every day since they wake up hating Trump, hating Trump, hating, and look at North Korea, look at what he is doing with this relationship with China.
Look at the economy, 14 states, lowest unemployment records, lowest unemployment records for black Americans, Hispanic Americans, women in the workforce. OK, these are all records. Can you just say maybe it's time to give the guy some credit?
TARLOV: Some credit for some of these things. I gave him credit for a lot of things today.
HANNITY: Like what?
TARLOV: I was talking about his role in what's going on with North Korea and South Korea. And I do understand why there is talk--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Little rocket man came to the table.
TARLOV: I guess that he did.
WATTERS: Yes. Would crooked Hillary have brought little rocket man to the table? I don't think so.
TARLOV: I don't think that you can say that, and I think we need to know--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I don't think so.
WATTERS: With Hillary just defeated the ISIS caliphate? I don't think so. Would she have dropped the jobless rates to record lows? I don't think so.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: Why don't you want to talk about Trump? Let's not talk about Hillary, because she is not president. So we can talk about--
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Say it again, what did you say? She is not what?
HANNITY: He is winning.
WATTERS: She is really doing well.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: Come on. Yes, this is very nice. There are certainly achievements that he can speak for, you know, and conservative judges as well, lowering regulations, all of that. But at the end of the day his approval rating is not good.
HANNITY: Excuse me, it's the highest point at ever been.
TARLOV: Well, for me he started in the gutter. Now he's got -- it's like--
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: The only rating that counts is the one on Election Day. Remember that one?
HANNITY: Bingo.
TARLOV: What happens on 2018, I mean, special elections have favored democrats across the board. We have where we haven't won--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Not in Arizona.
TARLOV: We lost by six points when he won that district by 20. And it's full of older white people.
HANNITY: Older, is there a problem with that?
TARLOV: No, I love older white people--
WATTERS: What do you have against older white people?
TARLOV: -- but they tend to favor Republicans.
WATTERS: You know what, let's not -- let's not focus on race. Let's go back to what Candace Owens said about Martin Luther King.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: I'm not focusing on race.
WATTERS: Let's judge people on the content of their character not the color of their skin. For instance, I don't want you to judge me as a tall, athletic, successful white, straight male. I want you to judge me--
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: Is this happening?
WATTERS: -- by the content of my character. That's what Kanye and Candace Owens was saying.
HANNITY: You have lost your mind.
TARLOV: Yes.
HANNITY: You have lost your mind.
TARLOV: Did I win?
HANNITY: You are getting close. He's on the edge of losing. Here's -- you know what I like, I want, I always say this, I hate Bill Maher. I hate him. I hated show. I watch it occasionally and I'm like, all right, who is a dumb conservative that showed up and there is no point.
And I am watching this, but here's the point. I want Bill Maher to have all of the freedom to say whatever he wants. I want the same with Jimmy Kimmel, same with Stephen Colbert. Same with everybody over at conspiracy TV MSNBC and fake news CNN.
How about we just follow Kanye's example, freedom of speech. Let's stop feigning outrage over words and let America have an open dialogue, because liberals will not allow that because they want to suppress conservative speech.
TARLOV: I don't think that is the case. I'm perfectly--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: What's the boycott, name one liberal who boycott it. I can name you a thousand.
TARLOV: Who's boycotting Kanye Trump -- or Kanye Trump.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Wait, wait.
TARLOV: Kanye West.
HANNITY: Here's the moment on the interview.
HANNITY: I hate to say--
WATTERS: Kanye West is getting death threats--
HANNITY: -- checkmate, it's over.
TARLOV: No.
WATTERS: Kanye West is getting death threats, why? Because he just wants to make America great again.
TARLOV: Kanye West is getting death threats because he has no basic craft of history. If you look at the text messages between him and John Legend who had to explain to him about the southern strategy, for instance--
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Why are you trying to keep Kanye down? That's not very nice of you. You should be celebrating diversity of thoughts.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: Why don't you -- it's not about diversity of thought.
WATTERS: Liberals says they love diversity but not diversity of thinking.
TARLOV: He doesn't understand basic history.
WATTERS: Wow.
TARLOV: What?
WATTERS: That is very rude of you.
TARLOV: But it's true.
WATTERS: Maybe because he has a different understanding, Jessica.
TARLOV: But it's not -- there have to be facts in this room.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Is there room in the Democratic Party for diversity?
TARLOV: There are no alternative facts, there are facts.
WATTERS: Listen, Kanye is a brilliant thinker. And for you to say that he should shut up--
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: You would what he -- I didn't.
WATTERS: -- I think is disrespectful to Kanye as an artist and as an American.
HANNITY: I just say let every person express their views and the public will decide. The public is smart.
TARLOV: But that is what's happening.
HANNITY: That's why they voted for Trump over Hillary, and that's why Roseanne Barr, I loved it, she said too bad in a different way.
TARLOV: Yes. But that's--
HANNITY: All right. I have the winner.
TARLOV: Can I make my Roseanne point? Because I have a feeling I'm not the winner.
HANNITY: I love Roseanne.
TARLOV: I enjoyed her show very much, but Roseanne Barr's character there is not actually portraying a Trump conservative.
HANNITY: I love Roseanne.
TARLOV: She is pro-gay marriage, she is extremely liberal on social issues.
HANNITY: So what?
TARLOV: But that's not who the Trump voter is.
HANNITY: I'm a libertarian. Are you a libertarian?
TARLOV: No. He's like no.
WATTERS: I don't know what I am, Sean, I'm a freethinker.
HANNITY: OK. All right. Whose world is this? Kanye Trump kind of lost the fray. You're doing good after that.
TARLOV: Why, what's wrong with that, you should like that?
HANNITY: It's his world, you are living in it. All right. When we come back, expose of new information on Iran's secret nuclear program exposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Daniel Hoffman, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This regime the preeminent terrorist regime of our time, in which, you know, its goons chants death to America, death to Israel. This regime had a secret nuclear weapons program and they're trying under a very bad deal to get a nuclear arsenal. They shouldn't get it.
President Trump has stood so firm and so clearly on this issue and he said that will not happen. And that is something that I fully back. And I think it's not only in the interest of Israel and the United States, that's obvious. It is an interest of the world. This tyrannical anti-American regime should not have nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: that was the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today on Fox and Friends, talking about Iran's secret nuclear weapons program as he describe yesterday.
Here with reaction, retired CIA senior intelligence officer and Sonoran Policy Group vice president, Daniel Hoffman. I thought that presentation yesterday was perhaps one of the biggest great breakthroughs intelligence wise that I have seen in my lifetime.
I wanted to get your thoughts and the fact that the prime minister did it without notes, I'm told and put this thing out there and with all of that evidence, corroborated by our own intelligence, I want to get your thoughts.
DANIEL HOFFMAN, RETIRED SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: Israel is on the front lines, and they have been very good at tracking Iran's development of their nuclear program, and they are very concerned about Iran's use of Syria as a proxy force. Iranians are building up their capability, military capability in the Golan Height.
It was a powerful expression on the part of Prime Minister Netanyahu with Israel's concern intelligence briefing. I think from our perspective, you know, President Trump does not want to bequeath to his successor a failed Iranian policy.
Similar to the one he's having to deal with on North Korea where Iran is enriched with sanctions relief, it would have been an ICBM because that's not covered in the Iran nuclear deal, capable of targeting our homeland, and then a nuclear break out after the sunset provision closes out after 15 years with centrifuges and enrichment of uranium that they can break out with a nuclear weapon.
I mean, that's not what we want to go. The problem is that the Obama administration left this administration with really not very good options. We can scrap the deal, that's going to carry some economic costs. We could continue with this flawed deal or we could try to supplement it with other deals.
Any of those options are very tricky and challenging, you are going to see the art of the deal from Secretary Pompeo right now. I think he's--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'm very impressed. I've known Secretary of State Pompeo for a long time. He has a very impressive figure, graduated top of his class at West Point. But more importantly, I met with him, he is a brilliant thinker and strategist. I just think that we're getting to a point here. Can they lie to the world and the world not take those sites out. Am I wrong?
HOFFMAN: No, I think that you are right. And I think, look, you are seeing Secretary Pompeo front and center on the two most serious challenges, immediate challenges for us right now, North Korea and Iran. And I thought it was pretty impressive of him to get right out to the region meet with our allies, our NATO allies. We're going to have some pushback from France in particular which has, you know--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Why?
HOFFMAN: -- their natural gas firm--
HANNITY: Their intelligence has been wrong. The IAEA has been lied to repeatedly.
HOFFMAN: Yes. I mean, Iran, you know, there's an argument that they didn't fully disclose what they had done in the past as part of this deal, but you know, the French have some serious economic interests, we know it wants to increase their car production.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Really?
HOFFMAN: Total wants to increase their natural gas production with Iran.
HANNITY: It's about economics for France, really, not human safety, human lives, potential of a modern dichotomy--
(CROSSTALK)
HOFFMAN: I think it's playing a role and I think that' where you're going to see Secretary Pompeo exercising his art of the deal capability. The negotiations with our allies, it's going to be tricky.
HANNITY: Dan, thanks for being with us. I appreciate it. When we come back, a 3-year-old baseball player. Watch this. You do not want to miss it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Al right. Welcome back to HANNITY.
So the Walnut Pony Baseball League in California, has a super star in the making. His name, three-year-old Lennox Salcedo. He was playing over the weekend and gave a performance of a lifetime.
It all started when his coach told him to run to home plate as, you know, fast as he could, but Lennox had another idea in mind, and that's when he shifted gears, slowed it down, way down. He headed for home, slow-motion, the crowd is sheering as he inched his way little by little towards home plate and he scores! That's for the highlight reel. I remember those days. Run. Cheers as a parent.
All right. Before we go I want to take a minute and thank all of you. Our viewers, again making us the most watched show in cable news. Again, for the month of April, the first quarter of this year. Thank you. We'll always be fair and balanced. We're going to work harder every night. That's our promise.
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