Oakland mayor stands by choice to share ICE raid information
Reaction on 'Hannity' after Oakland mayor warns illegal immigrants about upcoming ICE raids.
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 2, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to this special edition of "Hannity: Democratic Scandals."
I'm Jeanine Pirro, in for Sean tonight.
Liberals are reeling from a rave of calamities that could have serious legal consequences. Republicans are calling for a second special counsel to investigate the FBI's handling of the Clinton email probe. Congressman Devin Nunes continues to expose severe FISA abuses and former Obama officials are facing new scrutiny.
But, first, tonight, we start with the major battle raging between the Trump administration and the liberal state of California. The Department of Justice now looking into a possible obstruction of justice charge against the mayor of Oakland. This comes after the mayor alerted illegal immigrants in the California Bay Area that federal immigration authorities were preparing to conduct raids.
The acting ICE director is slamming that mayor of Oakland. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: What she did is no better than, you know, a gang lookout yelling police when a police cruiser comes in the neighborhood, except she did it to the entire community. I mean, it's beyond the pale. I have been doing this for 34 years. This is a whole new low to intentionally warn criminals that law enforcement is coming.
Being a law enforcement officer is already dangerous enough. But to give the criminals a heads up that we're coming in the next 24 hours, increases that risk, puts -- you are talking about these are American heroes that strap a gun to the hip every day to defend this nation. And to tell the criminals we are coming in the next 24 hours is just incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: The head of ICE is also saying because of the mayor's warning about 800 criminal illegal immigrants escaped arrests.
Immigration authorities were however still able to detain 232 suspected illegal immigrants in four-day raid. Now, according to ICE, 115 of the people arrested had, quote, prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses. Now, despite these facts, the mayor of Oakland is actually defending her decision to protect and shield illegal immigrants.
Here's what the mayor wrote on Twitter: I do not regret sharing this information. It is Oakland's legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families say stay together.
President Trump also appears to be fed up with California sanctuary policies. He recently threatened to pull ICE and Border Patrol agents from the state because California is refusing to cooperate with the federal government on immigration enforcement. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are getting no help from the state of California. I mean, frankly, if I wanted to pull our people from California, you would have a crime nest like you had ever seen in California. All I would have to say is ICE and Border Patrol, let California alone, you'd be inundated and you would see crime like nobody has ever seen crime in this country. And yet, we get no help from the state of California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Here now with reaction, from the Center for Immigration Studies, Jessica Vaughan, immigration attorney Francisco Hernandez, and former deputy assistant to the president and FOX News national security strategist, Sebastian Gorka.
All right. Good evening, all. I'm going to start with you, Jessica.
FRANCISCO HERNANDEZ, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Thank you, your honor.
PIRRO: Is it a protection of citizens to prevent ICE agents from doing their job for which they have legal authority?
JESSICA VAUGHAN, CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES: Well, no. Citizens want our immigration laws enforced. And ISIS targets, as you mentioned are felons, criminals, gang members, people who have been deported before, people who have been immigration violators multiple times.
And they were going after the criminals. ICE would much rather arrest them in the jails but cities like Oakland prevent ICE from doing that. They tell the law enforcement agencies they can't cooperate and that's why these criminals are on the street to begin with, because ICE would have arrested them earlier if they could. And now, they have got to go out into the community to do so and --
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: So, it's more dangerous. So it's more dangerous for everyone.
VAUGHAN: Absolutely.
PIRRO: All right. You know, Francisco Hernandez, now, you are an immigration attorney.
HERNANDEZ: Yes.
PIRRO: When the Oakland's mayor says, we believe our community is safer when families stay together, does Kate Steinle and her ability now that she is six feet under to stay with her family, does that enter into the mayor's mind at all?
HERNANDEZ: Well, it can't. There is no such thing as a sanctuary city is a political phantom, your honor. You know that.
PIRRO: No, I don't.
HERNANDEZ: No city, state or county -- no city, state or county can oppose the federal government.
Now, you are telling me that ICE can catch 800 people at the same time, but they are snitched out by a mayor? I mean, what kind of secret was it? And why haven't they picked them up before? They have been deported before and they were in the jail. Why didn't they hold them then?
Guys, this is -- you know what? We were on the cusp of immigration reform. We thought everyone was on the same page but the shooting in Florida, OK, now, you've got the president crawfishing on his own party and the NRA --
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: I don't want to go into Florida right now.
Dr. Gorka, let me ask you this, because the mayor said something, you know, that really doesn't make a difference. What do you think?
SEBASTIAN GORKA, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIST: Well, just read the mayor's tweet. I hope this woman didn't have any legal training. She said it's the city's rights. Cities don't have rights. U.S. citizens have rights to be protected. And the city has responsibility to protect them.
The mayor of any city has no power when it comes to immigration. That's a use of federal authorities.
PIRRO: Yes.
GORKA: She said families have to be protected. Well, guess what, Al Capone had a family. So did Pablo Escobar. Not all families are good.
PIRRO: But here's the problem. And, Jessica, I'm going to go to you on this now.
If law enforcement, federal law enforcement agents are forced to go into a city without having the assistance of locals or at least the identification of where these illegal felons and remember --
HERNANDEZ: They don't need it.
PIRRO: Francisco, wait a minute -- the truth is if they are being hidden or not at the addresses and I have done enough warrants and I have had a whole team of cops that work for me.
HERNANDEZ: You have your honor.
PIRRO: What you are saying, is, we are going to give them a heads up so they can never be arrested. Now the feds have to come in and get involved in a middle of a society where people are trying to live safely, where it could have been accommodated very easily by the locals and the Feds working together to arrest a convicted felon.
Jessica?
HERNANDEZ: Is there a question there, your honor?
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Yes, there is I'm going to get to you a in a minute so hang on.
Go ahead.
VAUGHAN: In 90 percent of the country, ICE does its work of deporting criminals by arresting them in the jail. But they don't get that kind of cooperation in California and particularly in Oakland. That's why these criminal aliens were on the street to begin with.
HERNANDEZ: Seriously?
VAUGHAN: ICE does depend on cooperation from state and local law enforcement for an operation like this, if you did operation, because they don't want to get shot at by a police officer that doesn't know they're in the neighborhood doing this kind of operation and perhaps that's where the mayor got tipped off. Who knows?
But she is also basically telling people to resist arrest, which is absurd also.
PIRRO: All right.
VAUGHAN: But this has consequences.
HERNANDEZ: No.
VAUGHAN: There are people that maybe harmed.
PIRRO: There is no question.
VAUGHAN: The criminal aliens who took the mayor's warning when --
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Let me go to Francisco. Wait a minute, Francisco.
(CROSSTALK)
HERNANDEZ: Yes, your honor, you are right.
PIRRO: Are you familiar with the definition of obstruction of justice?
HERNANDEZ: I am.
PIRRO: OK, you're a lawyer.
HERNANDEZ: And that's an existing definition.
PIRRO: OK, the definition of obstruction of justice, 18 USC 1505, is when someone obstructs or impedes the administration of law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any agency in the United States. To me, obstruction of justice is what this mayor should be charged with.
HERNANDEZ: If ICE knows that this mayor runs with supposedly is a sanctuary city, and the secret gets out to her, what kind of a secret do we have ICE and Department of Homeland Security? Guys, Department of Homeland Security does not need the cooperation of a mayor of a county or a state --
GORKA: He's missing the point.
HERNANDEZ: The state gets the information from the federal government.
PIRRO: I don't care if she assists them. I care if she obstructs them.
Go ahead, Sebastian.
GORKA: Again, your guest isn't answering the point here. The mayor is treating illegal immigrants as a protected class. They are not protected class. They are illegal immigrants and more than 150 of them have committed serious violent offenses.
Since when does a mayor protect people who have convicted serious felonies?
PIRRO: All right. So --
HERNANDEZ: If they have been convicted, why haven't they picked them up yet? Come on, guys!
PIRRO: Because mayors like this mayor is hiding them and alerting them.
Come on, Francisco, you know better than that.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUGHAN: And not only that.
PIRRO: The locals, wait a minute. Wait a minute, Jessica. Wait a minute, Jessica. Because the locals are letting them out the side door when they know ICE is coming.
HERNANDEZ: It is impossible. They got immigration --
PIRRO: The locals are letting them out early so the feds cannot protect American citizens.
HERNANDEZ: Your honor, your honor, you know that is a lie.
PIRRO: I know what I know. Don't tell me what I know.
HERNANDEZ: That's not true.
PIRRO: It is true.
HERNANDEZ: That's true.
PIRRO: Don't you come on this show and tell me what's true and what isn't true.
Go ahead, Jessica.
HERNANDEZ: It's not true. It's inaccurate. It's a lie.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUGHAN: Oakland, San Francisco and the entire state of California does not cooperate with ICE. They release criminal aliens that ICE has identified through biometrics who are deportable from the country but they refuse to allow ICE to come and pick up these individuals. That's why they are on this thing to begin with.
HERNANDEZ: Absolutely a lie.
VAUGHAN: And then when ICE tries to get them --
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Why is that a lie?
GORKA: It was federal policy. Catch and release.
HERNANDEZ: You are telling me that the city can disable the federal government. A city jail can disable the federal government and keep them from picking somebody up. We do it every day, your honor. You know, drug dealers, drug traffickers they do it every day.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: I used to send my guys out all the time to make arrests. We'd break through the doors at 5:00 in the morning. But if they're not there because they got a tip, then I can't arrest them.
Sebastian, go ahead.
HERNANDEZ: Let's go your honor for president. Let's go.
GORKA: This is eight years under Obama. It was federal policy from the top down, catch and release. Even at the border and encouraging the creation of sanctuary cities. That's what we have had for eight years. It stopped on January the 20th.
But these people are aiding and abetting criminals.
PIRRO: All right. Well, let's see if justice --
HERNANDEZ: Did you forget that President Obama deported 2.5 million?
GORKA: That is fallacious. The redefinition of deporting.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Wait a minute, when did Kate Steinle happen? During the Obama administration.
Jessica, last question to you. When the Governor Jerry Brown says we protect all of our people from criminals, and we defend everyone who comes here for a better life.
HERNANDEZ: Did not say that.
PIRRO: He did say that, Jerry Brown.
HERNANDEZ: He did not.
PIRRO: Wow.
VAUGHAN: Obviously, the citizens of California need some sanctuary from their legislature and their governor and from mayors like this because they are creating public safety hazard by releasing criminal aliens every single day who go out and prey again on everyone in the community.
(CROSSTALK)
HERNANDEZ: The state of California has trumped the federal government.
PIRRO: Yes, that's right. They have. And they are going to be accountable for it.
Now, what do you say if the president does what he threatened to do and that is take all the ICE agents out and then you guys can deal with them until you beg for the ICE agents to come back.
HERNANDEZ: Yes. Well, that's genius. That's pure genius.
But have you all not figured out that President Trump is a New York liberal? He's from New York. He has never even lived in California. I mean, come on.
GORKA: That's why we have an 80 percent drop in illegal migration southern border since he was inaugurated. Right.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUGHAN: Nothing to do with -- you know, immigration is an issue that crosses traditional party lines. This is -- you know, this is a matter of California politicians not being happy with American citizens and wanting to create a new electorate for themselves.
GORKA: Bingo.
VAUGHAN: That's what this boils down to.
PIRRO: It's all about demographics. There's no question.
All right. In response, California Governor Jerry Brown told CNBC, in California, we protect all our people from criminals, and in his State of the State, the Democratic governor issued a strong rebuke.
So, there have you it for saying he never said it.
Now, I'm going to end. I'm going to give you --
(CROSSTALK)
HERNANDEZ: He didn't. Show me the quote.
PIRRO: Come on. I'm going to give you the opportunity, 30 seconds, tell me why what the ICE agents are doing should be blocked by local politicians in California?
HERNANDEZ: ICE does not need the assistance of cities, states or counties. ICE can do the job.
(CROSSTALK)
HERNANDEZ: Let the troops do what they do. The troops know what they do. The problem is with politics and you got everybody crawfishing. We were on the cusp of immigration reform and deciding who gets to stay and who gets to go.
But now, nobody wants to touch it because we have got the gun issue. Everybody is crawfishing, both sides, Democrats and Republicans.
PIRRO: Wait a minute, are you telling me all of the sudden the liberals could care less about the Dreamers because they were more worried about guns?
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Look, President Trump said, I'll give 1.8 million path to citizenship, triple what Obama did.
HERNANDEZ: I'm in, I'm in.
PIRRO: Now you want to say that Trump didn't do his job? You answer.
HERNANDEZ: I'm in, I'm in. I told Mr. Hannity, let's do it.
GORKA: Your guest was absolutely correct. Why would you do this as a mayor? There is one reason. They want to change the demographics and they want to have new voters made out of these illegal aliens. That's the end of the message.
We want to create a new voting bloc. It's nothing to do with safety. It's politics and it is a shame.
HERNANDEZ: They can't vote.
PIRRO: They can't vote?
(CROSSTALK)
HERNANDEZ: They can't vote until they become citizens.
PIRRO: Watch my show tomorrow night and you will hear how they are all voting.
HERNANDEZ: It didn't happen.
PIRRO: Anyway, I want to thank you all.
Coming up, Congressman Matt Gaetz on why a second special counsel is needed to investigate the Clinton email probe and potential FISA abuses. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity."
Now, according to multiple news outlets tonight, a highly anticipated report from the Department of Justice inspector general is expected to criticize former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for authorizing improper media leaks about an investigation into the Clinton foundation back in October of 2016. This same IG report is also expected to get into the Clinton email investigation.
This news comes on the same week that more than a dozen Republican lawmakers in the House sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging him to appoint a second special counsel to investigate both the FBI and the Department of Justice's handling of the Clinton and Trump-Russia probes.
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz calling for a special counsel, a second special counsel. He joins us now.
All right. Good evening, Congressman.
REP. MATT GAETZ, R-FLORIDA: Good evening, Judge.
PIRRO: All right. Now, you are renewing as are many Republican congressmen, the request for a second special counsel. Now, I imagine that most viewers are saying they did it before. Why should it happen now and what's new that they are asking for it again?
GAETZ: Well, judge, the last time we spoke about the ability for Democrats to convert political cash into a government sponsored warrant to spy on members of the Trump transition team, you said you wanted to see people led away in handcuffs.
PIRRO: Yes.
GAETZ: Not just fired but led away in handcuffs.
Well, you know what? The FBI and the Department of Justice aren't going to be putting the handcuffs on themselves to lead a second special counsel just as Congressman Lee Zeldin has recommended so we can take the findings of the IG report, we can take the information we have learned in congressional hearings and actually have prosecutions because my fear is that if we don't have a second special counsel, this will turn out a lot like the Benghazi investigation where we learn a lot about facts but no one is really held accountable.
PIRRO: You know what bothers me, Congressman, is that given the FBI and the Department of Justice, dilatory approach, you know, to everything, from the hanging over of emails from the redactions, from the outright refusal by even the FBI director saying, well, we will work out what we're going to give Congress which has oversight over justice and the FBI, you know, it seems to me that they -- it is impossible, they basically have said everything but we dare you because we're not going to do anything anyway.
What do we do about this?
GAETZ: Well, Congress doesn't have the power to throw people in jail but we have the responsibility to find the evidence and show it to the American people. And to your point, Judge Jeanine, if we had not had congressional oversight and hearings and subpoenas, we wouldn't even know about the text messages between Pete Strzok and Lisa Page that demonstrate a substantial anti-Trump pro-Hillary bias.
You mentioned Andrew McCabe earlier, his testimony before the judiciary committee in closed session showed me that Hillary Clinton was never really put in jeopardy as a result of her use of a private email server and the leaking of classified information because she had people that were running interference for her at the DOJ.
PIRRO: What do you say to people who say I am so sick and tired of this Clinton email investigation thing, let it go? What do you say to them?
GAETZ: Well, we cannot live in a country where losing an election functions as de facto immunity deal. If people broke the law, they have to be held accountable, because if we just allow that to happen, then we invite that type of crime in the future. That's why the rule of law matters and now, the Clintons, they've got decades of ignoring the rule of law and never being held accountable. And we've got a chance to change it and we should take that opportunity.
PIRRO: So, what are the chances of getting a special counsel, a second special counsel?
GAETZ: Well, that is up to Jeff Sessions, and frankly, I'm very disappointed.
PIRRO: Is he a guy who took himself off within 24, 48 hours of being appointed the attorney general? He tells the president I'm recusing myself. I mean, this is beyond the pale.
Jeff Sessions is not going to do it. Jeff Sessions says, I'm getting an inspector general. Oh, we can spend another year and a half on inspector general coming up with a conclusion. The inspector general doesn't have the right to go to a grand jury and subpoena anybody. So, what is this guy doing?
GAETZ: Well, if Jeff Sessions does not appoint a second special counsel, then we need new attorney general, Judge, because you are absolutely right, even if we learn more horrifying things from the inspector general, we can't actually prosecute somebody for those things because we would need somebody to be able to bring that case and the Department of Justice and FBI obviously won't be bringing a case against themselves.
So, Jeff Sessions needs to get rid of this mind set that dereliction of duty and he needs to do what Congress has called for and appoint a second special counsel to get to the bottom of this.
PIRRO: But Jeff Sessions, you know, said he was considering that and considering investigating certain cases. I don't know whether it was the email thing or the foundation, whatever it was. He kind of -- he gave us all hope a few months back. Nothing has happened from that either.
The president doesn't appear that he is going to get rid of sessions, right? Because, you know, everybody I'm sure will have a conniption and all his senator friends will say it's a Saturday night massacre. So, I mean, does America just kind of keep moving as though it doesn't matter who violates the law?
GAETZ: I never under estimate the power of the American people. Remember when there were some people in the intelligence community who didn't even want to release the Nunes memo. But because tens of thousands of Americans contacted their members of Congress and demanded transparency, we got it.
And that's why the American people need to back up what Lee Zeldin and many other members of Congress are fighting for to get a second special counsel so that people are held accountable and thrown in jail for the crimes committed against the Trump administration during the transition.
PIRRO: All right. And, finally, you know, you guys now are really pushing hard on this. Do you have meetings with the attorney general? I mean, have you sat down with him and said, you know, maybe -- you know, over a glass of milk, a glass of bourbon, I mean, whatever, and said, come on, somewhat problem here?
GAETZ: I did sit down with the attorney general, along with Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and many others. And I was disappointed that the attorney general didn't seem to be very engaged on any of these issues regarding existential threats to the Trump administration. He was deferring to a team that answered to Rod Rosenstein for goodness sakes and it was Rosenstein's very signatures that reauthorized these wiretaps based on false information that the Department of Justice and FBI knew was false information.
So, I think we need a more engaged attorney general.
PIRRO: Well, was the attorney general in the company of Rod Rosenstein at that point or Rosenstein's chief of staff as I understand usually is?
GAETZ: It was the members of the Rosenstein team that were present and when members of Congress asked Jeff Sessions to be more assertive and take action on second special counsel, he deferred to staff members.
PIRRO: Wow.
GAETZ: I fear, Judge, that Jeff Sessions has become an employee at the Department of Justice and he's not fulfilling his duties as attorney general.
PIRRO: Wow. Thank you very much, Congressman.
GAETZ: Thank you.
PIRRO: All right. Joining us now with reaction are Independent Women's Voice president and FOX News contributor Tammy Bruce, and FOX News contributor Lisa Boothe.
All right. You know, very interesting, Lisa and I'll start with you. And that is my understanding of what goes on in Washington is that the attorney general doesn't meet with anyone, assuming he is going to meet anyone at all, without Rosenstein or Rosenstein's staff. And now, I got it straight from the horse's mouth that when asked a serious question, the attorney general defers to Rosenstein and his staff for answers.
LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I'm sure a part of that is because he recused himself Russia investigation. So, perhaps he doesn't want the appearance of impropriety.
But the problem here --
PIRRO: Well, then, why was -- OK.
BOOTHE: But the problem here is we need to get to the bottom of a ton of questions about the DOJ and the FBI's handling of both the Hillary Clinton investigation and the Russia investigation. I don't think we can trust either the FBI or the DOJ to conduct that investigation themselves.
Now, I am curious about seeing what is going to come out in this inspector general report by Michael Horowitz. He was the one who unearthed the text message exchange between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. And he does have a solid history of going after government agencies likely Fast and Furious in the ATF, which led to shakeup and leadership there, also going after the DEA and the Colombia prostitution scandal that they were involved with as well.
So -- and I think depending on what he comes up with, that could be the impetus for maybe another special counsel investigation or further action there. So, I'm very curious to see what he comes out with.
PIRRO: Yes. Well, I'm not holding my breath.
Tammy?
TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, I think that -- in some ways I think like many Americans, we see scandal after scandal. Finally, the curtain is being drawn back. And it wouldn't surprise me if even someone like Jeff Sessions is shocked by the nature of what we're seeing unfold.
This is at the very top of the FBI. Wherever you look and at whomever you look, it's not only a level of corruption and collusion if you will, but blatant and sloppy and open. And we have to ask, one, this wasn't new.
How long has this been going on? But then you have to ask how far through the government does it go?
And I think that we have got to make sure and we must push because the inclination is going to be, this is either too big or I don't believe it because it's too shocking, but the fact --
PIRRO: You know what?
BRUCE: -- is this is our chance to clean this up government.
PIRRO: Tammy, Tammy, this guy was a prosecutor, a United States attorney. You are looking and reading the same things that we're all reading. But you want to tell me the guy is in shock, ergo he's not doing anything?
BRUCE: His body was the Senate. And he moved for innumerable length of time. And we can't dismiss the impact of living in that bubble.
PIRRO: So, he lost his prosecutorial balls?
BRUCE: I'm a big fan of Jeff Sessions, but I think we are seeing that, in fact, maybe he thought this would be a bit more bureaucratic than it really has ended up being. Thank goodness for the president that he's got an eye on this. He's publicly making sure individuals know how serious this is.
But even with him trying to keep it tamped down, like with the McCabe situation, if you look to the left, you look to the right, you wake up in the morning, there is some new scandal in front of you because it's finally all coming out and can't keep it in the box.
PIRRO: All right. Lisa, I mean, how do you take that, I mean, you know, that it's so shocking that the attorney general can't deal with it? And I'm going to add something to that.
In the James Rybicki, who was Comey's chief of staff says we found a lot of new emails. We did find new stuff but nothing that's going to change our view of the original collusion in July. That's the upshot. And I read that and I say, take him out in cuffs.
BOOTHE: Well you know, I think agencies don't want scrutiny, right? So there could be an element of that, if even Jeff Sessions is not wanting the DOJ as the department face scrutiny.
But the problem is Americans have lost so much trust in institutions and rightfully so, when you see some of these text messages that have come out from FBI agents like Peter Strzok, that was one of the lead investigators with Hillary Clinton also involved with the Russia investigation as well.
And so I think that to get more trust, to get Americans to once again trust American institutions that we need to find some answers here about what went on and from a trusted source as well.
TRUCE: I just have to say that we can't dismiss the fact that this is all so new. The fact that we are getting information that normally the American people would never have seen and it's about also managing that.
Jeff Sessions clearly is not managing it well. But for the American people and what's moving forward here, we have the courage to be able to look at it and to deal with it.
And the president is going to have to act clearly Jeff Sessions -- I mean, look, he wants to be the attorney general. It's a grate job. But maybe this is different than what he expected it to be.
Ultimately every American, regardless of what your party is, you have got to care about this because this is about the collapse, if you will of our law enforcement agencies being used more as a bureaucratic political...
PIRRO: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUCE: They are really doing their job...
PIRRO: You know, Lisa, on of the things that you said was that, you know, he doesn't want the integrity of the Department of Justice, that being Jeff Sessions, the attorney general of the attack.
But that's his job, plus, he was never there at the time that it was so corrupt. So he, if he really believes in truth, justice, and the American way, could go and clean it up and be the hero. But he's not.
BOOTHE: Well, no, I do -- I absolutely think Americans need answers here. So even Andrew McCabe...
PIRRO: so how are we going to get the answers.
BOOTHE: Well that is why -- maybe I'm just hopeful, Judge.
PIRRO: Of what?
BOOTHE: Just some sort of element of truth and answers here and I'm hoping that with the inspector general report, perhaps it blows the doors open on some of these questions that...
(CROSSTALK)
BOOTHE: Even look at someone like Andrew McCabe he was not forth right to Congress about the fact that he knew who financed the dossier. But he is not honest with Congress about it.
PIRRO: Andrew McCabe wasn't forthcoming. Christopher Wray knew what was going on.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Comey took a walk to the White House. He wasn't going to fire McCabe.
TRUCE: Right now, Sessions sets up probes and inspector generals. He can set up a special prosecutor in March of last year, he said he was open to the idea. He never did it.
The fact is, is that we got to support everybody who is asking for the special prosecutor, all of the members of the House of Representatives who are because that is the only way that we can actually have a prosecutor.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Do we have a hotline? Do we have an email? Do we have hashtag? How do viewers say I want this to happen? I'm sick of hearing about this.
BOOTHE: Call your member of Congress to put pressure.
TRUCE: The phone still works. The phone still works. Email, phone call, your own forums, Twitter, social media, they watch, they know, they feel it.
PIRRO: They do and they feel the pressure.
BOOTHE: Or just listen to the, Judge.
PIRRO: All right. Coming up next, Sara Carter and Gregg Jarrett will join us with new information on that phony Russian dossier. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of Hannity. Now in a letter released yesterday, House Intel Committee Chair Devin Nunes accused the FBI of violating not only its own protocol but possibly even the criminal statutes by using the Steele dossier to help obtain a FISA warrant to surveil Trump campaign associate Carter Page.
Joining me now with more with Fox News contributor Sara Carter and Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett. All right, good evening. I must tell you, Gregg, and I'm going to start with you.
The thing that I don't understand is why I haven't heard anything about a FISA judge, you know, calling the FBI, calling the Department of Justice into his or her chamber how dare you put this political garbage in front of me.
How dare you basically obstruct real justice and commit a fraud in contempt of the court by alleging that this is a sufficient basis for surveillance.
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Maybe they did it. It is after all a secret court. But I suspect we would know about it by now if they had. And if they didn't do it, they should have done it and they are breeching their duty by failing to do it.
Those judges should be demanding that the high officials at DOJ and the FBI appear before them and say, didn't -- you concealed evidence. You deceived me.
You didn't tell me that this was paid for by the Hillary Clinton campaign. You didn't tell me that you knew that Christopher Steele was a liar. If you had told me those things, I would never have granted a warrant to surveil on an American citizen.
PIRRO: So, when people say, you snow, that this is the kind of thing where the FISA court warrants are so difficult, they are 40, 50 pages and yet we hear nothing about a sanction or a lawyer is being brought up on contempt like James Comey, what in the last 90 days in addition to this dossier -- what reasonable cause have you developed that will allow me to continue on this issuing a surveillance warrant?
JARRETT: They have to have probable cause. They didn't have it. And the bulk of their FISA application was based on a phony document which was unverified, which is against the law.
Look, as I see it and I have studied the different felony statutes. They violated six of them, abuse of power, perjury, misleading statements, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and obstruction.
PIRRO: And contempt of court.
JARRETT: Devin Nunes has pointed out contempt of court. That's sort of a given. They should have been held in contempt of court immediately.
PIRRO: All right, Sara Carter, what are you hearing? I mean, you are giving us all these little tidbits and facts I should say --not little tidbits that lead us to the next discussion. What have you learned in the last 24 hours?
SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, two things, I want to go back to the courts, really quick. Remember that the presiding judge over the foreign intelligence surveillance court, this is the secret court, Rosemary Collyer, did send a letter to Devin Nunes and others saying, look, we don't object formerly or informally, we told you both times to releasing the applications on Carter Page.
I think this is their response saying, look, we'll release those documents if the executive branch allows us and we'll get those documents out to the public. I think this is their way of objecting to what the FBI did. So we don't know what happened behind closed doors. But before the public, I think this letter was highly significant.
PIRRO: Very significant. Sarah, hang on I want to jump to, Gregg, on this. So if the presiding judge of the FISA court says we have no objection to the release of this information, she still hedging and saying somebody else, the president...
JARRETT: Somebody else has to do...
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Why?
JARRETT: The executive branch would have to do it, that would mean essentially Jeff Sessions who is not really the attorney general. He just pretends to be one. It is Rod Rosenstein. He would never do it.
PIRRO: How about the president?
JARRETT: Because he is trying to conceal all of the...
PIRRO: How about the president?
JARRETT: ... illegal acts committed by the FBI and the Department of Justice. I agree. The president should instruct the attorney general to disclose this information. It is an utter myth and a canard that there is some fire wall between DOJ.
PIRRO: Gregg, hold on a second. If the president is agreeable, why do they just get it from the judge who is agreeable? Keep Sessions out of it.
JARRETT: Separation of powers. It would be a legal quagmire litigated for more than a year. The efficient way to do it is to get it from the source, Department of Justice and the FBI.
PIRRO: Well, I think it is amazing that the presiding justice would say I'm ready to release this information at the FISA Court.
JARRETT: Truly amazing.
PIRRO: Or, Sara, the second point you were making.
CARTER: The second point is this, the Department of Justice arguing -- and I spoke to officials today. The Department of Justice is arguing one thing. They know everybody is coming down on Attorney General Jeff Sessions and what they are saying is, look, let Michael Horowitz do his job.
This is his purview, this is his mandate. His mandate is over the DOJ and over the FBI. And his investigators can continue this investigation.
They argue that if they bring in a special counsel, a special prosecutor, they would have to take more than likely, FBI agents to be investigators and they may be not -- they may not be able to do that because they may just be put out. They may have to reach out to the postmaster general to get investigators from there who aren't up to speed on this investigation.
PIRRO: OK. So the argument is we have got to have the inspector general continue on this issue, when the inspector general has no grand jury, no ability to prosecute.
We know that the inspector general has taken forever on what is he doing right now. We are still waiting. We can wait until the cows come home. But even more than that, you know, they don't have sufficient FBI agents to investigate. That's hogwash.
CARTER: Well, I think that they would be compromised out. That's what they are saying. That the agency, and the bureau itself...
PIRRO: Then go get new guys. Go get new guys.
JARRETT: Exactly. Bring in a second special counsel has subpoena power to compel people to testify obtain documents from them with a grand jury. And can you do it very efficiently. You hire your own team of people.
I know several former FBI agents who would be more than happy to return to the job to work for a new second special counsel. And get somebody in there like a Joe diGenova who is actually smart and competent, and experienced, and he would do it efficiently.
PIRRO: Well, you know what's amazing is the idea that, you know, all of these FBI agents would be compromised or conflicted and there are no other guys to do or women to do the job. Sara, last word.
CARTER: And I agree with you there, Judge. I mean, there are people within the bureau that are outstanding that are not compromised, that would be willing to do this and I think there is a lot more coming out in Michael Horowitz' I.G. report beyond what we are seeing on McCabe. I think there is going to be a lot of the eyes wide open once that report comes out and I think it will be very soon.
PIRRO: I hope so. Anyway, thanks so much. Coming up, Gina Loudon and Charlie Kirk weigh in on the media's pathetic attempt to divert attention away from all of these Democrat scandals. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of Hannity. The Democrats are embroiled in several major scandals, but if you watch the mainstream media, you wouldn't know it. Instead the overwhelming focus of nearly every story from the destroy Trump press is something negative about this administration. For example, take a look at some of the coverage over just the past two days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your report said he is angry and he is bouncing around the White House, and he is raising about chaos. Things are about to get pretty ugly inside the White House.
And the question is for somebody like Hope Hicks, why did you stay that long? She has got to get ready for Mueller. She has got to get ready for a trial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we are talking about here is a conspiracy to unlawfully influence this election. You know, a quid pro quo between the Russians on the one side and the Trump campaign on the other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any meeting thee cures in the White House that Jared Kushner attends with anyone that has financial connections is there a quid pro quo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, is there a quid pro quo and does that affect the national security of the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is another sign of the White House that just in this constant state of turmoil. Do you think Trump's loyalty was seen only extends to his family, do you think that's going to hurt him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I think it already has.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to recap, talking about the chaos, chief economic advisor Gary Cohn has threatened to resign over the tariff decision. Chief of Staff John Kelly joked that God was punishing him by making him work at the White House.
Jared Kushner has no longer has access to the top secret information. The president may be trying to push him and his wife who happens to be the president's daughter out of the White House. His closest confidante Hope Hicks is leaving. National security advisor H.R. McMaster may also be on the way out the door.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: Joining us now from Turning Point U.S.A. Charlie Kirk and radio and talk show host Gina Loudon. All right, do you know what I find interesting, Charlie, is the fact that on the one hand, I think it's Joe Scarborough.
I think it was Scarborough he says Trump's loyalty extends only to his family and then Jake Tapper says Trump is just about ready to push out his son-in-law who happens to be the husband of his daughter. I mean, they can't even keep their stories straight as to what is going on with the president.
CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Well, it's funny. There is an old expression, tell the truth, it's easier to remember. What's going on here is the media is almost cheering for this president to fail.
Look, it just makes me so angry because this president is accomplishing over the last year is truly historic. I mean, imagine if a Democrat president had black unemployment at record low levels, black home ownership at the highest ever level, Latino unemployment lowest level, medium income is going up.
The Dow hitting records every other week, the economy roaring, trillions of dollars coming back to the country, the media would be fawning over this Democrat president as the most accomplished, most stable, and wonderful president we ever had.
Instead we are worrying about all of this palace intrigue that the American people don't care about. It's because the media wants him to fail. They would rather see America fail while Trump is in office than succeed. It's sick and it is wrong, and you see this nonsense happening with the media.
PIRRO: You know, Gina, the truth is that, you know, here we have a president who is accomplishing so much and just what, Charlie, said is just a bit of it. To me, one of the biggest things is tax reform which is tax cuts which are reflected in people's paychecks.
I mean, people can actually see this stuff. And, yet, they are so convinced that this man is the epitome of evil. Where does this come from? I mean, it's the same question we all ask over and over again. I can't comprehend it.
GINA LOUDON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You know, that's a great point, Judge. It does seem like other insanity. And every time they do this again, I think, you know what? I just want to tell them to keep it coming.
Because whether or not they believe it, they are the real colluders with the Trump campaign, because every time the media goes after him again, the American public knows the more apoplectic the media, the more you know Trump is on the right path and doing great things to make America great again.
And, Charlie, mentioned many of them but the strides he has made for women, the Supreme Court, there are so many things that are seeking. And even moving, I believe, voting blocks that have been traditionally Democrat.
I think we are going to see some massive shifts there from the rust belt to the blue wall. You know, I think some union people are going to be and obviously multiple ethnicities are going to be taking a look at how this president has changed their lives. They may be reconsidering what the media is telling them.
PIRRO: All right, Charlie, this conspiracy to influence the election, nothing has come up in the last 18 months. You know, all we here is that Donald Jr. had a meeting based on a friend asking him to meet with someone.
It lasted 20 minutes and Donald Trump Jr. just, you know, said thanks so much, goodbye. And now it's like a federal offense. It is absurd. And I think the American people see this for what it is. And the American people are going to react. It's almost as though New York and California are the parentheses around middle America and they are like -- they are nuts.
KIRK: That's right. I call it destination journalism. The media is trying to create a story that is not there. They are trying to write the story backwards with the headline on top and fill in the word and make up the facts.
And what you are talking about what happened with Don Jr., he took a single meeting with zero follow-up that has triggered an absolute catastrophe of legal fees and hearings, and totally unnecessary behavior from Congress. I don't understand why the House Republicans are continuing with this.
It doesn't make any sense. It's not constructive for the country. And final thing is this, you are right, the American people sick of this. They want results. They want tax cuts. They think keep them forward. They wanted infrastructure bill.
They don't want the continuation of this political witch-hunt. And look, if anyone colluded with Russia, it was Hillary Clinton that sold our uranium to the Russians.
PIRRO: Absolutely.
KIRK: That was the collusion, nothing with the Trump campaign.
PIRRO: Gina, last 15 seconds, she is the one taking all the cash, she and Bill, and they are telling me, I don't have enough time. But thanks for being with us tonight Charlie and Gina. And, coming up, more Hannity right after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of Hannity. Democrat scandals-- unfortunately, that's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you so much for being with us.
And don't forget to watch Justice tomorrow night on 9:00 p.m. eastern. I will be joined by Congressman Ron DeSantis and Lee Zeldin. And you can follow me on Twitter with Judge Jeanine. Laura Ingraham is next. Have a terrific night.
END
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