Joe diGenova: Comey memos constitute a 'suicide note'

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Joe diGenova: Comey memos constitute a 'suicide note'

James Comey says in his memos that Trump wanted to know of any wrongdoing among his team; Alan Dershowitz and Joe diGenova react to the redacted Comey memos on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 20, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to the special edition of Hannity, deep state under siege. Now tonight the private Comey memos are out. And the disgraced former FBI Director along with his deep state friends, they are being completely exposed. Now, in just moments, we're going to show you some of James Comey's blatant lies and contradictions brought to light by these memos.

We'll also break down how Comey may tonight be in serious legal jeopardy. And we'll also explain how these revelations are just one more layer of proof that President Trump never colluded with Russia in any way, shape, manner or form. Or did he ever attempt to obstruct justice in any way. Also tonight, after President Trump's significant diplomatic progress aboard and huge economic successes right here at home.

The Democratic Party is desperate to keep this false Trump-Russia narrative collusion alive by turning to their favorite weapon. Let's start a frivolous lawsuit. What a sham. It's time for the democrats to face the music. These insane conspiracy theories are now falling apart right before their eyes. Sit tight, we are covering all of this, plus there is yet another pathetic moment from Hillary Clinton all in tonight's breaking news opening monologue.

Alright so being threatened with a subpoena finally Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein released James Comey's memos to congress. And the former FBI Director is now in serious trouble tonight, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the justice department is now currently probing the documents over classified information.

And they are, quote "at least two of the memos that the former FBI Director James Comey gave to a friend outside of the government contained information that officials now consider classified." Now, just remember, a few days ago, on Sunday night. James Comey, he assured all of us that those memos were all unclassified. Take a look.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OVER: He made a controversial decision to leak his memos to a friend who read them to the New York Times.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: The president has tweeted innumerable times calling you a leaker. What's your response to President Trump?

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Look, it's true. I mean, I'm the one who testified about it. That's how people know about it. I gave that unclassified memo to my friend and asked him to give it to a reporter. That is entirely appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Alright. So is James Comey lying? All signs now tonight point to yes. Listen to how Comey's story is changing during his recent interview with Jake Tapper, take a look.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Senator Grassley, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee says there are seven memos. He says four of them are classified. Is that right?

COMEY: I don't know, because I don't have the memos. I don't know exactly how many there are. Some may be memos. Some may be emails. There is somewhere between five and 10. It may be seven. It may be eight. I don't remember. I think some of them -- I know when I created some of them they were classified. But I don't know how many of that group.

TAPPER: One of them is, the classified one is obviously from when you told President Trump in Trump Tower about what was in that two-page annex about the Steele dossier, the summary of what was in the Steele dossier. What would be the other classified ones be about?

COMEY: Well, I can't answer that if there classified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, of course, another damning sign that Comey unlawfully leaked classified information comes from the actual memos. For example, note how the Justice Department released only the redacted version to Congress, blackening out the dozens of section and words here. Now why redact information if it's not classified? And perhaps the most obvious sign that Comey leaked secret classified information comes from his own words and I'm quoting directly here "I am not sure of the proper classification here so I have chosen secret."

Now, according to reporting from Catherine Herridge, we are now learning that the Justice Department's probe of these memos is just part of a broader review of Comey's communications outside of the bureau, including his conduct with media organizations. Now, remember, this all comes after what might be the most unbelievable line in the memos when Comey actually writes that President Trump, "Said I said I don't do sneaky things. I don't leak. I don't do weasel moves."

Okay, just a few moments after writing those words Comey would leak those very memos, to a friend, who then leaked them to the New York Times. Setting in wheels the motion for Comey's best friend Robert Mueller to be appointed as Special Counsel, which was his goal. In a moment Alan Dershowitz and Joe diGenova will join us to weigh in on the legal jeopardy that James Comey is perhaps facing. But first we have yet another glaring Comey contradiction to bring you.

In an interview with the The New Yorker, James Comey actually agreed Christopher Steele, the author of that discredited phony, unverified Clinton bought and paid for Russian propaganda dossier is "credible and reliable". But they also fired him. Take a look.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID REMNICK, THE NEW YORKER: Jane Mayer wrote a very comprehensive piece in the New Yorker about Christopher Steele's dossier and about Christopher Steele. Is he considered reliable, according to your sources as an intelligence agent?

COMEY: Yes. As it was described to me when it came in, it was raw intelligence, so a series of reports from a credible person, with a reliable track record, and a known experienced and sourced network in Russia. And so it was something to be taken seriously. Didn't mean it was all true but it was to be taken seriously. And its core assertion was corroborated by other intelligence. Its core assertion being the Russians have a campaign going on to interfere with the American election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. So why did they fire Christopher Steele? By the way I want a question answered. Did Comey also pay Christopher Steele? Now he praises the former British spy, but, still, to this day, he can't verify any of the information found in the dossier, including the totally untrue Russian lie about Trump, Ritz Carlton, Moscow, hookers urinating on a bed, which the media is obsessed with. And this is huge, according to Comey's memos; the president actually encouraged the FBIs investigation into Russian medaling and possible collusion.

Based on a conversation that Comey had with Trump on March 30th of last year, Comey writes in his own memos that President Trump told him if there's some satellite, I took this to mean some associate of his or his campaign, that did something, it would be good to find that out, but that he, personally he hadn't done anything. So, not only did the president want to fully investigate everything related to Russia, it also clearly contradicts any claims that President Trump wanted to obstruct this investigation.

Now, the president is reacting to the release of Comey's memos. He wrote on twitter, "James Comey memos just out and show clearly there was no collusion, no obstruction. Also he leaked classified information. Wow. Will the witch-hunt continue?" Now, we are now in day 338 of the run-away Mueller probe and it there is still zero evidence of collusion.

Now, this proves that this investigation has gone way off the rails. It has turned into a total witch-hunt and we're also learning another interesting revelation about James Comey from his ongoing self-aggrandizing book tour. Despite claims from the mainstream media, many democrats, well we now know that James Comey is not a republican, hasn't been for a long time. Gee, thanks for telling us.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

REMNICK: You have said before that you are or were a republican until very, very recently; is that correct?

COMEY: Well, I really wasn't. Last time I really thought of myself as a Republican was in 2012. I made a clear decision this year I'm not going to register as a republican not going to be a republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Naturally in that very same interview Comey also said that the country would be better off with Hillary Clinton as President he is not political at all. Take a listen.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

REMNICK: Do you think we would be a lot better off with Hillary Clinton as president than Donald Trump?

COMENY: Certainly given her commitment to our traditions and norms and values and the rule of law, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Wow, really? Now this shouldn't come as a surprise after the special treatment Clinton received from Comey during the criminal investigation into her private email server. We know she committed crimes and we also know that Comey put the fix in. We all know about the exoneration starting in May before the investigation in July, with Comey agreeing to call the investigation a matter when it was an investigation. And of course the FBI looking the other way while Hillary Clinton destroyed 33,000 e-mails that were subpoenaed, acid washed the hard drive with bleach bit and then had an aide beat up her devices with a hammer.

But, all of this white glove treatment didn't stop Hillary Clinton from victimizing herself following the 2016 election results. Now, according to experts from a brand new book titled "Chasing Hillary", ten years, two presidential campaigns, and one intact glass ceiling. Clinton is bemoaning that, "they were never going to let me be president". Really, Hillary? You have her. You have the media, the deep state.

All the political elites were actively working to help make you president. And despite your criminal history, and the complete and utter failure of secretary of state, that's a pretty big line of support. Of course, Hillary Clinton is not the only person having a hard time coping with the 2016 election results. Now, after months, over a year of investigations zero evidence of collusion, now the Democratic Party is so upset that it's all coming to an end and now grasping at straws.

And the DNC, crybabies that they are, have today officially filed what is a laughable, completely frivolous lawsuit alleging that Russia, the Trump campaign, WikiLeaks, all conspired to interfere with the 2016 election. So have you sore loser democrats now actively trying to use the court system to malign the president further, distract Americans from progress that we're actually seeing every day in this country. And abroad, including a what, booming economy, record low unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, tax cuts that are putting more money in people's pockets.

And along with some very significant diplomatic progress in North Korea and elsewhere around the world, which is, of course, a clear forceful, and successful response that we saw in the case of Syria, and the use of chemical weapons, and biological weapons. So don't be fooled by democrat's politically motivated lawsuit here. It's a joke. It's meant to create distractions. They can't let go.

And they can't admit they were wrong and that they pushed the phony conspiracy theory. This country is on the right track right now and the left's wild theories, their conspiracy black helicopter theories are falling apart before their eyes. Just as we have predicted on this show over and over again. So we have been saying 2018 is the year of the boomerang. Joining us now, is the author of the new personal revelation, RNC spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany is with us.

Fox News national security strategist Dr. Sebastian Gorka, and Fox News contributor Doug Schoen. Kayleigh, start with you. I think -- you know - the -- James Comey's own memo, if there's some satellite, he took it to mean associate of his campaign did something, it would be good to find that out. Okay. That sounds like he wants the investigation to be thorough, complete, and even if it's people around him. He wants to know who did what, and after a year plus, we have nothing.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, RNC SPOKESPERSON: Right, Sean. That sounds like the opposite of obstruction of justice. That sounds like president fully cooperating with the investigation and to echo that James Comey says in his book that none of his conversations with the president rose to the level of illegality. There is no there, there to quote Peter Strzok. There is no there, there with collusion.

There is no there, there with obstruction. He's been cleared by the intel committee. Robert Mueller has said you are not a target of this investigation. Rod Rosenstein has said it and in Comey's memo he says to the president three times you are not under investigation. This president has cooperated. He should be absolved and Robert Mueller needs to pack up, go home, move on.

HANNITY: You know think of the week we had you, Dr. Gorka where first you have the congressional criminal referrals, Hillary Clinton, Loretta Lynch, Strzok, Page, Comey, McCabe, anybody involved in the dossier. Then you have the criminal referral by the IG as it relates to Andrew McCabe. Now today we have James Comey himself. He is under investigation. Everything-- you were part of predicting as I was that this is all going to back fire on them because the very thing they were accusing the President of they themselves are guilty of. What a week it's been.

SEBASTIAN GORKA, FOX NEWS STRATEGIST: You read the parts of the declassified memos today. James Comey says that he said I don't do weasel moves. I don't make slimy tricks. Well, guess what, he is one 6'7" slimy weasel. That's what he did. If you read, this what do we now know, Sean? We know he told the President you're not the target. We know the president told him I want a clean bill of health for my whole campaign, get to the bottom of it.

James Comey refused to make a public statement to the affect that the president is not the target and that he wants a clean bill of health but what did he do? He leaked the fallacious Russian propaganda accusations that he told congress later were unverified and salacious. That's what he gave to the press. How is that not biased, Sean?

HANNITY: Let me -- I'm watching the democrats today, the whole Russia collusion narrative is falling apart, Doug, the whole thing. Now they are going to file a frivolous lawsuit, probably go judge shopping and then hope they get a liberal judge. That will after the special counsel, Rod Rosenstein was key this week. He told the president that he is not the target.

DOUG SCHOEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Right.

HANNITY: In either investigation the one in New York or the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation. That's another way of saying they never found any evidence of any type of collusion. And for the Democratic Party, they can't let it go that now this is going to be their issue going into 2018? Sounds like a bad idea to me.

SCHOEN: Well, Sean, it's not only you and republicans who think it's a bad idea, people like congress woman Jackie Speier from California. Said what I believe, that this is trying to overtly politicize an investigation that has not yet been completed. Your right, as of now we have no evidence of collusion.

But for the democrats to try to turn it into a political football in the midst of an election campaign runs the risk of a back fire and is over reaching. We saw that once before in 1998 in the mid-term elections when arguably the republicans overreached. And I would urge my fellow democrats not to make the same mistake.

HANNITY: You know, if you look at all the deep state actors, Sebastian, you and I have talked at length about this. If you look at all of them, the idea that Hillary Clinton, we know she committed felonies and we know there was an exoneration before and investigation. We also know that they used the phony Clinton bought and paid for dossier created by a foreign agent, using Russia, Russia government sources and then used that as a basis of FISA warrant to spy on Americans.

It seems these things now; this is what America is going to focus on. Americans believe in the right of privacy and they don't believe in frivolous warrants based on political opponents paying foreign sources that use Russian sources to lie to courts to get warrants to spy on people.

GORKA: That's the average American. That's the America that I know that's driven by common sense. But you just played the audio. When James Comey with a straight face says, yeah it would have been better if Clinton had won because of her upstanding attitude to justice and law and order. I mean is that a bad joke? From tattle futures to server gate this is a woman we know has committed felonies. What felonies has Donald Trump committed in the last 71 years? Zero, Sean. This is how deep the corruption is in the swamp and the fact that these people go on book tours when they should be in the dark tells how bigger a job the President has before him.

HANNITY: You know, Kayleigh, I watch this, we keep hearing about the big blue wave that might happen here. I think, look, I don't want the Democratic Party to listen to Doug Schoen.

SCHOEN: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: My advice is keep doing what they're doing. And if the republicans can fix a couple of things, I will find ways to cut back on that omnibus bill, which they have an ability to do. I would secondly; I'd get the money and fully fund that wall and get the building starting and do it expeditiously. And the third thing I would do for the republicans is fix healthcare. And if they do those three things, I don't think they would lose anything.

MCENANY: There's no doubt about it. And the President has worked very hard at getting those things done. We need partners in congress to fund the wall as you noted. The president does want to reign in spending. He has said that. But the democrats, Sean, gave us a big indication of what their playbook is for 2018 today when they filed this frivolous publicity stunt of a lawsuit. That is Russia, Russia, Russia. They will scream it from the rooftops. There is no basis in truth.

These are conspiracy theories that they're pedaling, by the way the DNC is bankrupt. They had a -- $6 million in debt. So I don't know how they are funding this multi-million-dollar lawsuit. But they ought to be careful. Because Brad Parscale from the Trump Campaign said I'm going to expose this DNC corruption through discovery. We're going to look at why he partnered with Fusion GPS. We are going to use this lawsuit to find out why you didn't turn over your server. The DNC we're coming after you and your narrative for 2018 is not working.

HANNITY: All right, Doug, I'm going to give you the last word. Just give bad -- keep giving them bad advice.

SCHOEN: Well I think I give good advice. But I would say the democrats run on issues, try to do a deal to the dreamers and the wall get done. It's good for both sides.

HANNITY: They're not going to do it.

SCHOEN: But we need progress.

HANNITY: I agree.

SCHOEN: And if there's progress it will benefit the country, and the democrats, and indeed the republicans. Because Sean, what's so bad about this is the real winner in all of this is Vladimir Putin, President Xi and all the autocrats who see us ripping ourselves apart, hurting our position globally when as you said quite correctly the President is dealing with very serious foreign policy problems. Syria, North Korea.

HANNITY: They wanted to sow discord in the country, and they have succeeded 100 percent. But the President is still successful, which I will point out in a few minutes. Alright, thank you all.

SCHOEN: Thank you very much.

MCENANY: Thank you.

HANNITY: Alright, as we continue this special edition of Hannity, don't miss as Joe diGenova, Alan Dershowitz weigh in on what has been a massive busy legal week straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And welcome back to this special edition of Hannity here with more reaction to my opening monologue, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Joe diGenova and the person that the press said would never be back on my show. The author of "Trumped Up" Harvard Law School Professor, Professor Alan Dershowitz is with us. Let me ask both of you the same question. I - I'll start with you Joe.

If there -- this is from the Comey memo. If there was some satellite, meaning he said I took this to be associate of his campaign if they did something, this is Trump to Comey, it would be good to find that out. But that he, himself hadn't done anything. That sounds to me like he is encouraging the FBI Director to look into all of this and even if it's somebody close to him, to find out the truth. So, A he's not obstructing justice, and, B he's encouraging the investigation to go forward.

JOE DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. D.C. ATTORNEY: Well, I don't think there is any doubt that these 15 pages of James Comey's notes constitute a suicide note, a lengthy suicide note. It shows clearly that he has --

HANNITY: You do have a way with words. You know that?

DIGENOVA: He has deceived -- well, I mean, this stuff is pretty obvious. He has deceived congress as a result of this substance in these memoranda. He has deceived the American people. And I must say he has diluted himself. It is quite obvious that the President is an innocent man. And that the collusion theory has been ridiculous from the beginning.

HANNITY: And obstruction.

DIGENOVA: Yes. But these memorandums show conclusively that James Comey knew that from the very beginning. He hid it from the American people. He hid it from congress. I must say that as he goes on this ridiculous tour, he is destroying the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And I can tell you, Sean, from conversations with people inside that building at headquarters, they are very, very disappointed and very angry people who believes he is destroying a great institution.

HANNITY: Well I want to say something about this. I want to remind people-- I don't ever want to sweep with a broad brush here. There are men and women that risk their lives in that organization. In our CIA, in our intelligence community, that put their lives on the line. We cannot -- we cannot judge them by the conduct of a couple of people here.

DIGENOVA: Absolutely correct.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: I agree completely. And none of us has, by the way. None of us has. We've all said it's the hierarchy. It's the McCabe's. It's the Comey's, it's got nothing to do with the rank and file. They are angry at what Comey is doing to their great institution.

HANNITY: I appreciate that.

DERSHOWITZ: Several years ago my life was threatened by an inmate in Federal Prison a Neo-Nazi. And the FBI assigned two agents to me full time. They came to my class. They came with me to Boston Celtics basketball games. And I really got to just love these two guys. They gave me their home numbers. No matter what, 24/7 I could call them. They protected me. They protected my family.

You know, I was brought up to love law enforcement. I was a member of the police athletic league as a kid. I represent policemen, any law enforcement people free of charge because we owe them so much. But I have to agree with you and it started in Boston a long, long time ago when the Whitey Bulger matter came up.

And we saw how people at every level covered for him and allowed innocent people to remain in prison. It's so important to ferrite out father the bad guys. One of them is now in prison, John Connolly. I have to tell you I helped put him in prison. I consulted pro bono with the prosecutors to help keep that guy in prison because he was such a bad egg. He was telling Whitey Bulger who to kill. He was telling Whitey Bulger to escape.

And he managed to escape for 16 years. And for 16 years the FBI couldn't find Whitey Bulger. He was in plain view in Santa Monica, California. Reportedly going to a Red Sox bar to watch baseball games and the FBI couldn't find him. Finally a person from the Federal Marshall Program found him. So, look, I think we have to commend FBI agents, CIA agents and focus on the problems and where they occur.

HANNITY: Let me ask this then. And I -- maybe you agree or disagree here. But look at the criminal referrals that have come down this week. You know the congressional criminal referrals with -- they are citing specific laws that they believe were violated. Then Andrew McCabe and the IG criminal referral, now we have an investigation, James Comey, I said this before he went on his book tour, Joe diGenova, this is a bad idea. I don't think any competent lawyer would have advised him, writing that book and doing this tour. In any way, but now he is under an Inspector General investigation here about releasing classified materials, 18 U.S.C. 793, both of you are very familiar with it.

DIGENOVA: Yes. Well, Sean, here's what's going to happen. This is now, it's all afoot. And it can't be stopped. There is going to be a series of federal grand juries investigating these things. The leaking of the memos to the New York Times. The unmasking of individuals, which was illegal. The leaking of the unmasked information to newspapers which were felonies and the other things that involve the misuse of the intelligence and FISA warrants.

There is going to be a series of grand juries and he there are going to be charges. I don't know who is going to be charged but it's very important that this be done the right way. That can only be done with federal grand juries. And that's the way the Hillary Clinton case should have been handled but it wasn't. So now we are going to see it done right.

DERSHOWITZ: Well, you know, it's so interesting because, of course, this is what I predicted from the very beginning in my book "Trumped up." Once you unleash this business of trying to lock him up, it's going to come back and bite you in the rear end.

DIGENOVA: Yes.

DERSHOWITZ: Today you go after Trump. Tomorrow they are going to go after Democrats. You cannot unleash this weapon of expanding the criminal law, and targeting people without it coming back.

You know, there is that great line from a man for all seasons about one of the greatest lawyers in history, Thomas Moore when they say, would you give the devil the benefit of the law? And the answer was yes, because if you don't give the devil of the benefit of the law, when the law comes for you, you will not have it and, and of course, the German philosopher said the same thing when they came for the Jews, I didn't do anything. Because when they came for me, there was no one left to tell.

So when you defend the civil liberties of Donald Trump, you are defending the civil liberties of all Americans and people have to come to understand that.

HANNITY: I think that's extraordinarily well said. Joe, earlier this week on this program you said there is no doubt now that there was a grand conspiracy among, again, not rank and file. It's so important to make that distinction. But among people in the highest levels of power with the most powerful tools of intelligence which they need in a very evil and dangerous world to protect all of us.

DIGENOVA: Yes.

HANNITY: And that they have abused those weapons for warrants and unmasking. Look at the 350 percent increase in unmasking. Samantha Power, a U.N. official unmasking of an American a day? I mean, is this the biggest conspiracy you believe a conspiracy?

DIGENOVA: Well, here's the way I describe it, Sean, it was a brazen plot which was carried out with this purpose in mind by the Obama administration senior Justice Department officials and senior FBI officials which was to illegally exonerate Hillary Clinton in order to help her get elected.

And if she lost, then the plan was to frame Donald Trump with crimes. And every single thing that we have seen over the last few months certifies through fact and reasonable inferences from facts that that is exactly what occurred. And if I were James Clapper and John Brennan and Samantha Power and a bunch of people who wanted to unleash the criminal law process on Donald Trump and his family, they are going to find out the hard way that they are now ensnared in the most significant political scandal in the history of this country--

HANNITY: Wow.

DIGENOVA: Where one administration leaving office used the intelligence community to spy on the presidential candidate of the other party--

(CROSSTALK)

DESHOWITZ: I think you're--

DIGENOVA: -- and it's going to come home to roost.

HANNITY: Professor, let's get your response.

DESHOWITZ: I think you are attributing much too much rationality and coherence and planning to what was probably a series of independent events which in retrospect look like they could be coordinated. You know as the philosopher said, we live life forward without knowing what's going to happen but then we look at life backwards.

DIGENOVA: Yes.

DESHOWITZ: So, I'm not going to buy into your conspiracy theory but I do think that we need to have equal application of the law.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: You do agree there's been abuse though? There has been abuse of power.

DESHOWITZ: There have been abuse. I have no question there's been abuse on both sides. That's why I called for an independent bipartisan commission right in the beginning to look at this whole mess. The whole election. The whole influence, the attempt to influence by Russia, the election. Without pointing fingers, without criminal liability so we can prevent it in the future. I still think it's too late for that.

HANNITY: Well, now we are going to have -- we're going to have a lot of grand juries. I think that ship has sailed is my humble opinion. But thank you both. I appreciate it.

DESHOWITZ: Thank you.

DIGENOVA: Thank you.

HANNITY: Powerful debate. When we come back, Newt Gingrich and the great one, Mark Levin absolutely slamming James Comey after the release of his memos. Wait until you hear what they have to say. Also Gregg Jarrett, Sara Carter as we continue this special edition of Hannity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK LEVIN, HOST, FOX NEWS: I think he has done enormous damage to himself. He is exposing himself to the American people as a very petty, superficial man. This is a former head of the FBI. He is the former deputy attorney general of the United States. He is a former United States attorney. He is conducting himself like a complete bozo the clown. And he does enormous damage to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by conducting himself this way.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER UNITED STATES SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: You are looking at a guy who around the seventh grade practiced sincerity. I didn't really mean to hit the car. I don't know how the baseball got out of my hands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GINGRICH: I think my cousin must have done it. Because I couldn't have done it, because I couldn't have done it. Look at this. This pained, I hate throwing McCabe under the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are saying he is acting?

GINGRICH I don't know. I'm saying he taught himself at early age a series of self-serving emotions which he uses over. I mean, if watch him couple hours. He uses it over and over and over. This guy is almost a pathological liar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: OK. That was great one Mark Levin and the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Fox & Friends this morning, shedding James Comey, literally shredding his argument and this disastrous media tour.

Here with reaction on all of tonight's breaking news, Fox News contributor Sara Carter, Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett. You know, I guess we could call it criminal referral week, Gregg.

Because, well, think about it, on Wednesday Ron DeSantis, I mean, a powerful letter with every law written down that is applicable to people like Hillary and Comey and McCabe and Strzok and Page and Lynch and all these other deep state actors, then yesterday it's the criminal referral as it relates to Andrew McCabe.

And today, the Justice Department watchdog is now going to probe into Comey and his release of classified information which we all predicted on this show.

GREGG JARRETT, LEGAL ANALYST, FOX NEWS: We absolutely did. Here's what they're looking at. Here's one of the seven memos that Comey had. He wrote it. His name is at the top. And it says classified by director. And then it says classification secret which is the second level.

The moment Comey took this out of the FBI building and took it home with him, is he arguably committing a crime mishandling of classified information. If he gave this document to somebody else unauthorized, Daniel Richmond, and one other person that I'm aware of, and that will be coming out, he committed yet another crime.

And, by the way, he can't say well, I redacted parts of it. The content, not the labeling, dictates classification under the law.

HANNITY: I just -- this goes -- I kept saying what lawyer is letting him do this? It never made sense. And, Sara, you had predicted all of this as well. Especially with Andrew McCabe, the criminal probe that now the referral about him.

SARA CARTER, CONTRIBUTOR, FOX NEWS: Well, he couldn't walk away from it, Sean. I mean, they had to go forward because McCabe had violated the law. He leaked the I.G. found the evidence of that. I mean, they even found evidence that he had thrown other FBI executives under the bus.

There was nothing else that the I.G. could do had he not gone forward with this criminal referral, we would have had to have questioned Michael Horowitz. Now, with Comey, I think this is fascinating. And especially Gregg brought up several good points.

They're going to have to move forward with this. Because if they walk this back, they're going to have a lot of trouble. Because they are going to have a lot of the explaining to do, right? And Comey can't use a similar defense.

I mean, look at what already happened with Hillary Clinton. Remember the I.G. report on the handling of the Hillary Clinton private server and her use of classified -- using it to send classified e-mails, that's coming out in May. And how the FBI handled it.

So, Michael Horowitz is going to be very diligent. I think he is going to issue a report on Hillary and then I think what we're going to see follow that is a report on former FBI director Comey.

HANNITY: That means, listen, that's only into the Clinton e-mail investigation. Gregg, we know she committed crimes. We put the crimes and violations you have identified them on this show. But then the exoneration. You don't have an exoneration before investigation.

JARRETT: Yes.

HANNITY: Then who was involved in the presentation you have unverified, uncorroborated information from Clinton's bought and paid for dossier from a foreign national Russian sources to the FISA court judges. Four times.

JARRETT: Right. Not just obstruction in the Hillary Clinton case. But also, as you point out, abuse of power and obstruction in the dossier. But you are also leaving out theft of government property.

Now, Comey said well, these are my private recollections, my personal recollections. It is not. He was on the job. And he was having a conversation with the president. And he memorialized it in a document under privacy act of federal records act.

And the document Comey signed called a nondisclosure agreement, it specifically says anything you do in the course and scope of your employment at the FBI is government property. It is not yours. And upon separation from the FBI, you may not take it with you. Doing it, is theft of government property.

HANNITY: Last word, Sara.

CARTER: Well, you know Comey has obviously made a decision. He has come out. He has spoken. And now he has to wait for the I.G. And I think he has a hard road ahead of him, Sean.

HANNITY: Unbelievable. Good work. I have got to praise both of you because this is all -- everything that we have been reporting, you have been reporting, the deep dive, both of you have done here is now unfolding before the country. And in many ways, I actually wish we were wrong. But this has to be stopped. This is our Constitution. This is equal justice under the law. Equal application under the law.

Thank you both. All right. When we come back. We are going to show you the media's new sick, ugly, twisted obsession about the president. Sean Spicer responds next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. The corrupt media they have now fund a new sick obsession of course by going nuts over the mention of the words 'Russian hookers' as it relates to the Comey memos. Unbelievable. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST, CNN: Putin had told him that they have the best hookers.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN: Putin had told him, quote, "we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of talk of hookers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putin have told him we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the way, in Russia we have the most beautiful hookers to paraphrase there.

JIM SCIUTTO, CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, CNN: President Putin apparently saying that Russia has the best hookers in the world.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN: Here's another phrase for hookers in that public statements--

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Beautiful women of questionable moral repute.

BLITZER: Yes, something like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon the expression, Putin saying we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Putin telling Trump we have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world.

KRISTEN WELKER, CORRESPONDENT, NBC NEWS: Putin said we have good hookers in Russia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hookers thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prostitutes and the look of prostitutes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. If that wasn't creepy enough leave it to "Morning Joe" to take it just a step further while discussing the Comey memos. Donny Deutsch called himself the hooker expert. Really, Donny? You can't make this up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He effectively says that large portions of the Steele dossier have been corroborated. He said, "I explained that the analysts from all three agencies agreed it was relevant and that portions of the material were corroborated by other intelligence which is possibly why the president keeps coming back to this." He wants to know if the salacious parts of it have in fact been proven.

DONNY DEUTSCH, FORMER HOST, CNBC: I was a little insulted when you didn't initially come to me on hookers, but I am the expert here, it's not from personal experience but just research.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That came out wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Joining us now, former White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. How you did that job I will never for the life of me understand it. It's so -- when they had the word (muted) CNN used it 195 times in a day. Now it's Stormy, Stormy, Stormy. There is no Russia, Russia, Russia. It's just in the meantime they missed the biggest abuse of power scandal in their lifetime. And how do you describe the media today even?

SEAN SPICER, FORMER UNITED STATES WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Sensational, misdirected. Look, beyond the stories that you keep talking about all the time which I completely agree is under served. You got the prime minister of Japan meeting with the president this week down in Mar-a- Lago talking about trade and national security.

You got serious issues over in Syria. You got an upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un about the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the threat that it potentially poses to not just to our allies but potentially to our own citizens, and this is what they are talking about?

You know, when it comes to the priorities of what the media is talking about, what is -- what are the concerns of the American people? I think there is complete mismatch. And as you point out correctly it's this pack mentality. They want to be taken seriously, they want to be treated with respect, and yet their entire focus is on salacious unverified detail about a comment that supposedly the former president and prime minister of Russia Vladimir Putin depending on when it was said.

HANNITY: If you look at the order though, it was and you were in the room at the time. This is the fascinating thing. It was Comey that said it's unverified. It's salacious. He brought up the idea.

SPICER: Right.

HANNITY: If we're going to look at the order where it started it was -- it was Comey telling then president-elect Donald Trump. That's where the answers are coming from. But, more importantly, they have been peddling the biggest lie and conspiracy theory about some type of collusion now for a year. There is no evidence and they still try to keep pedaling the same lie. So I don't -- how can we even call it journalism at this point?

SPICER: Well, again, I mean, that's going to go back a second ago, Sean, is that they want to be -- they would talk about this commitment to the First Amendment. They want to be treated with seriousness and respect. And yet, they focus on salacious type tabloid unverified allegations.

I think the funny thing about this is what they didn't report in any of the clips that you played is that what did Comey actually say? That, when he presented this to the president in that room after that briefing, he asked the president to see him alone privately to share with him these unverified allegations.

And the president immediately said, do what you have to do to prove that they're untrue. Call an investigation on me. And it was Comey who said I don't know if that's a good idea, Mr. President. But the president immediately says do what you have to to prove that these aren't true. Do whatever you -- I mean, and that just shows you that anyone accused of something, if they are actually guilty of it, they would say hey, can we -- can we kind of sweep this under the rug? Can we cover it up a little? You are not going to say anything, are you?

But in fact, the president had quite the opposite. He got out there and said we need to clear this up. We need to get it out there. I don't like any of this. This is concerning. What do you have to do? And that really shows you. They don't want to cover that part of it.

HANNITY: Yes.

SPICER: And the president forcefully and immediately pushed back and wanted them to actually conduct an investigation into this.

HANNITY: Well, this is what the president said. He said -- these were in the Comey notes rather than the superfluous stuff they talked about. If there was satellite which she took to mean an associate or somebody on his campaign that did something, it would be good to find that out. But that he himself hadn't done anything.

So not only is he not obstructing, in that instance he is encouraging James Comey, is there anybody around here that's involved in any of this stuff, I want to know, do your job, find out who they know, what they know, it would be good to know the truth.

SPICER: Exactly. He wants to know if anyone is using my name or claiming that they are part of my associated with me and doing something nefarious I want them called out.

But the other thing that's very fascinating, Sean, about all of this, is go back to what happened the very first day. The president-elect who has never served in government before, sit down with those four intelligence chiefs. Comey as the FBI director says, Mr. President, can we clear the room and I can speak to you alone privately, OK, we get that.

Then fast forward a little bit later. The president says to James Comey, hey, can we clear the room? I'd like to talk to you. And suddenly the accusation is, how dare the president clear the room to talk to James Comey.

But, if we think about it, of course he thinks that that's standard operating procedure. Comey was the one who engaged first in that relationship by saying when we need to talk, we get to clear room. He started that kind of relationship with the president. And then they attack the president for doing the exact same thing when Comey comes to see him in the Oval Office.

HANNITY: Unbelievable. All right. Sean Spicer, great insight as always. I don't know how did you that job at all. We appreciate you being with us.

All right. When we come back, more of the special edition of "Hannity," straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. As we lock up this special edition of "Hannity." Unfortunately that is all the time we have left this evening. This show, we promise, always fair, always balanced. We are not the destroy Trump media.

As always, thank you for being with us. You can follow us on Instagram, at Sean Hannity on Twitter. We hope you have a great weekend. We'll see back here on Monday. Laura Ingraham, she's up next.

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