Rep. Matt Gaetz reacts to Bruce Ohr's notes about Steele
The actions of DOJ official Bruce Ohr and anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele during the 2016 election are called into question; insight on 'Hannity.'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 17, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to this special edition of "Hannity": Trump Versus the Deep State.
I'm Jeanine Pirro, in tonight for Sean.
Earlier today, President Trump was asked about his administration's decision to revoke John Brennan's security clearance. The president said he has received a, quote, tremendous response and denied that he is trying to silence his critics. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that I have gotten tremendous response from having done that because security clearances are very important to me. Very, very important. I have had a tremendous response for having done that.
There is no silence. If anything, I'm giving him a bigger voice. Many people don't even know who he is now and now he has a bigger voice and that's OK with me because I like taking on voices like that. I have never respected him. I have never had a lot of respect.
And Senator Burr said it best. If you knew anything, why didn't you report it when you were before all of these committees? Including their committee? So he had a chance to report. He never did.
This was just -- came up lately. And it's a disgusting thing, frankly.
Look, I say it, I stay again. That whole situation is a rigged witch-hunt. It's a totally rigged deal.
They should be looking at the other side. They should be looking at all the people that got fired by them, all of the people that got fired they should be looking at Bruce Ohr and his wife Nellie for dealing with, by the way, indirectly Russians. They should be looking at Steele. They should be looking at all these FBI guys who got fired and demoted.
It's a really -- it's not us. It is a rigged witch-hunt. I have said it for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: The president also called demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr, quote, a disgrace. He talked about revoking of his security clearance. President Trump also pointed out Robert Mueller's massive conflicts. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace. I suspect I will be taking it away very quickly. I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife Nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace.
That is disqualifying for Mueller. And Mr. Mueller has a lot of conflict, also, directly yourself. So you know that. Mr. Mueller is highly conflicted.
In fact, Comey is like his best friend. I could go into conflict after conflict. But sadly, Mr. Mueller is conflicted.
But let him write his report. We did nothing. There is no collusion. But if he was doing an honest report, he'd write it on the other side because, when you look at criminality and you look at problems, take a look at what they did, including colluding with the Russians, the other side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Also tonight, today was the second day of deliberations in the Paul Manafort trial. The jury has not yet delivered a verdict. They deliberated though for over 14 hours. The trial is now in recess until Monday morning.
President Trump was asked about the Manafort trial today and here's what he had to see you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the whole Manafort trial is very sad when you look at what's going on there. I think it's a very sad day for our country. He worked for me for a very short period of time.
But you know what? He happens to be a very good person. And I think it's very sad what they have done to Paul Manafort.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: As Hannity has explained many times on this show, Paul Manafort's trial has nothing to do with Russia collusion.
Joining us now with reaction is the author of "Why We Fight", FOX News national security strategist Sebastian Gorka, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, and former assistant U.S. attorney Victoria Toensing.
All right, good evening, everyone.
I want to start with you, Sebastian. This whole idea of security clearances, I mean, we all know that you don't have a right to have a security clearance. You know, Brennan is kicking and screaming that he is losing his First Amendment rights as if he is going to stop talking. And it really is a courtesy, a professional courtesy.
So, is this guy entitled to a courtesy of any sort?
SEBASTIAN GORKA, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIST: I don't care who the president is, Judge. I don't care whether it's a Republican. I don't care whether it's a Democrat. I don't care whether it's an independent.
The fact is why should anybody who has left government service maintain a clearance for the rest of their lives? The viewers should understand that at every security clearance the first investigation, just the first one costs you, the taxpayer, $25,000.
PIRRO: But --
GORKA: And then we expect -- go ahead.
PIRRO: Sebastian, here's the argument that they make and there's a way I understand it, and that is there is institutional knowledge. So, if a new head of the CIA comes in and he says, you know, let me talk to somebody who has done this before, not that Mike Pompeo is going to wants to call John Brennan.
GORKA: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
PIRRO: But that is the argument. You know, whether it's a new D.A. coming in or new CIA, does that make sense though?
GORKA: But -- no, it doesn't. Even that one doesn't make sense. Why? What happens to John Brennan? What happens to James Woolsey if they leave the position of director of CIA and they are rid out of the programs and they lose their clearance? Does their institutional memory suddenly fall out of their ears? Of course, it doesn't.
If their advice, if their counsel is requested by their successor in this administration, I can guarantee you, judge, nobody wants to ask John Brennan's advice because he voted for the communist in 1976 and he's still doing the work of Putin. If they want to talk to him, they can invite him back. He can sit in a SCIF, he can tell you back in 1980, whatever.
The clearance is irrelevant to the question of institutional memory.
PIRRO: Well, and, you know, Tom Fitton, yes, I'll go to you. I mean, you're fighting to get information. But let's stay in the topic of clearance. Hillary Clinton exposed classified secrets on our email and that's according to Jim Comey like an open orchid according to Romanian hacker Guccifer.
So, why is she still walking around with security clearances and why isn't she on that list of wanteds so to speak?
TOM FITTON, PRESIDENT, JUDICIAL WATCH: That's a good question whether she has one or not is an open question frankly. But, you know, the idea of a courtesy national security clearance tells you that's not about national security. It's about political rockets here in Washington, D.C. where these former officials keep their security clearances as part -- to use as part of theirs resume to increase their value to their next employers. It has nothing to do with national security.
It's an indication of swamp politics the way things work, and it was a brilliant anticorruption move by the president to take on Brennan here.
And I hope he does go down the list and frankly we should reform the whole system. Once you leave government, we have no more need for you, you're not working for the government anymore, you're not a contractor, you lose your national security clearance.
It doesn't mean we don't appreciate the prior service, but we move on to protect the national security for people walking around out on the street with no government business for having it.
PIRRO: The next CEO of any organization, Tom, doesn't get to go back into the company and check everything they want to know about it. Once their time is up, their time is up.
But, Victoria, I mean, if you've got -- if you've got these people who keep their clearance and there is no question they are monetizing, they're politicizing, consultants, advisors, lobbyists, MSNBC and CNN consultant or talking heads. But, is there a sun set period where it automatically and I know you represent a lot of these people who have clearances over the years.
Is there a sunset you then fight to keep it?
VICTORIA TOENSING, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Judge, I'm the only one on this panel who has a clearance. I have top secret clearances right this minute.
PIRRO: How often do you have to go through a review?
TOENSING: And this is to answer your question, because it depends. And I have had representation of people from the CIA and most recently my Uranium One, Doug Campbell client. And so, I had to have top secret clearances in order to be able to talk with him. And so it depends on what you are doing.
I don't know, I don't know do you need a top secret clearance to do your job? Because that's the job Brennan is doing right now. He is on TV. I don't think he needs it for that.
PIRRO: But what about everyone else? I mean, you know, why -- let's talk about and I will go to you, Seb.
You know, Bruce Ohr, this guy is back channeling information from a guy who was let go by the FBI who's a good friend of his wife who works for the organization that made the dossier and channeling this information from the Steele to the DOJ.
I mean, why -- forget about security clearance. Why is he even working in the Department of Justice?
GORKA: There is one reason and one reason alone. As you are well aware, there are certain administrative things that you can do to somebody who is government employ that you can't do to them once they have been fired. That's the charitable excuse.
But my advice is very simple to the administration. Everybody like Brennan, like Clapper, like McCabe who have demonstrated their partisanship should be stripped of their clearances forthwith. Anybody else on that long, long list, and it's not just the list Sarah Huckabee read. It's a much longer list.
PIRRO: Exactly.
GORKA: Anybody whose fingerprints are on Uranium One, on FISA-gate, on unmasking and I mean it all of -- hang on.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Why isn't he doing it?
GORKA: Well, I think he gets -- I will tell you why, look, there is -- there is a certain individuals in the council to the president's office who are more lawyers than they are political professionals and they don't understand the cost to national security of not stripping these people of their security clearances.
PIRRO: OK. Tom Fitton -- you know what? I will go to you, Victoria.
Seb just said something that is very interesting. And that's a lot of these lawyers in the Oval Office, you know, in there saying, you can't do this. You can't do that. Well, what do you think?
TOENSING: Well, I think that's going to change because I think the president has found a shiny new toy and that is something else that he can do in addition to pardons that nobody can stop him from doing.
PIRRO: Right.
TOENSING: Notwithstanding the silly people on the Hill that are going to pass some legislation that stops him from taking away clearances. They can't stop him. That's executive authority. And I think he has found it, that he is tweaking people and in particular people that he wants to tweak.
And it's going to continue. Unabated, I predict.
PIRRO: OK. And, Tom Fitton, I mean, now, you got Bruce Ohr who clearly is violating all of the rules of the FBI and the DOJ as it relates to sources. So, why is Mueller not investigating them?
And I heard someone say today well, it's supposed to be about the election. Well, this is about the election. It's about Bruce Ohr working with Fusion GPS and his wife is making money off of fusion. He is not declaring that money in his financial disclosure. He's conflicted.
I mean, why isn't Mueller looking at him instead? Mueller is taking the investigation or the information from him.
FITTON: Well, that's -- there's your problem. You've got Mueller using Bruce Ohr's information, Christopher Steele's information at the Clinton DNC dossier, using that, taking that whole Obama-Clinton operation targeting Trump and running with it.
Look, this Justice Department is attacking the presidency through the Mueller operation, saying that he hasn't had the right to fire the FBI director and investigating him for that? Now they are messing with his ability to conduct foreign policy.
If I were the president, I would come in and tell the Justice Department -- either you stop it, and if you refuse to do so, I may go to court to get it stopped, because right now, you've got an out-of-control Mueller investigation. We see where they are going with Manafort, where they are willing to break every rule in the book to get someone who is not even involved in Russia collusion. Lord knows what else they are willing to do to get President Trump.
PIRRO: Well, you know, and, Sebastian, maybe can you put a period on that one, because, clearly, you've got these guys involved in the run-up to the election. Their jobs, they violated the rules and they -- you know, to many, they have committed obstruction by creating this false document and lie to the court. Why is Mueller not looking at them?
GORKA: I'll tell you why. Because the day before Mueller was appointed special counsel by his best friend, Rod Rosenstein, he had an interview in the White House to which Rod Rosenstein escorted him in which he wanted to get his old job back as the director of the FBI.
PIRRO: Yes.
GORKA: Robert Mueller wanted his old job back, and he failed. He crashed and burned and the new president said no, you're not going to be the director. I want new blood after I fired Comey.
What did Rod Rosenstein do? The next day, he appointed this man as special prosecutor against a man who he had failed in front of during his job interview. That is the biggest conflict of interest. This is a revenge operation. Bob Mueller is executing a revenge operation.
(CROSSTALK)
TOENSING: Judge, let me say something because there is a legal reason also that this is happening and it's the way Rod Rosenstein drafted the authority that he gave to Mueller. He said anything, any link that you find between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. He did not give an authority to Mueller to go into the Clinton campaign or anything to do with this -- the DNC.
PIRRO: Go ahead, Tom.
FITTON: Mueller should be investigating himself. He is a witness in this case. It's an absurd -- it's incredibly absurd to have him run this investigation given his personal involvement in the underlying facts of the case. Where is the Justice Department?
PIRRO: And tomorrow night in my open because we have to go guys, I'm going after him for all his conflicts.
Anyway, thank you very much all of you.
But coming up, Catherine Herridge has obtained emails and written notes from demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr. Catherine is joining us next with a full report. And we're going to get reaction from Sara Carter, Gregg Jarrett, Congressman Matt Gaetz as this special edition of HANNITY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity.".
Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge has obtained emails and written notes from demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr written during the 2016 election. These notes show Ohr had contact with Fusion GPS founder Glen Simpson and the creator of the anti-Trump dossier Christopher Steele.
Catherine Herridge joins us now with the very latest -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Judge Jeanine, the text messages obtained by FOX News between Bruce Ohr and former British spy Christopher Steele from January 2017 until late November and suggest Steele asked Ohr to be his go-between with the special counsel.
Quote: We are frustrated with how long this reengagement with the bureau and Robert Mueller is taking, Steele writes. Anything you could do to accelerator the process would be very much appreciated.
Three months later, Steele describes to Ohr mounting legal pressure and the constant stress of media scrutiny. I'm presuming you've heard nothing back from your special counsel colleagues on the issues you kindly put to them for me. We have heard nothing either.
Steele continues that the radio silence is beyond disappointing.
Certain people have been willing to risk everything, he writes, to engage in an effort to help them reach the truth.
Separately the emails suggest Ohr, his wife Nellie, were in frequent contact with Fusion GPS Glen Simpson whose firm put together the dossier using Steele's research. Nellie Ohr worked for Simpson. Today, President Trump singled out Ohr whose security clearance is under review.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think Bruce Ohr is a disgrace. I suspect I'll be taking it away very quickly. I think that Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife Nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: Asked whether their office has engaged with Ohr or used Ohr as an intermediary for Steele, a spokesman for special counsel Robert Mueller declined to comment -- Judge.
PIRRO: Thank you, Catherine.
And Sara Carter has also obtained notes from Bruce Ohr in one of her reporting in one of Ohr's notes in 2017 he writes about a call with Christopher Steele and reveals that Steele was, quote: very concerned about Comey's firing of, afraid they will be exposed.
Joining us now with more is FOX News contributor Sara Carter, the New York Times bestselling author of "Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary And Frame Donald", Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
All right. Good evening, everyone.
Now, Sara, what -- you have unearthed some additional information. Why don't you tell us what that is?
SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it's very telling of what Bruce Ohr and his relationship with Christopher Steele and how concerned Christopher Steele was that they would be exposed.
There was also another text message, Judge Jeanine, that I was able to -- that I was able to publish last week and it was about the fire walls. And Christopher Steele basically asked, Bruce Ohr, will our firewalls that we have in place hold? Will these firewalls hold?
And this is also very telling and something that is very concerning to Congress because, apparently, it seems that they premeditated and worked around, used Bruce Ohr as a back channel to deliver Steele's messages straight over to the FBI, even though he had been fired but they put up firewalls. And what Congress wants to know is, who were these, and what were these firewalls? And that's what they'll be asking him on August 28 when they bring him in for deposition.
PIRRO: All right. And, Matt Gaetz, I mean, you certainly had your share of these inquires of these individuals. When he does come before I believe two committees at the end of August, I mean, what do you expect to hear? Now, we are hearing things that he didn't talk about in the past.
REP. MATT GAETZ, R-FLORIDA: We know that Bruce and Nellie Ohr are the Bonnie and Clyde of Collusion. Think about what we just learned, a foreign spy is upset that he's not able to use our own Justice Department enough to poison and influence Robert Mueller's investigation. This is after Fusion GPS hired the spouse of Bruce Ohr to be able to have their influence.
So, you have the spouse of a senior Justice Department official colluding with an agent of a foreign government, Christopher Steele with the expressed purpose of trying to destabilize the U.S. presidential election. Why is this not what we are looking into? Why is Robert Mueller not looking into this foreign interference around not the hoax of the Trump Russia investigation that, by the way, Gregg Jarrett points out beautifully in his new book?
PIRRO: Oh, that's such a nice plug.
(LAUGHTER)
PIRRO: Sara, let me ask you something. When the congressman talked about the fact that Nellie was hired by Fusion, Nellie Ohr, do we know when she was hired by Fusion GPS.
CARTER: Yes. She was hired by Fusion GPS in 2016.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Oh, this is right before the election.
CARTER: That's right. With a very specific purpose, Judge Jeanine, to actually investigate the Trump Russia issue, the dossier. Remember, she is fluent in Russian. She is also a Russia expert. This was very well- coordinated.
And I agree with Matt Gaetz. Congressman Gaetz is right. This was an effort to bring Russian disinformation into this dossier and into our election and to affect the election.
PIRRO: Right, right. And, Gregg Jarrett, I mean, you know, Bruce Ohr, it looks to me is in legal jeopardy. What can he be charged with?
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, these are the documents, 63 pages, I have looked through them over the last 10 days that I have had them and it's clear to me that he is in legal jeopardy. It's astonishing that he is still employed.
And here's why. Bruce and Nellie Ohr's bank account is getting fatter and fatter because of the dossier that they are both peddling. He doesn't disclose it under federal regulations. He is required to do so. So, that is potentially a crime filing a false report.
PIRRO: Right, right.
JARRETT: But beyond that, using your federal office for personal financial gain is federal gratuity statute violation, bribery statute violation --
PIRRO: So, why is the guy still working?
JARRETT: -- honest services violation.
PIRRO: These guys know this in the Department of Justice. Why is the guy still working?
JARRETT: Because the Department of Justice is run by a feckless attorney general named Jeff Sessions, and Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, who is obstructing Congress, I believe, to cover up his own participation and wrongdoing. He filed and signed the renewal application for the wiretap on the Trump campaign without the required evidence.
PIRRO: And, you know --
GAETZ: And, Judge --
PIRRO: Go ahead, Congressman.
GAETZ: Judge, I wanted to make a point about what Gregg just said. Rod Rosenstein won't tell us when he first learned that Nellie Ohr was working for Fusion GPS. So, I want to know from Bruce Ohr when did he tell his colleagues at the Department of Justice that in violation of the law that required him to disclose his wife's occupation and her sources of income, he did not do that. And so, when did all the other people at the Department of Justice find this out because Rod Rosenstein, I have asked him twice in open hearings and he will not give an answer. I think there is a real smoking gun there.
PIRRO: Yes, I think there is more than a smoking gun there.
But let's go back, Sara Carter, to the whole idea of Nellie Ohr getting the job right before the election and then as Gregg says, you know, pocketing all of this cash in their bank account. And Ohr is facilitating, trying to get Christopher Steele who has been cut loose on the Mueller team now.
Why are they so invested in this, that they know they can be charged with crimes, lose their job. What is it that they are so caught up on?
CARTER: They are caught up on removing President Trump. They are caught up on pushing this disinformation, these lies into the American public and into the media and trying to get these lies to stick. And what they didn't expect -- what they didn't expect was for all of this to come out and to be revealed, Judge Jeanine.
And, now, we look at Rod Rosenstein. And let me say one thing about this. He signed that fourth FISA application. He would have known. He would have known so all of this information, because remember, there were four renewals.
So, he should have known --
PIRRO: Right.
CARTER: -- what was in there. And if he didn't, there is something wrong with him, because this is one --
PIRRO: All right.
CARTER: -- of the biggest cases in the country.
PIRRO: I want to start with the Manafort trial today, guys.
We're now in the second day -- and, Gregg, I'm going to start with you -- of deliberations. And the jury has been let go or the evening. When I was a judge, I very often would keep juries. Once they got a case, I would keep them in, especially in a case like this, where there is so much public interest.
But what do you think? It seems that the defense attorney is very heartened by some of the questions about reasonable doubt.
JARRETT: That's right. They sent out a question yesterday to the judge, what's the definition of reasonable doubt? As you know as former judge and a D.A., there is no legal standard definition for reasonable doubt because we leave it to the discretion and determination of the jurors themselves.
It's a very, very high burden. And the reason the defense is pleased about that because they mounted a "reasonable doubt" defense. They didn't call a case in earnest but did it through cross-examination.
PIRRO: What do you think is going to happen?
JARRETT: Well, I think that they have tried to zero in on one or two jurors to either hang the jury or convince the jury unanimously there is reasonable doubt, you cannot convict.
PIRRO: You know, Congressman, what do you think is going to happen in this case?
GAETZ: Well, I think it's going to be overblown because nothing in this case has anything to do with Donald Trump, the Trump campaign or any involvement in 2016 with Russia?
PIRRO: Will he be convicted?
GAETZ: I don't know. I guess I just don't really care if Paul Manafort pays taxes in the `80s or `90s like, you know, to the same extent that CNN seems to follow it every single second. I just think that it has any relevance and distracting the country.
JARRETT: It should have been an IRS audit and a civil penalty plus interest, and, you know?
PIRRO: But this is what the feds do, Gregg. It's what they do.
Sara, you got 10 seconds left.
CARTER: OK, but we see what happened today with Judge Ellis coming out and saying he has been threatened. That he has to have the security of marshals and now there is a lot of concerns about these jurors. This is what happens, Judge Jeanine, when we have such a divisive country right now and so much rhetoric from the other side.
PIRRO: And that's why I'm surprised that he has let them out so that there is a possibility of tampering. This is a very, very hot climate, guys. Anyway, thank you all for being here tonight. I appreciate your input.
And coming up Senator Lindsey Graham is raising concerns with the head of the FBI about the bureau's political bias during the 2016 campaign.
Kristin Fisher has a live report from Washington next. And don't forget to get your hands on a copy of my book New York Times bestselling book "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of HANNITY. Today, Senator Lindsey Graham wrote a letter to the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, and expressed his concerns about the, quote, "double standard" and the mounting evidence of bias against the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
Joining us with more from Washington is Kristin Fisher. Kristin?
KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judge, Senator Lindsey Graham is accusing the FBI of a double standard because of the difference in terms of how it handled Russian contacts with the Trump campaign.
First, is how it handled a suspected Chinese spy on Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein's staff. So in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray today, Senator Graham said that quote, "So I appreciate the FBI's diligence in identifying the staff with potential ties to the Chinese government and providing Senator Dianne Feinstein with a defensive briefing, I am deeply troubled that the Trump campaign was not afforded the same treatment."
Now this letter comes just days after Senator Graham said on Fox News Sunday that he wants to appoint another special counsel. This one to investigate the FBI and why a Department of Justice official, Bruce Ohr, was allowed to investigate then candidate Trump while Ohr's wife worked for the opposition research firm that produced that now infamous dossier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-SOUTH CAROLINA: Bruce Ohr was at least ethical. We need a special counsel to look at all things Department of Justice and FBI when it came to the Trump administration, particularly the counterintelligence investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FISHER: Now so far the FBI hasn't responded to Senator Graham's letter. But boy, judge, Senator Graham sure came out swinging this week.
PIRRO: All right, Kristin. Thanks so much. And joining me with reactions is former press secretary for Vice President Pence, Marc Lotter, and from the American Center for Law and Justice, Jordan Sekulow.
All right. You know, Marc, this whole idea of bringing in another special counsel to investigate Mueller which is something that I talked about last Saturday in my open and I'm going after him tomorrow night, I mean, doesn't the deputy director, the deputy attorney general have to be the one to appoint a new special counsel? And that would be Rod Rosenstein?
MARC LOTTER, VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE'S PRESS SECRETARY: Well, it would either be Rod Rosenstein or Attorney General Sessions.
PIRRO: Sessions is -- hold on, Sessions is hiding in a closet. He is not coming out for this, OK?
LOTTER: This would be a great time to come out on this. But this whole thing has been a charade from the beginning. I mean, the double standard on dealing with Diane Feinstein as Senator Graham pointed out. But let's talk about the biggest double standard there was. Hillary Clinton got a free pass.
The Trump administration is under a special prosecutor investigation. You can go time and time again. The FBI politely asked the DNC for their server. The key piece of evidence and yet, Bob Mueller subpoenaed everything under the sun from the Trump campaign. It's just one double standard after another.
PIRRO: But you know what? I have to tell you, Jordan Sekulow. You know, I bet a lot of people wouldn't be concerned with the procedure. All right, like you go in with search warrants and you try to -- you drag people out of bed to get information when you have a warrant. OK. That's bad. That's horrible.
But where things are as blatant as they are right now with back channeling from a guy who was let go by the FBI. Who was writing the fake -- or getting the fake dossier written. This pals with Bruce Ohr and his wife. They are making money on it. They are now shivering in their boots because Comey is, you know, fired.
I mean, how can this guy Mueller absolutely or anyone else continue to investigate and get up in the morning and look at himself?
JORDAN SEKULOW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Well, you know what we have said, Jeanine, is whatever happened, judge, with the information that Peter Strzok gathered at his time during when he was on the Mueller team?
Remember, Peter Strzok was in charge of this investigation for an entire year before the special counsel was appointed. Did they shred everything and start over? I highly doubt that but, yet, we see his bias and he gets fired from the special counsel's team because of the text messages.
Ultimately gets fired from the FBI. Joins his friend Andrew McCabe and Jim Comey and I hope soon Bruce Ohr from the Department of Justice.
But what I believe is this. When we begin to investigate the investigators and I'm talking about outside groups and news outlets begin and Congress begin to investigate the investigators, they fall. They fall one by one by one in this situation because they were trying to, one, influence an election.
And when they weren't capable of doing that to defeat Donald Trump, they decided, OK, let's see what we can do to try to take him out after he is president.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Right, right. (Inaudible) They were framing him.
SEKULOW: So why did Bruce Ohr keep working with Christopher Steele.
PIRRO: OK, they are framing him.
SEKULOW: They were putting this together. Yes.
PIRRO: OK. Good. So, now, Marc, here's the question. I mean, if Mueller is going to continue to do this investigation, no one is going to appoint a special counsel because Sessions is not going to do it. Rod Rosenstein honestly should be fired based upon and by the way, guys, you know, I have a news flash for you.
Rod Rosenstein's wife has her own issues in terms of conflict. So you know, it's like there is power couple thing going on in Washington. And yet, the American people are frustrated. They are not getting any kind of answer. And they are just -- they are almost giving up on us. What can we do, Marc?
LOTTER: I think the biggest thing is we can get behind Senator Graham's call. Demand more information and, remember, there was a lot of congressional pressure that was being applied when Bob Mueller was being appointed in addition to the work by Rod Rosenstein.
If we can get enough members of Congress calling for this special counsel. You will put the pressure on to get it done.
PIRRO: Well, all right. So, let's talk about, Jordan, then the whole idea that the FBI notify as a courtesy Senator Dianne Feinstein that they think that she's got a Chinese spy driving around who has been on her staff for 20 years.
SEKULOW: Right.
PIRRO: But when it comes to Donald Trump and they think there is Russian collusion. They don't give him the courtesy of saying, you know, we think that there may be some spies involved. No, what they do is they put their own spy in to see what Trump is doing. They call it a human source.
(CROSSTALK)
SEKULOW: It goes--
PIRRO: How do they justify this?
SEKULOW: They can't justify it, judge. It goes right to the op-ed that Brennan wrote yesterday after he got his security clearance dropped. What did he leave out in that op-ed? He said there is definitely collusion it's just whether or not it's criminal.
Why didn't he do anything about it? How did he -- when did he learn about this collusion he is so certain about? Because if he learned about it when he was CIA director why didn't he notify the secretary of state who run our presidential elections across the country?
Why didn't he notify Congress or the Trump campaign to be careful? And maybe even it was so broad that they needed to notify the American people about these efforts because you have the social media.
He did nothing. So, as Senator Burr has said, he either knew everything and sat on it which was wrong as CIA director or knew nothing and then there was an intelligence brief -- breach after he left the CIA, which is how he found out this information supposedly which, again, would be a pretty good reason for pulling his security clearance along with by the way, calling the president guilty of treason which is a crime punishable by death. I think at that point you get your security clearance pulled, Mr. Brennan.
PIRRO: You know, I talk about Brennan in my book and I call him pond scum Brennan. OK. So, for the deep state, if you want to read about him, I've got them all here.
Bu, OK, final question to you, Marc. When it comes this Mueller investigation do you think that there's any way it's going to come to an end before the midterms? Do you think it's just going to go on and on?
I mean, the Lindsey Graham letter isn't going anywhere unless Rod Rosenstein or Jeff Sessions has a, you know, decides that they want to get back in line with law and order and that's not happening.
LOTTER: I think the best way Bob Mueller can try to salvage what, you know, his reputation is to get this wrapped up so he can be accused of trying to influence the midterm election. So if there is any possible way, I would hope that he would take that.
You've got a few weeks left. Get your report written. Get it to the people who need to see it and then let's let the American people find out what actually happened because, as the president said from day one there has been no collusion and there has still been no evidence of it.
PIRRO: Gentlemen, thank you.
SEKULOW: Or else, judge, he bottom of it, becomes Jim Comey.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: And coming up, Rush Limbaugh is sounding off on the left for freaking out over John Brennan losing his security clearance. We'll tell you what he said as the special edition of HANNITY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to special edition of "Hannity."
On his radio show today, Rush Limbaugh weighed in on President Trump revoking Brennan's security clearance and the, quote, "free speech hysteria that's ensued." Watch
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: These people have acted in corrupt ways to sabotage the United States presidential election and then a subsequent United States presidency.
Why do they qualify for a security clearance in the first place?
This is the swamp that Trump promised everybody that he was going to drain and he is doing a good job of it. What press freedom is being infringed? Donald Trump is not doing one thing to stop them. All he is doing is calling them out. All is he doing is pushing back and this is what it looks like.
All Donald Trump is doing is what we have wanted any Republican to do for the last 20 years. He is doing it. They say it's a denial of their freedom. They say the presidency is broken. They say we need to amend the Constitution to get rid of the presidency because Trump won.
They are the ones that have the agenda that limits and denies freedom. They're the ones with the agenda that is punitive to their opponents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Joining me now with reaction is Fox News contributor and former Clinton pollster, Doug Schoen, and GOPAC chairman, David Avella.
All right, guys. I have to tell you, I'm always mesmerized by Rush Limbaugh. You know, he is such a powerful speaker. And so when he says he talks about what freedom, Doug, you know, what makes them think they can sabotage or attempt to sabotage an election and then a presidency. And keep their clearances, I mean, he has got a good point.
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Here's the way I saw it. You know, as a general matter, the idea of pulling security clearances for political reasons, I would say, is a bad thing. But, when I heard former Director Brennan call Trump treasonous, I thought that was way over the line.
I disagreed with how Trump handled the press conference, how he has handled relations with Russia. But I really I have a very bad feeling about Mr. Brennan and I really would like to know more about what he knows, what he thinks and why he is saying what he is saying.
PIRRO: Because he hates Donald Trump. He tried to frame him. I mean, he is the guy who was, you know, trying to sell a whole idea. Let's get the dossier. Let's move it around. He hates the man.
SCHOEN: And I think we need to investigate the FBI, the dossier. Steele, and Ohr's connection. I think what Trump said today--
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Should Ohr still be working?
SCHOEN: He wouldn't be working in my Justice Department, I don't think. But I would like to have a systematic investigation so we know the facts. I think that's fair and that's reasonable.
PIRRO: All right, David Avella, don't know we not facts? We've now seen the notes of Bruce Ohr, his wife Nellie is working for Fusion GPS that's paying Christopher Steele to get that dossier and then they are trying to peddle it around Bruce Ohr is trying to get Steele back on Mueller's team.
They are like a pack of wolves going after Donald Trump. And you know what, they must all hang out together because they -- I will leave it at that what do you think?
DAVID AVELLA, CHAIRMAN, GOPAC: Wow, there you go. Also, let's add to that we're about to see some of these pack of wolves as you say starting to go after each other. As more and more questions come out about Strzok and now Ohr and all of them have to defend themselves, you will start to see these wolves going after each other.
But they act like a security clearance is somehow a lifetime perk that you get forever. And most Americans get the concept that when you are not in government, and you don't need to have a security clearance, you don't have to keep it.
And the third thing which may be the most important with Brennan is this is a guy who left the CIA under a cloud of investigation as to whether he used the CIA to the Senate intelligence agency as they were trying to address the CIA. And this guy now is on--
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Well, there's no question, David, based on -- that's already been proven the guy lied to Senate intel about whether or not he was investigating Senate and Senate staffers because they were looking at what he was doing with the CIA torture program.
The guy is a liar to begin with plus he voted for a communist. How he ever got up to the top of the CIA is beyond me. But then again, it was the Obama administration. What do you think, Doug?
SCHOEN: Well, again, I appreciate the passion you bring to bear. My attitude, as I said before, is I would like to investigate.
PIRRO: What do you want to investigate?
SCHOEN: I want to do a systematic government review of the issues and allegations you and Gregg and David are bringing to bear, Rush Limbaugh. Let's do that once and for all.
PIRRO: But Congress has been doing. Congress has been doing it, watching this stuff.
SCHOEN: Why don't they hold these guys in contempt then if they are not getting the documents they want?
PIRRO: Thank you very much, Doug Schoen. Go ahead, David.
AVELLA: Well, we--
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: We need consequences.
AVELLA: We do need consequences. The challenge is, many in the media has made everything about this breaking news. That for most Americans it's hard to keep up with what is actually breaking news.
And once even when we do finally get the end results about this, there is going to be Americans who think this was completely political, which is unfortunate because there are real questions being -- that need to be asked about how this FBI and how the Obama administration's FBI used their office to politicize and weaponize the bureau for the political purposes to which they used it.
PIRRO: Yes, but you know what my concern is, Doug, that if we get all the facts out, like you guys are talking about, I'm convinced I have the facts.
SCHOEN: OK.
PIRRO: All right. I've seen it, I've heard it. Everybody is -- all the bad guys--
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: But you are neither a judge, or a prosecutor. You did you both jobs well.
PIRRO: OK.
SCHOEN: But it needs to be done officially. I want to see the results of the Mueller probe before we come to judgment.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: You know what? It's like the results of the Horowitz I.G.
SCHOEN: Look, I'm a trained lawyer, Jeanine.
PIRRO: Yes.
SCHOEN: And I don't think it's right to let things run their course and make judgments.
PIRRO: You know what, if they are going to run their course and nothing is going to happen.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: Well, let that happen and then you--
PIRRO: That's why people are fed up with government.
SCHOEN: -- should write another best seller.
PIRRO: OK. Thank you.
SCHOEN: I hope that's a good idea.
PIRRO: All right. Thanks, Doug, I appreciate it. More of the special edition of HANNITY after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to the special edition of HANNITY. But unfortunately, that's all the time we have left this evening. But be sure to pick up a copy of my new number one New York Times best seller. It's "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy." If you didn't understand what we talked about tonight it's in the book. It's all there.
And don't forget to tune in to Justice tomorrow night at 9 Eastern. Rudy Giuliani is going to join me and street justice is back.
And by the way, my open is going to be on Bob Mueller. I am so tired of this guy messing everything up. He's got to go. I hope you'll tune in. Sean is back on Monday. "Ingraham Angle" is up next. Have a great weekend.
END
Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox