The legality of the FBI's recommendation in Clinton probe
Director James Comey recommends no criminal charges in the server investigation; reaction on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 5, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST (voice-over): Tonight...
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case.
HANNITY: The FBI decides not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton over the use of her private e-mail server despite a mountain of evidence of wrongdoing. Doug Schoen, Jay Sekulow and Judge Jeanine Pirro are here with legal reaction.
HILLARY CLINTON, D,, PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I never sent nor received any -- any e-mail that was marked classified.
HANNITY: Then Hillary Clinton is caught repeatedly lying about her private e-mail server.
COMEY: 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information.
HANNITY: Laura Ingraham and former governor Mike Huckabee will weigh in.
And Director Comey says Clinton's e-mail account could have been hacked.
COMEY: It is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
HANNITY: Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters will have reaction. All of that and the Trump campaign responds. Eric Trump will join us.
"Hannity" starts right here, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And welcome to "Hannity." And tonight, the FBI decides not to recommend criminal charges over Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server during her time and tenure as secretary of state. Now, this comes despite the fact that the bureau said that Clinton and her staff were, quote, "extremely careless" with how they handled classified information.
Now, here's FBI director James Comey from earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMEY: Secretary Clinton used several different servers and administrators of those servers during her four years at the State Department. And she also used numerous mobile devices to send and to read e-mail on that personal domain.
From the group of 30,000 e-mails returned to the State Department in 2014,
110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received.
Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive highly-classified information.
There is evidence to support a conclusion that any reasonable person in Secretary Clinton's position or in the position of those with whom she was corresponding about those matters should have known that an unclassified system was no place for that conversation.
In looking back at our investigations into the mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here with reaction, the chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice Jay Sekulow, former Clinton pollster, FOX News contributor Doug Schoen, and the host of "Justice," Judge Jeanine Pirro.
Jay, let's go to the heart of what we just heard James Comey said here. By the way, we'll get to the lies -- and they're numerous -- that Hillary has been called out on in this statement by Comey from earlier today.
But we've got to go to 18, U.S. Code 18, section 793. And he said she -- they acted extremely carelessly. The statute says gross negligence. Can you explain what the difference is?
JAY SEKULOW, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Well, no. The legal definition of gross negligence is extreme carelessness. So the standard that the director of the FBI put forward is a violation, a felony under federal law!
So what happened here, without a doubt, the fix was in since the beginning.
This was a faux investigation. As our friend, Andy McCarthy has said, they
-- Director Comey rewrote the statute to get the result that someone desired. Obviously, the Clintons desired, but maybe even higher up.
And the fact of the matter is, Sean, at the end of the day, if you look at the gross negligence standard, that is when someone is careless to an extreme. That's the legal definition of gross negligence.
HANNITY: So was he -- this is the thing. I'm watching the first 15 minutes. I think, Wow, he's going to do this.
SEKULOW: Yes.
HANNITY: And then the last two minutes, he pulled back because he was laying out the case.
Judge Jeanine, let's talk about this. I think the most stunning thing that Comey said today was when he said, To be clear -- well, let me play it.
This is not in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMEY: To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions, but that's not what we're deciding now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So he...
JEANINE PIRRO, HOST, "JUSTICE": OK. So security or administrative sanctions. If she were to become the president of the United States, hasn't she already proven that she cannot be trusted with this information? Shouldn't she lose any security clearance that she has?
HANNITY: But that's one of the punishments if you...
PIRRO: Yes!
HANNITY: ... if you mishandle classified information.
PIRRO: Sean, I have been in criminal justice for 35 years. I've been a prosecutor, a judge, a DA, and I've run grand juries. I've empaneled grand juries.
This United States Attorney, the head of the FBI, made out a prima facie case for prosecution for a felony. I've instructed juries that gross negligence is extreme carelessness. And for him to then turn around and say no reasonable prosecutor would go forward with this case -- Jim, you're wrong! I respect you, but you're wrong! You may...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: How can you respect it? He laid out an overwhelming case here.
PIRRO: That requires it go to the grand jury for the American people! But instead, political appointees...
HANNITY: All right...
PIRRO: ... will make this decision!
HANNITY: Now let's go...
PIRRO: ... and it's a shame for this country!
HANNITY: Doug, let me ask you the political question.
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Sure.
HANNITY: Most Americans think she's dishonest and untrustworthy already.
SCHOEN: Correct.
HANNITY: OK. We learn last week she lied on the issue of Benghazi and the YouTube video.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: It was very clear because she was telling her daughter and the Libyan president...
SCHOEN: Correct.
HANNITY: ... and the Egyptian prime minister, you know, one thing at the same time she was telling us something else. Well, she said she never sent or received anything classified.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: Lie. James Comey called her out on it.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: She said she carried one device for convenience. That was a lie.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: She carried multiple devices. She said she turned over everything that was work-related.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: That was a lie, too.
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: Because she had multiple servers. She also said she erased e- mails because it was about yoga, a wedding, and a funeral. Well, it turns out they find classified materials on that which she deleted, but they were able to recover!
SCHOEN: Correct.
HANNITY: Another lie!
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: Is she the congenital liar that William Safire once wrote about, a pathological liar? Because she seems to lie every day!
SCHOEN: Look, this was the worst possible result that became the best possible result with no charges because I think while you're not wrong, Sean -- you're making good points. And indeed, the president just happened to be on a plane with her a couple of hours after this. Coincidence? I don't think so.
HANNITY: No, I don't think so, either. Bill Clinton meeting Lynch was not a coincidence, either.
SCHOEN: But today makes this much more likely she'll be the next president. And I would tell you, Sean, there are more unanswered questions...
HANNITY: So even though she has been identified as lying throughout for the last 16 months to all of us...
SCHOEN: Correct. Correct.
HANNITY: And you admit she lied.
SCHOEN: She certainly did not tell the truth, and Comey said it today.
HANNITY: OK. You know, I don't know what to say to that, Jay. I mean, is that what the American people want?
SEKULOW: Well, elections have consequences, Sean, and the American people didn't seem to get what was expected here. I mean, James Comey, with all due respect -- and I'm with the judge. I respect James Comey, but I don't respect this decision.
PIRRO: Oh, no.
SEKULOW: And I don't respect the politics of this moment. And I don't respect that the attorney general...
HANNITY: He politicized...
SEKULOW: ... of the United States had Bill Clinton...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... be politicized.
SEKULOW: Yes, well, it is politicized and probably institutionally incapable of self-correcting, at this point.
HANNITY: All right, then let me...
(CROSSTALK)
Hannity: We need to talk about something. So Loretta Lynch, Bill Clinton goes -- they have a half hour meeting talking about their grandchildren, supposedly. Then Hillary gets the convenience of a Saturday meeting. Then, of course, she's out campaigning, as Doug pointed out, with Obama today, the same day Comey says she's guilty of everything and other people would have been in trouble, but not her. And she lied about this, this, this, and this. Really? Is this the banana republic we now live in?
PIRRO: But Sean, there's another piece to it...
(CROSSTALK)
SEKULOW: Yes, but this administration has consistently done this with these investigations. The IRS investigation was a fake investigation.
This was a fake investigation. The fix is in before they start! We're just seeing it played out in living color.
HANNITY: Judge?
PIRRO: There's another piece to it.
HANNITY: What?
PIRRO: Hillary Clinton said that she would consider Loretta Lynch for her attorney general!
HANNITY: Yes.
PIRRO: And so when you put all those pieces together...
HANNITY: Why not?
PIRRO: ... it's clear what the intent is!
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: ... leaked it over the weekend.
PIRRO: You know what happened here? This is a dark day for criminal justice!
HANNITY: I agree.
PIRRO: This is a dark day for the Department of Justice and the FBI!
There's a lot of good people in those departments.
SCHOEN: I'm supporting Hillary.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: I want her to be president. But Jeanine is right. It is a dark day for criminal justice. I say that as a Democrat...
HANNITY: She should have been indicted.
SCHOEN: Certainly, given what Comey said, a grand jury should have been empaneled to further hear the facts. I say that as a Democrat who's supporting Hillary.
HANNITY: So Comey put Hillary above the law. That would not happen to any of the rest of us.
SCHOEN: I think that that's the only conclusion you can reach.
HANNITY: Yes, Jay.
SEKULOW: He rewrote the law. I mean, the law has been rewritten here.
Gross negligence is extreme carelessness.
SCHOEN: Jay is right.
SEKULOW: That's clear. So he rewrote the law to get the result that...
HANNITY: Someone told him he had to get to!
(CROSSTALK)
SEKULOW: And remember Loretta Lynch last week said, Oh, don't worry.
Whatever the FBI says, I'm going to do. Yes, she knew what the FBI was going to recommend. That's what you got.
(CROSSTALK)
SEKULOW: When she spoke, it was done.
HANNITY: So when you talk about extreme carelessness versus gross negligence, and then you pile on lie after lie after lie for 16 months...
PIRRO: To me, that adds up to intent!
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... consequences for that? Seriously?
PIRRO: It adds up to intent! No political consequences. The American public...
HANNITY: She deleted 34,000 e-mails. That doesn't show the intent that...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: There is no need for intent.
PIRRO: ... forensically recover! What does that tell you...
(CROSSTALK)
SEKULOW: You don't even have to have intent for this...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: There's no need for intent. Yet he imputed an intent requirement to a gross negligence statute that doesn't require it!
HANNITY: Right!
PIRRO: Yes!
SCHOEN: It's impossible...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Wouldn't this be a felony punishable by 10 years?
PIRRO: Yes, it is a felony, absolutely!
SCHOEN: Instead, she's going to be in the Oval Office!
PIRRO: Well, let's hope not.
HANNITY: You will for somebody...
SCHOEN: I absolutely will.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: What she would do as president, immigration, infrastructure, it's what I want. But I'm troubled by today, I have to say.
PIRRO: What has she done so far?
HANNITY: Troubled. The rules are going out the window here. I would be handcuffed, perp walked...
SEKULOW: (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: ... mug-shotted and sent to prison, and you would be saying, Oh, Sean was a nice guy. I used to like him.
SCHOEN: He still is a nice guy.
HANNITY: All right, thank you.
All right, coming up, we have a busy night tonight on "Hannity."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-N.Y., FMR. SEC. OF STATE, PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINEE: The facts are pretty clear. I did not send nor receive anything that was classified at the time.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: FBI director James Comey exposes Hillary Clinton's repeated lies about her private e-mail server. Now, we're going to show you the tape back and forth and prove how many times she's lied, and we'll get reaction from Laura Ingraham and Governor Mike Huckabee.
And then later tonight...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COMEY: We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Did Hillary also compromise your national security by using that private e-mail server? We'll check in with Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters.
All of that plus Eric Trump will join us live in studio. And who do you think Donald Trump should choose for VP? Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." So while James Comey said the FBI doesn't recommend prosecuting Hillary Clinton for using a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state, Comey's remarks did highlight multiple instances where Clinton has been less than truthful in her numerous attempts to downplay this ongoing scandal. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-N.Y., FMR. SEC. OF STATE, PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINEE: I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal e-mails instead of two.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: She also used numerous mobile devices to send and read e-mail on that personal domain.
CLINTON: The facts are pretty clear. I did not send nor receive anything that was classified at the time.
COMEY: 110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received. Eight of those chains contained information that was top-secret at the time they were sent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say with 100 percent certainty that the deleted e-mails -- that the FBI is not going to find anything in there that's going to cause you to have to explain again?
CLINTON: All I can tell you is that when my attorneys conducted this exhaustive process, I did not participate. I'm, you know, very sure that my attorneys did the most meticulous job that could have been done.
COMEY: The lawyers doing the sorting for Secretary Clinton in 2014 did not individually read the content of all of her e-mails.
It's also likely that there are other work-related e-mails that they did not produce to State and that we did not find elsewhere and that are now gone because they deleted all e-mails they did not produce to State, and the lawyers then cleaned their devices in such a way as to preclude complete forensic recovery.
CLINTON: It had numerous safeguards. It was on property guarded by the Secret Service. And there were no security breaches.
COMEY: We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So many lies by Hillary Clinton. Now, earlier tonight, during a rally in North Carolina, Donald Trump reacted to the FBI's recommendation.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R, PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What's going on very big and big-league is what you witnessed today and over the last week, from Bill Clinton going to the plane and then to have what happened today, where, essentially, I thought, everybody thought, based on what was being said, she was guilty. She was guilty. And it turned out that we're not going to press charges. It's really amazing.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: But I'll tell you -- I'll tell you -- look, we have a rigged system, folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And joining us now with reaction, FOX News contributor Laura Ingraham, former 2016 Republican presidential candidate, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
Laura, on the one hand, I actually think is good for Trump. I think Trump is better off going up against Hillary than Biden or whoever they'd thrown in last minute.
But let's go through these lies. She said one device. She had multiple devices. She never sent or received anything classified, marked classified. That was a lie. You know, she turned over everything work- related. Well, some of the deleted e-mails had classified information on it. So that was a lie, too. Numerous safeguards -- there were zero safeguards in this case. Cooperative as possible, turned over a server. OK. There were multiple servers.
And then, of course, we have the whole big lie about, well, those deleted e-mails were about yoga, a wedding, a funeral, and e-mails with Bill Clinton, who doesn't e-mail. How does this impact people's thoughts about her and the election?
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think, Sean, when you look at the statute, a key provision of the statute -- it's 18 USC 793, section F. And folks like Andy McCarthy have written about this, as well. But they do not require a specific intent in the statute. It's enough that Hillary Clinton is a government official with years of experience to have acted with gross negligence, which frankly, Jim Comey essentially said this today, that she acted extremely carelessly, I think he said, with extreme carelessness.
Her gross negligence in handling these documents at the very least is enough for a felony conviction. It defies reasonableness that there is no intent to subvert the law, Sean, with a woman of her legal background going all the way back to Watergate, and her experience to date, that someone with a private e-mail server was not trying to get around government rules and regulations when it came to classified communication.
In addition, remember in June of 2011 -- Chuck Grassley made a big deal of this back in January. She actually -- one of her staffers, Jake Sullivan -
- she ordered him to strip the header off of a document that they had to conclude was classified so she could send it over a non-secure server.
That is also, in my view, prima facie evidence of her intent, which again, you don't even need under the statute, to subvert the law. So I think Comey had to do a lot of mental gymnastics. And it's mind-blowing!
HANNITY: Well, you know...
INGRAHAM: He basically made the case against her!
HANNITY: ... you're right about that, but it's -- it's also the 34 or
32,000 e-mails that she decided on her own...
INGRAHAM: Of course!
HANNITY: ... that she was going to delete, and some of which were classified. You know, maybe we're playing Clinton word games again, Governor Huckabee here, you know, extreme carelessness, gross negligence -- it seems -- watched the first 15 minutes, and I thought, Oh, my gosh, Comey is going to pull the trigger on this and do the right thing, until he got to the "however" part. Reaction.
MIKE HUCKABEE, R-ARK., FMR. GOV., FMR. PRES. CANDIDATE: Well, we really learned three things today. Number one, we learned that there is a U.S.
criminal code, and there's a U.S. Clinton code. And it's very different, different set of rules for the Clintons than it is for everybody else, including you and me.
The second thing we learned was that Hillary Clinton was reckless, she was negligent, and that she was careless. And that means we've learned that nobody who is that reckless and careless with national security ought ever to be elected president and have the nuclear codes, for heaven's sakes.
And the third thing we learned is that James Comey is likely to be the next contestant they'll be announcing on "Dancing With the Stars" because he did a miraculously amazing two-step today in just being able to say that despite the fact that she had clearly violated all kinds of laws, for which people are right now in prison, Hillary is going to join the Olympic skate team for being a gold medal skater, skating on thin ice.
HANNITY: Listen, Comey put Hillary above the law today, and that...
HUCKABEE: He did.
HANNITY: ... and he laid out the case as well as anybody at how this should be a criminal case. And then, Laura, he said one thing that really struck me. He said, to be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, that a person engaging in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to...
INGRAHAM: Right!
HANNITY: ... security and administrative sanctions.
INGRAHAM: Right. And Sean...
HANNITY: And I have a whole list of people who have been!
INGRAHAM: Right. Well, again, the law applies to regular people, including General Petraeus, and The Army Times had a piece last year about a soldier who removed classified information from Iraq. He didn't do anything with it, but he was prosecuted criminally and successfully for that.
So again, what people have to understand here is that Hillary Clinton intentionally kept information away from the regular course of scrutiny in FOIA requests, and she subverted the classified nature of these communications, which indicates, as Governor Huckabee said, she does not have the judgment -- if she really thought that that was OK, then my goodness, she doesn't have the judgment to be commander-in-chief despite the fact that Obama today said, Well, she was in the Situation Room when Usama bin Laden was killed, you know, blah, blah, blah. She doesn't have the judgment! I mean, this was mind-bogglingly...
HANNITY: But this is two weeks ago...
INGRAHAM: ... stupid, at the very least!
HANNITY: She has been exposed as a liar at the highest level, you know, telling Chelsea and the Libyan president and Egyptian prime minister...
INGRAHAM: Yes.
HANNITY: ... it's a terror attack, but telling us something else. What do you make? -- should we read into, Governor, the fact that, OK, you have Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton, they meet on the plane. Then Saturday, the FBI interviews Hillary. And then Hillary is out there today on the day that Comey makes his announcement. She's out there with Barack Obama. It all seems too cozy to me.
HUCKABEE: Well, let's don't let Hillary or the Democrats forget how this all went down. How many of us would get a Saturday interview by the FBI on a holiday weekend? Probably none of us. We would be told when we were going to come in. It would be at the FBI's convenience, not ours.
But let's just make it clear. What we've gotten from this whole episode is that there is a different set of rules if your last name is Clinton. Sean, I want you to know that as of tonight, from now on, please refer to me as Mike Clinton. I am changing my last name to Clinton...
HANNITY: You want the same rules applied to you. You want...
HUCKABEE: ... because I want to make sure...
HANNITY: ... to be adopted by...
HUCKABEE: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
HUCKABEE: I want to be able to do whatever I doggone want to and nobody is ever going to hold me accountable.
HANNITY: I tell you...
HUCKABEE: And it's accountability that we're missing here!
HANNITY: I agree. Guys, good to see you.
Coming up next tonight right here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMEY: We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So did Hillary put our national security in jeopardy by using her unsecure e-mail server? We'll ask Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters. That's coming up next.
Also, we get more reaction to the FBI's recommendation with Donald Trump's son, Eric. That and more tonight here on "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: We did not find direct evidence that Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail domain, in its various configurations since 2009, was hacked successfully. But given the nature of the system and of the actors potentially involved, we assess we would be unlikely to see such direct evidence. We do assess that hostile actors gained access to the private commercial e-mail accounts of people with whom Secretary Clinton was in regular contact from her personal account.
We also assess that Secretary Clinton's use of a personal e-mail domain was both known by a large number of people and readily apparent. She also used her personal e-mail extensively while outside the United States, including sending and receiving work-related e-mails in the territory of sophisticated adversaries. Given that combination of factors, we assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton's personal e-mail account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: FBI director James Comey earlier today talking about the possibility of, yes, hackers gaining access to Hillary Clinton's private e- mail server while she was secretary of state. Did she put your national security at risk?
Joining us now, the author of "The Damned of Petersburg," FOX News strategic analyst Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters, as well of "DefeatingJihad: The Winnable War," and the distinguished chair of military theory at Marine Corps University, Dr. Sebastian Gorka.
Listen to what he's saying. Well, we wouldn't be able to see the evidence because they're so clean. They would get in and out without us knowing.
It was a well-known domain. And by the way, she did use it on hostile territory. So it's probably likely -- He's saying they got it.
SEBASTIAN GORKA, "DEFEATING JIHAD" AUTHOR: Right.
HANNITY: That's how I interpret it.
GORKA: Right. Which means that she is blackmailable. We know more than 100 e-mails contained classified information, some of, them TSSCI, the highest level...
HANNITY: SAP.
GORKA: SAP, special access program -- which means that she could be blackmailed by anybody, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran. She was sending classified e-mails from outside U.S. territory on multiple servers using multiple devices. That means she could be -- the second she gets into office, they give her the football with the nuclear codes. North Korea, Iran starts blackmailing her. She should recuse herself from any public office, Sean, instantly!
HANNITY: Colonel Peters, do you agree with that assessment?
LT. COL. RALPH PETERS, U.S. ARMY (RET.), FOX MILITARY ANALYST: Well, yes, I certainly do. And when this all broke -- you know, my -- I just remembered my interactions with the old KGB in Moscow and here in Washington at meetings. And you know, the Russians must have been stunned.
They probably thought it was all an elaborate CIA hoax at first, that no American secretary of state would do this, would be this stupid.
And unquestionably, this has compromised. Look, as a former intelligence professional, Sean, over 20 years, I can guarantee you the Russians, the Chinese, the French and probably any number of private actors in other states were definitely reading those e-mails. And she knew. She knew, she knew, she knew all along. This wasn't a couple of mistakes. For years she was doing this.
HANNITY: She actually said -- and I'll throw this to you -- that there were numerous safeguards. The Secret Service surrounded it. There was no safeguards at all. That was another lie on top of every other lie she told about this.
GORKA: The whole narrative from day one of her campaign has been blown out of the water. "I never sent material that was marked classified or unclassified."
HANNITY: Sent or received.
GORKA: He specifically addressed that. He said it doesn't matter if it's marked or unmarked.
HANNITY: He obliterated every lie she told, which made me think he was going in a different direction. Why would he obliterate the lies and then say, no --
GORKA: Look, from the point of view of Machiavellian politics, what Director Comey did was perfection, because I was there watching it live in a FOX studio. We were all watching it. And for a 15-minute presser, he does 13 minutes, and everybody is going, he's going to do it. He's going to do it. He's going to recommend prosecution. Last 90 seconds, he does a 180. So, sorry, not going to do it. He covered all bases. He made himself look diligent. We've done all the research. We've done all the investigation. But he saved himself. He saved his job by saying not prosecuting.
HANNITY: Colonel Peters?
PETERS: Well, Hillary, don't underestimate her. She made a bet that she was too big to jail, and she was right. And, you know, Sean, you and I have gone back and forth. I have regarded both candidates as a choice between Satan and Lucifer. Today was the first day I thought, you know, I might have to vote for Donald Trump just to get the Obama/Clinton mafia out of this country, out of Washington certainly, because what they have done and what Director Comey did, disgracefully, was to shred the law. He showed that there are two sets of laws, one for the rest of us and one for the elite of the elite like Hillary Clinton.
And it's part of the pattern of the Obama administration. They've been dismantling the Constitution, selective prosecutions, rigged investigations. I mean the Constitution, the law is the foundation of all that's good in this country. And we -- and they're destroying it. It's like Venezuela or Paraguay or Bolivia.
HANNITY: Powerful statements by both of you. Thanks so much. Dr. Gorka, thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Peters, thank you.
Coming up, we'll get reaction from the Trump campaign. Donald Trump's son Eric will join us in studio to weigh in on the FBI's recommendation about Hillary Clinton and her private server scandal.
And then later tonight, is Donald Trump close to making his V.P. pick, and who should he choose? That and more tonight on HANNITY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a president who is out campaigning for crooked Hillary Clinton, and he should be home working on ISIS where the threat is getting worse and worse. He should be working on trade. He should be working on the borders. People are flowing into our country from lots of places. But from Syria, no more. No more, OK.
They're not coming. No more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, that was Donald Trump earlier tonight at a rally in North Carolina. Joining us now, Donald Trump's son, Eric Trump. Good to see you, sir. Appreciate you being here.
ERIC TRUMP, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: How are you, Sean?
HANNITY: At least to operate Air Force One for an hour, Hillary and Obama out there today, it's $206,000 an hour, and that doesn't include all the --
ERIC TRUMP: Secret Service, local police, everything else.
HANNITY: Everything else that is associated with it. That's five hours,
$1 million, taxpayers, they pay for it. Shouldn't the campaign pay for that?
ERIC TRUMP: There's no question about it, but it's not surprising, right? Hillary, under the State Department, she lost $6 billion, meaning it went missing. It disappeared into thin air. Think about the good that that kind of money could have done for America, right? Think about the good.
HANNITY: You do a lot of philanthropy. You know about these -- think about, All right, so he's getting as the chancellor of this laureate university, he's getting $16.5 million over a couple-year period of time.
And the State Department while she's the secretary of state gives that university system $55 million. Isn't that called a kickback?
ERIC TRUMP: Yes. By the way, that's one small example. Between 2007 and2014 we've talked about this a million times. She made $141 million. She was secretary of state at the time. She was a government employee who made $141 million. I mean, when is it said that you can have another job while being a government employee, especially secretary of state? This is somebody who is supposed to be out there defending U.S. interests around the world. It is truly tragic. It is truly, truly sad.
HANNITY: I think the conflict of interest is so great, and for a week I kept putting up on the screen the money she would take from countries that treat women, gays, lesbians, Christians and Jews horribly. And she took all this money. How could she possibly say no to them? They're buying her influence.
ERIC TRUMP: yes, that's right, especially as secretary of state. Saudi Arabia was one of them. They gave her $25 million. And you know how they treat women there.
HANNITY: And more for the library.
ERIC TRUMP: I mean, it's really, really tragic. I mean, it's really, really tragic. It is such a shame. I mean, it's almost like our government has become third world. This is not how the United States should --
HANNITY: Well said. This is something I would expect. James Comey today is something I would think I would see in Cuba or Venezuela. She lied last week, we learned about. She told us that it was a YouTube video, but she told her daughter and the Libyan president and the Egyptian prime minister that it was a YouTube video. Well, she said she never sent or received classified information. Lie. False. She deleted 30 some odd thousand e- mails. They weren't about yoga, a wedding, and a funeral, but because some of those were classified. We had top secret classified information. She had multiple devices, multiple servers, not the ones she claimed. And she didn't even turn over, you know, all her servers. She has turned over a server.
ERIC TRUMP: She also stated that she turned over all her e-mails, and they weren't, even as of last week. And what happened today is another, you know, very, very sad thing. I mean, I think it really kind of almost undermines, you know, what people expect from the FBI. I mean, here Comey came out and said that what she did was reckless, it was totally careless. It puts our national security in jeopardy. It compromised our assets overseas. But, yet, you know, nothing. Here you go. You go on your way, and it's very sad.
And then she's talking about how, you know, Loretta Lynch would absolutely have a job in her administration, and I'm sure Comey would as well. I mean it really is a pay to play system within government. It's you protect me, I protect you. We'll all go on to the next administration. You'll keep your job. I'll make sure to protect you. And what happened with Bill and Loretta Lynch this weekend was tragic.
HANNITY: Let's go back to that, because, interestingly, so Bill and Loretta Lynch meet on the plane. Now, ‘The New York Times,’ interestingly, they didn't even report on it the next day. But, all right, so that meeting happens. She gets the convenience of a Saturday three and a half hour session with the FBI. I don't know how many other people would be accommodated that way. Then Comey comes out, and then she's on Air Force One and we're paying for it with Barack Obama campaigning for her today.
ERIC TRUMP: All while insulting our intelligence saying that two people met at an airport and went on to each other's private planes to talk about grandkids for half an hour. And then we're all big boys and girls. That's not what you do. You don't speak about grandkids for a half an hour and you don't go on people's private planes and wait for people for long period of time to talk about grandchildren when your wife is under federal investigation, this ultimately one of the people that's going to determine the outcome.
HANNITY: That is the person. That's it.
ERIC TRUMP: It's also really -- I mean it's questioning our intelligence as a nation. But, I mean, this is just repetitive. Whether it be the $141 million she made as secretary of state, whether it be statements like that, I mean it really questions the intelligence of the American people. I think people are, quite frankly, fed up with this nonsense.
HANNITY: But it does feed into the narrative. Your dad is really good at branding people, and we saw that in the primaries. But ‘Crooked Hillary.’ The last two weeks, Benghazi, the Benghazi report, then of course today. I mean I watched the first 15 minutes of Comey, and I said, wow, he's going to do it.
ERIC TRUMP: He's going to do it, yes.
HANNITY: And then at the end it was the "however," even though other people have done far less and got severe penalties. Isn't it better in the end for your dad, if you really think about it, that she survive as a weak candidate, that people do not trust, do not believe is honest, and she be the candidate?
ERIC TRUMP: Honestly, it's selfish thinking. To think that way is selfish. That's saying let's take all the rules, let's take the constitution of the United States, let's take all the laws, shred it.
HANNITY: I'm not saying -- it's sad.
ERIC TRUMP: Somebody can make that argument, and Hillary has probably more baggage than any politician out there. She is arguably the most corrupt politician that we've ever seen in this country, right? There's no question about it. It's situation after situation after situation, she's always on the losing end of it.
But at the same time, I mean this country has to have a system of laws. You saw what happened to General Petraeus. You saw what happened to so many others who did small infractions. Here she risked people's lives. She was cavalier about it. She knew exactly what she was doing. She deleted e-mails --
HANNITY: She lied repeatedly.
ERIC TRUMP: Over and over. And by the way, it cost people their lives in Benghazi, and it cost this nations trillions and trillions of dollars. And every week now we have another terrorist attack, whether it's Orlando, whether it's Turkey, whether it's San Bernardino. I mean, the list goes on and on. It's only getting worse, Sean. It's only getting worse.
HANNITY: We had men and women in military that were told to change their clothes four times out of uniform.
ERIC TRUMP: As opposed to going and getting people who were getting shot at.
HANNITY: And they never sent anybody to help these Americans under attack. It's unbelievable.
ERIC TRUMP: They're not helping the soldiers there. They're making career decisions. They're not making patriotic decisions. They're not making America first decisions. They're making career decisions there.
HANNITY: Last question. How soon can we expect a VP choice?
ERIC TRUMP: Hopefully fairly soon. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks. He's really putting a tremendous amount of --
HANNITY: Before the convention, maybe?
ERIC TRUMP: -- time and attention. Listen, time will tell. Time will tell.
HANNITY: You're not giving me anything on this, are you?
ERIC TRUMP: He's putting a lot of work into it. It's arguably the most important decision any candidate has to make and he's taking it incredibly seriously. So it's going to be a great person and I think you're going to be proud.
HANNITY: Eric, thanks so much for being with us, appreciate it.
ERIC TRUMP: Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: When we come back, who should Donald Trump pick to be his running mate? New reports indicate he is narrowing down that list. We'll get to that and much more tonight here on HANNITY.
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HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. So Donald Trump is beginning to narrow down his VP list. This holiday weekend he met with several possible contenders. There's also a poll up on ‘The Drudge Report"’asking who should be Trump's running mate. The polls list Governor Chris Christie, Senator Bob Corker, Senator Joni Ernst, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Governor Mike Pence, and Senator Jeff Sessions.
Here now to weigh in, from the 'Washington Examiner,' contributor Lisa Boothe, and Republican strategist, Florida congressional candidate, Noelle Nikpour. So for most of the day Newt is at 40, leading, pretty big lead. Joni Ernst interestingly in second place with 30 percent. Sessions at 14. Pence stayed around seven percent all day. Christie five-and-a-half, Corker, 1.5. I'll tell you why I like Newt and you guys tell me if I'm right or wrong. If Donald Trump wants to be the real reform president that he says he wants to be, there is only one guy that can help him get there, help him with Congress. He's the smartest strategist. He's a brilliant tactician, and he's done it before. That's why I would say Newt is the guy. Noelle?
NOELLE NIKPOUR, FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Newt is my pick, and I'll tell you why. A lot of times, if you notice, Donald Trump is going to tell us how to make America great. He's going to tell us all the different things he's going to do, but he really has talked around it. I think he needs someone like Newt Gingrich to give the ticket validity, to give it a little more substance. And some of the guys on the sidelines I think actually may be moved if they see someone that is a policy wonk and someone that knows his business and knows the subject, like Newt Gingrich.
HANNITY: Yes. What do you think?
LISA BOOTHE, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Hi, Sean. Look, I think that Donald Trump is an unorthodox candidate, right? He comes from the business world. So he's not going to be viewing this selection process from the same political lens and prism that Hillary Clinton is. This isn't going to be just a demographic play. If you look at someone like former speaker Newt Gingrich, not only does he check the box of someone that understands Capitol Hill, that understands the political and policy inner workings of Capitol Hill like Donald Trump has said he's going to do, but --
HANNITY: He's going to push dramatic change. He's not a half-measures guy. And I don't think this is a half-measures moment for the country. If you want to transform this country, go with one guy that balanced the budget, the one guy that did something big and transformative for the country. Joni Ernst has no national experience, relatively little national experience. Nice lady. Sessions, I don't think he has the dynamic personality for that job if you really want dynamic change. Pence, frankly I view him as pretty establishment. And I don't see Pence walking into Paul Ryan's and McConnell's office and telling him how it's going to be, but I do see Newt doing that.
BOOTHE: And, Sean, I think the biggest thing for Donald Trump here, look the best line of attack that Hillary Clinton has against Donald Trump, we see this in polling, is his temperament, the question about his temperament. So what he needs is someone like Newt Gingrich or someone similar that has a measured hand and can bring that political and policy gravitas to help balance out the ticket. And that is something that Newt Gingrich represents.
HANNITY: I'll ask you both. Noelle, you said you would pick Newt. Who will he pick?
NIKPOUR: That's going to be very difficult. I think Donald Trump listens to Donald Trump. He has a lot of great advisors around him, but Donald Trump is still going to do, at the end of the day, what he feels is the right thing. Now, I will say he has good people around him, you know? He mentioned about Carl Icahn. I know several people that he has on the inside --
HANNITY: Who will he pick, any predictions? What do you think?
NIKPOUR: I think he will pick Newt Gingrich.
HANNITY: Lisa, who do you think?
BOOTHE: I certainly wouldn't be surprised if he picked Newt Gingrich.
HANNITY: I hope he does pick Newt Gingrich. Newt, I think if he really wants to be that reform guy, that is the guy that will be able to help him win and help him govern. Guys, good to see you both. Thank you.
BOOTHE: Thank you.
HANNITY: When we come back, we need your help, a very-important 'Question of the Day.' It's about whether or not we have equal justice under the law.
That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And time for our "Question of the Day." So in the wake of the FBI's recommendation not to charge Hillary Clinton, we want to know from you, do you believe that this system, so called system of justice, is rigged? I think it is. Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
That's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow night.
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