Ingraham: The lessons of the Kavanaugh battle

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Ingraham: The lessons of the Kavanaugh battle

If the GOP gives into the rabid mob mentality in this current fight, they will just embolden the worst instincts of the left.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," September 25, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: We are not the destroy Trump media. This is an important week for the country. We hope you'll stay with us. Let not your heart be troubled. Laura Ingraham, who've invaded our territory in Washington, D.C. today, is live next, Laura.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Hannity, why are you up on the roof? Is that the cooler place to be? You and Martha are up on the roof and we are just in our lonely studio.

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: Unbelievable.

HANNITY: Slow down! Slow down. There is actually a huge party going on over there. They're just playing Earth, Wind and Fire.

INGRAHAM: All right, we're good.

HANNITY: You complain you don't go to Singapore, you complain you don't go to Helsinki, you complain you are not on the roof, why all the whining? What's up with that? You sound to me like a liberal.

INGRAHAM: I want you to do the white man dance, that kind of dance, you know, the middle-aged guys do when Earth, Wind, and Fire comes on. Come on, you got to go do that Hannity. I'm just kidding.

HANNIITY: Wow.

INGRAHAM: It was a great show tonight.

HANNITY: Yes, that is what they call that dance, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Great show tonight Hannity. All right, everybody. Welcome to "The Ingraham Angle." I'm Laura Ingraham back in Washington on another very important news night. Throughout tonight's show, we're going to reveal exactly how the left is working to delegitimize the Supreme Court nominee and why the Kavanaugh battle is so important to the future of the Republican Party, the court itself, the country, and yes, to your family.

Plus, breaking reports tonight on the fate of Rod Rosenstein. Congressman Jim Jordan has something to say about it all. He'll be with me later in the hour. But first, the lessons of the Kavanaugh battle. That is the focus of tonight's "Angle."

Well the president gave Republicans a master class in retaliating against the tactics of the left today. Undoubtedly weary of watching the daily smear storm buffeting a Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump decided it was time to do what he does best, fight back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Democrats are playing a con game, C-O-N. A con game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

TRUMP: They know it's a con game. They know he's high quality. And they wink at each other. They are winking. They know it's a con game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Donald Trump is never going to be content to hang back and play defense when he sees his agenda in jeopardy. He tried that a little bit a few days last week when the Ford allegation was dropped and he won praise for being measured and presidential.

That's nice, but meanwhile, his nominee was under massive left-wing assault as Republicans on the committee were bending over backwards to accommodate the accuser's demands for delays and various conditions. Well, Trump is back and not a moment too soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Is a shame that you can do this to a person's life. I will tell you, maybe even more important, who is going to want to go before this system to be a Supreme Court judge or to be a judge or to be even a politician?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: It's a great point. I mean, notice how he boils it all down to a stark set of facts? Facts that can be understood by all Americans. And he's unafraid -- when everyone else is telling them don't do it, don't do it -- when necessary, to counterpunch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Thirty-six years ago? Nobody ever knew about it, nobody ever heard about it? And now a new charge comes up, and she says, "Well, it might not be him. She thinks, maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits that she was drunk. She admits time lapses. There were time lapses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And he's taking the same approach on the world stage. At the U.N. today, as the global elites shifted in their chairs uncomfortably, he delivered a fiercely pro-American, pro-sovereignty message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will never surrender America's sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy. America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, he is defiant. He's unapologetic, clear. We need more, not less of that today. But I want to get back to Kavanaugh because last week with Trump on the sidelines, Senate Republicans walked right into the trap set by the left-wing smear squad.

So folks like Senator Flake, Collins, and Murkowski, they felt pressured to give into the MeToo militants, forcing Senate Judiciary committee chair Chuck Grassley to postpone last Thursday's Kavanaugh vote. When the Democrats, though, were given an inch, they took a mile, and they began to slowly take the confirmation process hostage. And what did Republicans get for all of their cooperation and sensitivity? An extended, vicious news cycle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH, D—IL.: I've heard, you know, many, many predators say and refute allegations against them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has nothing to gain here and everything to lose, that he was a drunken, almost rapist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And think about that. They are willing to put on the Supreme Court someone who very well may be a sexual predator.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

INGRAHAM: A mob-like circus in the hallways of the Senate offices, and to now anti-Kavanaugh nasties are targeting and trying to humiliate Republican senators when they are out in public.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: We believe the survivors. We believe the survivors. We believe the survivors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: I think most Americans bristle at this stuff. These uncivil tactics and slimy smears against good people I think are exposing just how radicalized, how contemptible some strains of today's Democratic Party has become. But I think there is something positive that has emerged in all of this.

Republicans are beginning to see what they are capable of actually accomplishing when they work together. Without the interparty fights, the warfare interparty, they can actually do a good deal of good. I am told that President George W. Bush is making calls on Kavanaugh's behalf. And it was very encouraging to see McConnell stand firm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R—K.Y., SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Justice matters. Evidence matters. Facts matter. Vague, unsubstantiated, and uncorroborated allegations of 30 plus-year-old misconduct where all the supposed witnesses either totally deny it or can't confirm it is nowhere near grounds to nullify someone's career or destroy their good name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Amen. And it's about time all Republicans called this out, what they have done to Brett Kavanaugh for what it is. It's a total disgrace. But the Democrats of course conveniently look the other way when their heroes are accused of rape, abuse of interns, and even when they leave a woman to die in five feet of water.

But Kavanaugh, with no criminal record and no pattern of abusive conduct, must be destroyed at all cost. A lot of you may not know that Texas senate candidate Beto O'Rourke, the new darling of the left, actually has a criminal record, including a DWI and a burglary arrest but no big deal. OK, come on. At least he condemned what happened to Ted Cruz last night. That was nice.

Negotiating with terrorists, we hear that it's always a bad idea, almost always. By doing so, what do you get? You get more terrorism. It is good that the GOP has not given into this rabid mob mentality because to do so would have only emboldened the worst instincts of the left.

Senator Grassley's decision to schedule the Kavanaugh committee vote this Friday in the morning is another positive development tonight. If the GOP continues to fight for fairness and justice in the way that Trump has on issue after issue, we may not only see a Justice Kavanaugh. We may just hold the majority come November. And that's THE ANGLE.

Joining me with reaction, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in New York and here with me on set, chairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp and Democratic strategist and University of Maryland professor Jason Nichols. Jason.

JASON NICHOLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Take it away.

NICHOLS: Well, I think there are a couple of things that you said that were really important. Number one, that the president definitely fights for his agenda but he doesn't always fight for the American people. And that is a big problem.

I think also there is precedent for doing a full investigation. There is no reason to rush this process. I 100 percent believe in due process, Laura. I believe that Brett Kavanaugh deserves 100 percent to be able to clear his name if he is not guilty of these crimes.

INGRAHAM: How does he clear his name here?

NICHOLS: Well, he gets a full investigation so that one day when his daughters go and Google this, they can see our father was not guilty --

INGRAHAM: Oh, really? That's what they're going to Google? Because guess what, when we Google various conservative names right now, including mine, the nastiest, nastiest things come up. That is why I don't Google anymore.

NICHOLS: Hey, nasty things come up --

INGRAHAM: Guess what -- but there is no clearing your name. That is the old Ray Donovan line from the -- where do I go to get my reputation back? That's what Ray Donovan famously said. He was cleared. He never really did get his reputation back.

MATT SCHALPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: Look, Laura, I think we actually --

INGRAHAM: Hold on. We got to go.

SCHLAPP: I think we actually will settle this at the ballot box. I completely agree with what you said in your opener because this has all become intertwined. You have Republicans around this country that are distrustful of what their party will do when it comes to a fight and I agree with you. They are standing firm, Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell.

They are doing the right thing. I actually think the Republicans realize, if they boggle, if they bungled us, if they dropped the ball when it comes to Kavanaugh, there will be a meltdown in November. And I think these Republican senators understand, this is the time to stick together and keep your promise and get it done or the Republicans will have a revolt.

INGRAHAM: The base is going to revolt. The base will be in revolt.

SCHLAPP: I'm not sure it comes back if it happens.

INGRAHAM: They said it on my radio show. They've said it to us in tweets. If the Republicans cannot get Brett Kavanaugh through, Pam Bondi, a Bush guy, who is about as middle-of-the-road as a juror, fair, respected, then who will they going to get through? I mean, he was the consensus pick for Republicans. He wasn't, you know, a couple other people that were on the list who were considered more conservative.

He was a Bush guy. And so Bush is picking up the phone and he's calling people and saying, guys, this is ridiculous, what has happened to him. Pam, I want to play for you something that John Clune, Deborah Ramirez, the second accuser's attorney said today with I think it was on, yes, Anderson Cooper. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: If there is no FBI investigation and it was just a matter of submitting testimony and evidence to the Senate Judiciary Committee, to committee investigators, that is not something you recommend that your client do?

JOHN CLUNE, ATTORNEY FOR DEBORAH RAMIREZ: I wouldn't recommend that you do that, no. That kind of cross examination cannot be a replacement for a meaningful investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Pam, you are a state attorney general. If you care about getting all the facts out, get them out as any way you can. I mean, it's a little late in the game to be entering third and fourth witnesses. "New York Times" wouldn't even go with this story. Your thoughts on what his concern is, though?

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF FLORIDA: Well, I mean it's the 11th hour, it's ridiculous. And good try Jason on the due process. As Laura said, I've been a prosecutor since my early 20s and you know, due process, the rule of law is being unraveled here if they get away with this.

It's about the presumption of innocence. Ramirez, there is nothing to even confirm her story. She can't even confirm that it's Brett Kavanaugh. This is a good man and thank goodness he has a strong wife and it's a shame that his daughters even have to endure this.

You know, really, it sunk to a new low for all of us to have to listen to this, and this good man. I know him, Matt, you know him much better than I. Laura, you've known him. And to serve in public office, when it sinks to this low, to serve your country, and give back these vicious attacks, it's despicable.

INGRAHAM: Jason, I want to go back to this idea of what you do in college. You are a professor. Kids in your classes go out in a weekends, have fun, yes?

NICHOLS: Sure.

INGRAHAM: They go have fun and probably drink a little bit, right. They're probably under 21.

NICHOLS: Sure.

INGRAHAM: Do you think 30 years from now, when they are for a big job, maybe in the military, maybe they go to some CEO of some company, that one person with no corroboration should be able to stop one of your students from getting a job? Do you think that would be fair, you have to prove your innocence?

NICHOLS: Again, I think that what's fair -- what's fair is if they are accused of sexually assaulting somebody, that there is an investigation, and that is all the people are asking.

INGRAHAM: OK, so one person they could do --

NICHOLS: But there's more than -- Laura, there is more than one person. There is more than one person.

SCHLAPP: No, no, no.

INGRAHAM: No, no, no.

NICHOLS: No, it's not. Laura, it's not.

INGRAHAM: There is no corroboration --

NICHOLS: If there is a whole lot of shaming of Ramirez because, oh, she was drunk. First of all, 50 percent of sexual assaults involve alcohol.

INGRAHAM: No, I'm not shaming anyone.

NICHOLS: Well then there is more than one person.

INGRAHAM: No, no, no. I'm not shaming anyone.

NICHOLS: Let's not say there's no --

INGRAHAM: I'm not shaming anyone. I have no doubt that something did happen, probably to both of them. I have no reason not to believe that. But what I will say is that any man, a brother, a husband, a father, a cousin, this could happen to any man in the United States.

Of course there are sexual assaults and of course there is. There is no due process -- due process isn't having to prove your innocence. That is innocent until you are proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. That is not the standard.

NICHOLS: I want law enforcement to do an investigation.

SCHLAPP: But they have. No, no, no, they have. I want to take this head on because he's had six FBI full background checks. Half of his life, he has had the FBI checking everything about him. When they do those background investigations, they check everybody in your past life.

They want to make sure you can't be blackmailed. They want to make sure there is nothing serious that will compromise your ability to do the job. That was all done. And the fact this is this, Joe Biden said it during the Clarence Thomas hearings. The FBI simply gives us what she says and what he says, and at the end of the day, we will learn nothing more if the FBI spends one more minute --

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: So a three-day investigation is going to cause a problem? That's what happened with Anita Hill.

SCHLAPP: You will learn nothing new.

NICHOLS: There was a three-day investigation.

SCHLAPP: It's the Senate.

NICHOLS: Then give it to him.

SCHLAPP: It's the Senate's job at a confirmation. They have lawyers on both parties. It's their job to do the investigation.

INGRAHAM: I mean, no one… idea that people are interested in getting out the truth here, this is an all-out smear of a good man.

NICHOLS: I have nothing against Brett Kavanaugh.

INGRAHAM: I'm not saying you do. I'm just saying this process is not geared toward finding the truth because we know -- how many of us could figure out, what did I do 36 years ago?

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: The right trots out Juanita Broaddrick every five minutes and that is probably 45-years-old. And I believe she --

SCHLAPP: Don't go after her. That's not--

(CROSSTALK)

SCHLAPP: Let's not do that.

NICHOLS: -- the right to the same thing.

INGRAHAM: Right, well, she didn't get it. She didn't get it. She was laughed off.

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: I agree!

INGRAHAM: Guys, and Pam, I want you to respond to this. There was a guest on CNN today, Yodit Tewolde, talking about the comparison between Bill Cosby and Kavanaugh. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YODIT TEWOLDE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This is a monumental defining moment this week, when you have someone like Cosby going to prison and then in the same breath having Kavanaugh possibly going to the highest court in the land, and so anyone that's defending Kavanaugh could not in the same breath now apply this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Pam, take it away on that.

BONDI: I can't believe that they would even use those two names in the same sentence. Bill Cosby is an accused rapist. Brett Kavanaugh has devoted his entire life to serving others and the rule of law. They are attempting to destroy a good man. This case does not warrant any investigation, none whatsoever.

There is no corroboration. That is why the FBI won't look at it. There is nothing there, as Matt said, he's gone through six FBI background checks. And if anyone can come forward -- Jason, if someone tried to say this about you, it would be disgusting and despicable. There is no corroboration at all. Nothing.

NICHOLS: Well then why not bring in Mark Judge, why not bring in people -- I'm not --

BONDI: There is nothing to go forward. Nothing left at all.

INGRAHAM: I think the Democrats better watch out because if they want to go down this road for every nominee --

BONDI: Bring it on.

INGRAHAM: -- tables are going to be turned and you better be starting to… what you did in eighth grade, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: You cannot put every man in the target zone. It's not fair. And real victims of sexual assault have also spoken out against this, saying it hurts our cause. So it plays both ways. Passion is a very high on this issue. Fantastic panel, as always, gentlemen and Pam, thanks so much.

And in a latest stall tactic by the Democrats, they are bristling at this Republican suggestion that a sex trauma expert question Christine Blasey Ford this Thursday. Republicans though are rightfully pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS COONS, D—DEL.: By hiring an outside attorney who is a specialist in such crimes of prosecution, this will turn into a trial of Dr. Ford being conducted by someone they have hired.

MCCONNELL: We want this hearing to be handled very professionally, not a political sideshow, like you saw put on by the Democrats when they were questioning Judge Kavanaugh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joining me now on why this could be the right move for the GOP, former sex crimes prosecutor, Nicole Debord. Nicole, the "Washington Post" is reporting that Rachel Mitchell, she's an Arizona County sex crimes prosecutor, could well be selected to question Dr. Ford. Now, why could this be actually a good idea in your opinion given what is at stake here?

NICOLE DEBORD, FORMER SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: Well, why not have someone who is familiar with the issues and these types of cases ask the questions that people have been trained over the years in handling these cases to anticipate? That way, everyone will have the answers to whatever questions they may think of as it relates to this issue during the hearing, as opposed to after.

Hey, why didn't we ask this? Why didn't we ask that? By bringing in an expert who knows the kind of questions that come up in these cases, we will know it at the hearing.

INGRAHAM: Yes, I mean, each senator only gets five minutes so why would they want to waste the time trying to figure out which direction to go in when a sex crimes prosecutor can see the signs of trauma. It is very curious to me by the Democrats, many of them who have already declared this a crime, wouldn't want to someone who prosecutes these crimes to do the questioning.

It's almost as if they want the visual of the men interrogating a victim or an alleged victim. By the way, a letter for Michael Bromwich, who is Ford's lawyer, one of her lawyers, said the following. "This is not a criminal trial for which the involvement of an experienced sex crimes prosecutor would be appropriate. Neither Dr. Ford nor Judge Kavanaugh is on trial. The goal should be to develop the relevant facts, not try a case." Your reaction to that, Nicole?

DEBORD: How better to develop the relevant facts than to have somebody who tries these cases all the time, asking the questions that the people would want to hear the answers to. It can't be a mistake to have somebody who handles these cases regularly ask the types of questions that you would experience in court.

Now, I recognize that this is not a criminal trial, but it is an allegation of a serious nature and it's the kind of allegation that this particular proposed questionnaire has asked and has asked questions about on many occasions.

So to me it seems like a no-brainer. Have somebody with experience as opposed to somebody who really knows about politics more than they know about these types of trials ask the questions.

INGRAHAM: I mean, if everybody wants to take it out of the political realm, great. I think it's a great idea. Thank you so much, Nicole.

And up next, who is funding the protester groups that are swarming Washington? They want to take down Brett Kavanaugh, but who's putting the money up? An "Ingraham Angle" investigation followed by a woman who actually came to D.C. after she got an email from one of these groups. She is with us. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: OK, who is exactly behind promoting these occupations and protests against Judge Kavanaugh? We have an "Ingraham Angle" investigation for you tonight. The Women's March has been at the forefront of the anti-Trump movement, as we all know, day after inauguration and the big protest.

And are taking the lead now, stating just today, "We are organizing an impactful, non-arrest, direct action to make sure that the Senate knows that #WeBelieveChristine and demand that they #CancelKavanaugh and vote no on his confirmation."

The Women's March group counts Planned Parenthood and Natural Resources Defense Council as their premier partners. Both groups have actively opposed Kavanaugh since he was announced. Now, those groups take on significance because of their association with George Soros.

According to an extensive study by the Media Research Center, 100 of the 544 Women's March partners have received a total of $246 -- am I reading this right -- 637,217 from Soros at last count. It's Trump change. Here to react, Triana Arnold James, is an anti-Kavanaugh protestor from Georgia who learned of the D.C. protest from a Woman's March email.

Along with the contributing editor of "The American Spectator," Jeffrey Lord, and Dave Bossie, former Trump campaign co-chair and president of Citizens United. Great to have you all on tonight. This is a big week for Washington and the court and Triana, I am so glad you came on tonight. So, walk us through how you found out about what was happening here.

TRIANA ARNOLD JAMES, ANTI-KAVANAUGH PROTESTOR: Well, I have always been an advocate. And so through advocating and volunteering with the Women's March and other organizations, not just the Women's March, you know, you get the emails, you get the updates, you find out what is going on, and so when I found out that they were going to be here in Washington, D.C., I came from Georgia.

INGRAHAM: So you just came on your own time and you are staying in a hotel?

JAMES: I'm staying at a hotel.

INGRAHAM: You're paying your own hotel here.

JAMES: Yes. I'm not a paid protester.

INGRAHAM: OK. And when you come here, do you get -- do you get like instructions like where to go? Because I know a lot of people are at St. Stephen's church, not too far from here, but -- the meet up places, how do that work?

JAMES: Yes. There's meetings and trainings that let you know, you know, what to do, what not to do and things like that. And so it's very organized, and it's very good to be with everyone.

INGRAHAM: What you do for a living when you're not doing this?

JAMES: I'm retired, I'm a veteran.

INGRAHAM: Fantastic. And what about Kavanaugh do you not like? What do you know about him? What do you not like?

JAMES: Well, I don't have anything personally against him. I just think that this is a bad look for America. I think that he has not been forthcoming and I don't believe that we need another Clarence Thomas situation on the highest --

INGRAHAM: I clerked for Clarence Thomas. If you knew him, you would love him. He's a great person.

JAMES: And I'm pretty sure he is a great guy. I'm pretty sure he's a great guy.

INGRAHAM: I'm going to convince Triana. By the time the end of the segment, I'm convincing you because Triana is too cool. She has 12 kids she's raised with her husband, OK, eight boys --

JAMES: Eight boys, four girls.

INGRAHAM: OK, eight boys. What could happen to eight boys?

DAVID BOSSIE, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS UNITED: $250 million. They should take care of her hotel.

INGRAHAM: Yes, like what the heck? Take care of Triana.

JAMES: No, I didn't know that was --

INGRAHAM: I think they got a little help for that hotel room.

BOSSIE: George Soros -- it's not surprising that George Soros us behind this. George Soros paid for the fake dossier. Paid Glenn Simpson in Fusion GPS so, he's connected throughout all of the left-wing activities in this country and around the world. It doesn't surprise me.

What I would like to see, maybe a little consistency from these protesters. Maybe they can go out and talk about Cory Booker as a groper or maybe they could talk about Keith Ellison, you know, battering his girlfriend or may be, you know, Senator Carper from Delaware who beat his wife.

Maybe we can have a conversation that's a lot bigger than just some unfounded, quite honestly, with no evidence to back it up, no corroboration, no witnesses against poor Brett Kavanaugh. These same Democratic senators are saying that he is guilty until proven innocent. That is not how we are supposed to do this.

INGRAHAM: No, and I've got to say this, some of the criminal justice stuff that is being done, actually President Trump is actually moving on this issue --

BOSSIE: Yes.

INGRAHAM: -- I think they are actually making interesting coalitions with minority groups and others who normally don't look at the Republican Party in a very charitable way. But part of what is bringing them together is this idea that prosecutors are overzealous and are convicting people who really don't have a shot at either defending themselves or convicting them before they have really had an opportunity to put on the kind of evidence they need to. So it's interesting that these groups are kind of turning on --

BOSSIE: There's a backlash coming.

INGRAHAM: -- I don't think it's a sense of fairness.

JAMES: Well, I don't think --

INGRAHAM: -- hold on one second. Jeffrey Lord, you have done and actually you have experience in this because of your work in another judicial confirmation that involved a similar type of swarm. Tell us about it.

JEFFREY LORD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR: Yes, yes. My best friend from college was Judge D. Brooks Smith who is now the Third Circuit chief judge, Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He was the Reagan chief judge of the western district. In 2001, when President Bush 43 picked him to go to the Third Circuit, and they did exactly what they did to Robert Bork and what they are doing here.

And the thing you've got to -- you always have to gauge the groups behind the scene. For example, one senator had 21 of his 28 questions submitted to Judge Smith that I tracked down where word for word in some cases, from internal memos that we got a hold of from one of these interest groups. They are very, very powerful. And there were 27 of them who arranged -- who orchestrated against Judge Smith.

And they give stories to the press which "The Washington Post" published. They do all of these kind of things, and it's a real serious problem. And what we are seeing here are Democratic senators basically, what you can't see are the groups behind these Democratic senators that are pulling the strings, which they are doing. And George Soros as a matter of fact paid for one of those groups in 2002.

INGRAHAM: Open Society Foundation has an enormous amount of money. A huge amount of money. They can spend it anyway they want. That's the law. If they want to give money to Planned Parenthood, want to give money to National Resource Defense Council, they want to give money to the Women's March, he can do it. We are the Republicans. The Republicans have to have their own groups like this.

BOSSIE: We are. We are outgunned. They have a very dedicated, Tom Steyer, George Soros, and their leftwing billionaires --

INGRAHAM: They want to rock this vote the midterms. They want to rock this vote.

BOSSIE: They do, and elections do have consequences, and we need to make sure that our people turn out in November.

INGRAHAM: Triana, last word to you --

LORD: The one thing, if this backfires --

INGRAHAM: Well, there might be signs it's already backfiring. Triana, what do you hope to accomplish with your time here?

ARNOLD: I hope to accomplish that he receives a "no" vote. And I understand you say poor Brett, but what about Dr. Ford? What about Ms. Ramirez --

BOSSIE: She is going to get her opportunity on Thursday.

JAMES: Right. And so that is all we are asking for, that an accurate FBI investigation be conducted. Mr. Kavanaugh has not been forthcoming --

INGRAHAM: What you mean he's not been forthcoming?

JAMES: For example, he has not been forthcoming with everything about his past.

INGRAHAM: What his past -- he's been in public service for almost three decades.

BOSSIE: Six background checks.

JAMES: That's a problem.

INGRAHAM: That's the problem?

JAMES: If you are a judge, wouldn't you want to see the evidence? Wouldn't you want to hear all sides?

INGRAHAM: Do you know what you were doing 36 years ago? I don't know what the heck I was doing.

JAMES: I actually do. I actually do know what was doing 36 years ago.

INGRAHAM: What were you doing?

JAMES: I was a child model for a company --

INGRAHAM: But if someone comes along and said, you did this, you were a child model, you did this, and you are like, no, I didn't. No one is corroborating the person accusing you. Where to go to get your good name back? You don't go anywhere because --

JAMES: So why can't he ask for an FBI's investigation in order to get his name back?

BOSSIE: That's not his job, and that's not the FBI's job. And we learned that from Clarence Thomas.

JAMES: And I'm not backed by George Soros. I don't know him. So I don't have any connection to him.

BOSSIE: Thank you, Joe Biden.

JAMES: But I just think we need to take a polygraph, do an FBI --

INGRAHAM: Polygraphs aren't admissible in court for a reason. Guys, we're out of time.

Ahead, a former FBI official reacts to the idea Triana is putting forth that the agency could somehow get to bottom of these charges against Kavanaugh. Is that realistic, and could that ever really happen? More than three decades ago? Plus Frank Luntz tells us why the Democrats tactics might be backfiring. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: The Kavanaugh accusations lacking all corroboration were purported to have taken place over 35 years ago. Yet still the calls for the FBI involvement continue you heard from our previous segment. Now, I wonder what prominent Democrats, say, former vice presidents, were saying that during the Clarence Thomas hearings?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: If the next person that refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn't understand anything. FBI explicitly does not, in this or any other case, reach a conclusion, period. Period. The reason why we cannot rely on the FBI report, you wouldn't like it if we did, because it is inconclusive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: "Period, period." Don't we just love Biden. He's the gift that keeps on giving. Please run in 2020.

Here to react, Bill Gavin, former assistant director of the FBI in New York. Bill, we've all been having fun with this tape today. It was back on tape back then. But it is the talking point of the activists. I think they get their sheet of talking points, bullet point, bullet point, all we want is an FBI investigation. Bill, what's the truth about what the FBI could do here?

BILL GAVIN, FORMER ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR OF NEW YORK: it's so crazy. I just don't understand, everybody wants an FBI investigation. An investigation of what? A criminal investigation? You want the FBI to go stick their nose into someplace where they have absolutely no jurisdiction? There is no predicate offense for the FBI to look at? That doesn't make any sense.

Now, is there any -- nobody is going to deny that maybe something happened to Dr. Ford and I don't want to be de minimis of that. But let's face it, there is nothing for the FBI to look at from a forensic point of view. There has been no allegation, there has been no complaint filed by Dr. Ford locally where the FBI could go back and look at these reports and see what's in there. Nothing they can do.

INGRAHAM: Bill, but clearly Senator Gillibrand knows a lot more about investigating then you do. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D—N.Y.: A Fox News interview is not the same as an FBI interview. And if he's willing to talk to Fox News about his views, I don't understand why he's unwilling to talk to the FBI so they can do a proper investigation. He said over and over again, he wants a fair hearing. Well, a fair hearing means you have an FBI that investigates the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Bill, take it away, final thoughts.

GAVIN: How anybody that is allegedly educated and has worked themselves into the position to be in the Senate can have such an inane assumption is crazy. I don't understand what they are saying, and they don't understand the complexity of what has to be done in something like this.

INGRAHAM: Bill, it's a talking point.

GAVIN: Laura, the investigation should be of the despicable, horrible, unethical performance of Senator Dianne not-so-Feinstein. This is ridiculous what she wants done. She held that letter for, what, 45 days? Then redacted it in such a way to make it look like it would support her point of view. She offed for Dr. Ford, who she promised to maintain her anonymity, she offed her because it was her own good.

INGRAHAM: You know what I want, and Bill, thanks so much. I want an investigation of who leaked that letter. Who got that out? It's not her office, oh, really? OK. Let's investigate that, shall we? Bill, thanks so much.

And the conventional is that this Kavanaugh fight must hurt the GOP with suburban women in the midterms, right? But is that the case? For answers, let's bring in polling guru Frank Luntz. So Frank, how is this all playing out across the country?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: Everyone is paying attention to it. So in the process of moving for the session on Thursday, and I have a higher percentage who say that they are extremely or very interested in any issue since Donald Trump was elected. Everyone is going to be watching, although I actually hear that it's possible she won't show up on Thursday.

INGRAHAM: I'm betting she doesn't show up.

LUNTZ: So something to consider.

And women are paying attention to it. The key for Republicans, it was smart for them to go to outside counsel. It was smart for them to have a woman asking the questions because you knew that the Democrats were going to demonize whatever the Republicans did. That said, the GOP has to be careful about what they say and how they say it.

INGRAHAM: Apparently, they're not going to say anything because there is going to be an outside prosecutor. Now the Democrats are complaining about that.

Regarding polling, might, at some point, doesn't it appear to be obvious that this entire thing was strung out in order for Ronan and Mayer and Avenatti and the dial in accuser squad came around and try to find other people who were allegedly in some way harmed by Brett Kavanaugh, isn't that kind of becoming obvious to people?

LUNTZ: But what the Democrats didn't realize is that the closer this goes to the election, the more likely the Republican base says, I hate this, I'm going to vote, I'm going to participate. I actually think if they manage to delay the vote to the middle or the end of October, the Democrats will lose a seat or two because of it, because every Trump will vote.

INGRAHAM: The favorability of the Republican Party is the highest it's been in seven years, 45 percent, to 44 percent Democrats. Is it just the economy, part of this factoring in perhaps?

LUNTZ: And I just finished a survey, and I found the Republican numbers to be within two points of the Democrats and I thought it was wrong. So something is happening out there. And I will give one explanation. Donald Trump is talking about issues that nobody talks about. I'll give an example. Prescription drugs, prescription drug companies. Trump is actually saying that he is going to hold the companies accountable for how much they charge the American people. When is the last time the GOP had the guts to say that these medications cost too much and the prescription drug companies --

INGRAHAM: Free marketers don't like that.

LUNTZ: And he's standing up to China. We have an amazing economy right now, unemployment at record lows, more money in people's pockets.

INGRAHAM: He's laughed at the U.N. kind of, but I think he handled it really well. He said I didn't expect that reaction. It was a great moment for Trump. But the fact that the elites at the U.N. are kind of sneering at him and shifting in their seats, I don't think that sits well with the American public. I think they stand up for the president when the global elites sneer at him. They sneered at Reagan.

LUNTZ: But let's balance this, because the Democrats are still more interested in the election, and they are still more likely to vote. The Republicans still faces an uphill battle to keep the House.

INGRAHAM: Is it possible that Kavanaugh gets on the court, that encourages Republicans, gets them more excited about turning out?

LUNTZ: The later that the vote comes, the more excited the GOP becomes.

INGRAHAM: Very interesting. So it might cut against when people want to come get him on the court fast but drag it out. Frank, thanks so much.

LUNTZ: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: And some breaking news tonight on the fate of Rod Rosenstein. Congressman Jim Jordan is here next on that. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: A lot of news tonight. What a difference 24 hours can make. Reports tonight that we may not have seen the last of Rod Rosenstein. The deputy attorney general was apparently ready to quit yesterday but was worried about Trump coming after him, and today sources are telling "The Wall Street Journal" and "The Washington Post" that he will survive at least until after the midterms. If he is indeed saying my next guest wants him in front of Congress before the week is out. Joining me know, Congressman Jim Jordan. Your reaction to these reports? And we have another piece of news that we're going to talk about in a moment as well.

REP. JIM JORDAN, R—OHIO, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: That's up to the White House. Here's what I know. You got the guy who in effect is running the Department of Justice who in front of subordinates is talking about recording the commander in chief. That is never supposed -- do we really want that to happen in the United States of America? The same guy who fired Comey, the same guy who hired Mueller, the same guy who signed the third FISA renewal, the same guy who threatened a House Intelligence Committee staffer and the same guy who has made it difficult for us to get the documents we need is now inside meeting, according to "The New York Times," threatening to actually record --

INGRAHAM: A joke. It's a joke. It's sarcastic.

JORDAN: I don't care.

INGRAHAM: This is a set up. They say it's a set up for the president, fire him and it's going to be a --

JORDAN: If the president fires him or not, what we are saying is, you need to come in front of the Judiciary Committee and answer our questions. The America people need to know what took place. Who was in that meeting? Was Andy McCabe in that meeting? Was Lisa Page, was Peter Strzok?

INGRAHAM: It's in the case notes, right, it's in the case notes?

JORDAN: So McCabe must have been there, but who else was there? We need to talk to those people as well. So this is the kind of thing that, again, when you are the guy running the Justice Department, which is what Rod Rosenstein is in effect doing, you can't be making statements like that, even if you are joking around. I want to know who was in the room and what took place.

INGRAHAM: There's another report tonight that Trey Gowdy and Bob Goodlatte from Oversight and Judiciary have invited Loretta Lynch, former attorney general, Sally Yates, former acting attorney general, and I think one of the person -- Jim Comey -- to come back to testify on Capitol Hill. They sent out letters, "Politico" is reporting tonight.

JORDAN: That's good. I think it's going to take more than an invitation. I think it's going to take a subpoena.

INGRAHAM: They're not going to stroll up and say what you need?

JORDAN: Of course not.

INGRAHAM: I want Susan Rice back. I actually want her on Capitol Hill. I want the unmasking.

JORDAN: We know next week, Jim Baker, former chief counsel at the FBI, was demoted then left the FBI. The former chief counsel is going to be in for a deposition. That's important next Wednesday and then in a couple weeks, October 19th, we have Nellie Ohr.

INGRAHAM: Oh, Nellie.

JORDAN: Wife of top Justice Department official Bruce Ohr.

INGRAHAM: This is the first time.

JORDAN: First time, so that is important as well. But again, it may take subpoenas for them to be there so we can get the questions answered that we need answered.

INGRAHAM: This is what Adam Schiff on MSNBC said last night about the GOP, basically you, and the rule of law. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D—CALIF., RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Right now we need to be sounding the alarm. And we need to be calling out the Republican members of Congress who have been all too timid and at times complicit with the president's attacks on the rule of law. The speaker at the Senate leader cannot plausibly claim anymore, if they ever could, that the prospect of interfering with the special counsel is theoretical. It's real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Focusing on the special counsel deal. They are all worried about protecting the special counsel. They are not worried about protecting the rule of law but they are worried about protecting the special counsel.

JORDAN: Rule of law? Remember what took place here. The Clinton campaign paid for the dossier, a piece of garbage document. They took that document, dressed it all up to a secret court to get a warrant to go spy on a fellow citizen associated with the Trump campaign. Using one party's opposition document to go spy on the other party. And he is talking about we're infringing or hurting the rule of law? That is why we are focused on this. The kind of thing that took place there should never have it in this country and we know that it did. That is why we need Rod Rosenstein in front of us to answer questions about all this. That is why we need Lynch, Comey, all these people --

INGRAHAM: Simpson has also been invited apparently, according to the political reporting, Glenn Simpson.

JORDAN: I think Glenn Simpson said something to the Intelligence Committee that is not square with what Bruce Ohr told us in his deposition. I think he has got some real concerns, and he should be in front of us as well.

INGRAHAM: Jim Jordan, we're going to be following this very closely. Thanks for the update.

And up next, my message to all you parents about the terrible lessons that this Kavanaugh mess is teaching our children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Among the many ill effects of the Kavanaugh saga are the twisted lessons that some young people might glean from it. Among them, men are presumed guilty when accused by a woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLIE JACKSON, MSNBC HOST: Do you believe Judge Kavanaugh does deserve a presumption of innocence are not?

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, D—HI.: We are not in a court of law. We are actually in a court of credibility at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Number two, boys should fear or even avoid close relationships with girls or young women in high school and in college.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's lots of questionable things that went on -- I think there's a lot of people that would be interested in protecting graduates of Georgetown Prep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And if you are man, no matter how hard you work, how much you succeed, how devoted you are to equality, uncorroborated allegations can derail your next job or your next promotion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The easiest pathway here for Republicans and for Kavanaugh is for him to withdraw. Don't take this controversy to a court that he holds so dear, the highest court in the land. Withdraw. Have Trump nominate somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And finally, character assassination is justified so long as it serves the left's ends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIE GEIST, MSNBC HOST: If they go through a Senate hearing at it becomes a circus, they push it through, he passes, he's seated on the Supreme Court, there will be, as we said last week, an asterisk next to his name as long as he is there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Actually, the asterisk will be next to the names of once respected journalists who degraded their reputations to defame a good man.

It's up to each of us to defend our sons, brothers, and your husbands to make sure that a travesty like this does not happen again. And remember, women can be wrongly accused as well.

We'll be right back with my response to Jimmy Kimmel's sleazy Kavanaugh commentary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Time now for the last bite. On last night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the comedian offered this trenchant analysis of the Kavanaugh fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: I think there's a compromise here. And hear me out on this. So Kavanaugh gets confirmed to the Supreme Court, OK. In return, we get to cut that pesky penis of his off in front of everyone.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: I suppose you can take the boy out of "The Man Show," but you can't take "The Man Show" out of the boy. He seems to have a real obsession here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: This game show is called guess is in my pants. Now, I've stuffed something in my pants, and you are allowed to feel around on the outside of the pants. You'll have 10 seconds to then guess what is in my pants. You ready? Go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: At least we know what Jimmy's favorite clothing line is. Do you get the joke? I think. That's all the time we have tonight. Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team takes it from here. Shannon.

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