Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Mike Turner

Interview

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I mean, is Mueller writing an op-ed or doing an investigation?

REP. MATT GAETZ, R-FLA.: Well, we continue to see chinks in the armor when it comes to the Mueller report, and I would point you to the great work by John Solomon who frequently appears on this program who pointed out that Konstantin Kilimnik who Mueller identified as an individual connected to the Russian intelligence was actually a source of the State Department working with our government.

So, if Robert Mueller wasn't able to ascertain who was spying for the Russian and who was collecting a reporting intelligence to our own government, I think it would call in question substantial portions of his work. But there is three real levels of what Mr. Durham's doing that are important, the FISA abuses, the lies before the courts that should not have occurred, also the illegal leaks.

Your point about James Baker really highlights the extent to which under James Comey leadership, the FBI wasn't conducting the investigations and looking for the truth. They were trying to shape public opinion. And I think most notably the corrupt origins of the investigation inside the Obama White House, where we weren't just violating the rights of our own citizens in our country, we were actually off trying to pressure our allies like Britain to collect intelligence on people that we would have had no ability to do here in the United States -- all that together is supposed bad news for the people in the Obama White House.

BONGINO: Yes, I want to get back to Kilimnik.

But, Congressman Turner, I go to you first on a kind of a related topic here. You're up on the Hill and you see what is going on every day. Do you sense a tide is turning feeling up there on the Hill where the Democrats realize there is something going on here? That there was clearly, this was not, to quote Susan Rice, by the book FBI investigation here.

I mean, listen, your colleagues up on the Hill are the Democrats. We may not agree with them, but they are not stupid. They have to know that there were severe abnormalities here. Do you think they're getting worried that this is coming out and it may rebound on them?

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): One of the things I think they are worried about is the new authorities that the Attorney General Barr has with respect to declassification because you remember, it's not just these investigation, the origins of the investigations, it's also the American public getting the truth and getting the actual information.

Remember when Michael Cohen came to testify before the Intelligence Committee which I serve on, there were a number of leaks about Michael Cohen's testimony was going to sink the president and leaks about what was in his testimony. And, you know, the story sort of came to a screeching halt the moment that the transcript was released and people saw what was in it. And I think that's part of the aspect that's going to be really important as the inspector general, as the attorney general, as they move forward with this investigation of the origins of this, which I had to live through with the intelligence committee.

They're certainly going to find not only holes in everyone's stories but they're going to release this information to the public so they can read it themselves and see that not only was there no "there" there, but there were some real misdeeds done. It's very obviously I think clear to the American public that Comey, Clapper, Brennan and Baker, when they stand on the television sets now and are clearly anti-Trump bias, that that bias predated their leaving the government. It was certainly there when they were over these agencies that were so important that were targeted at the American citizens.

BONGINO: Congressman Gaetz, on the point you made about Konstantin Kilimnik, this is just really disturbing. So, we find out in the Mueller report that there are real sins of omission here, that Mueller -- I don't want to leave Weissmann out of this. We should be clear -- Andy Weissmann is definitely -- his fingerprints are all over this.

You brought up the fact that they damn Manafort in the report for having these discussions with Kilimnik, and whether they are appropriate or not is up for you to decide. He wasn't charged for the conversations, but Kilimnik was the source for the State Department in the Obama administration. And then we find out this week as well that one of Mueller's confidential informants in the case, it's an allegation, of course, but apparently was arrested for the child pornography of all things.

This was Mueller's source? I mean, this report is getting uglier by the minute.

GAETZ: And it continues to trend where there's information that's not damaging to the president, you get these deep state actors who try to keep that information away from the public view. So, again, you see that it in the Mueller report where the Kilimnik information was not cast in accurate light. But even before then in the fraud that occurred before a secret court with no defense attorney present, you had the Department of Justice and the FBI presenting information that seemed to indicate that George Papadopoulos was off colluding with Russians when the reality is they had a transcript where Brits run intelligence against Papadopoulos and Papadopoulos denied ever having engaged in these unlawful acts.

And so, they are presenting information to try to reinforce their bias. Rather than putting forward the information that would have spared our country from this 22 months of division because from the beginning it was on that there wasn't collusion but they allowed the investigation to persist.

BONGINO: Congressman Turner, so we have seen some -- information has come out, but we have seen very little accountability. I'm trying to get the best way to phrase it. I get e-mails a lot from people, from listeners, and I see them on Twitter all the time as well. They're upset. They see people getting off.

There is allegation of a senior FBI official accused of leaking. Of course, the DOJ didn't want to prosecute that case.

Why does it appear if it involves a Trump-associated person, Mike Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, that the heavy hand of justice comes down on them hard? Early morning raids, severe prison sentences, Paul Manafort ridiculously is in solitary confinement on Rikers Island?

I was a cop in NYPD. You don't want to be on Rikers Island. No less solitary in Rikers Island. Yet when it comes to people involved with the DOJ, where it could negatively implicate a Democrat or someone in the FBI involved in spying, they seem to get off. Are we ever going to get accountability?

TURNER: Well, the inequity certainly does seem very troubling. I can tell you from the perspective of the Intelligence Committee and certainly as you are aware from the Oversight Committee. Criminal referrals have been made, as a result of the both inaccurate statement that people made, lying under oath. The -- I believe this thing is going to go right to the heart of the inception of this investigation.

But you're right, the people around Trump were clearly pursued for the purpose of trying to turn them against the president and say things that are not true. Mueller investigation found no collusion. They did not conclude. They found there was no evidence ultimately to conclude that the president committed a crime on obstruction.

But yet, they put tremendous pressure on the people around them, including ruining their lives and pursuing them with criminal prosecution. There are criminal referrals that have been made that I think go right to the heart of people being dishonest, realizing their bias and abusing their power. I think the attorney general is going to undertake this and I think the American public is going to get answers. I think we need to change the laws --

(CROSSTALK)

BONGINO: Let me follow-up. Listen, I understand and I totally get it that you're not -- you can't go out and physically put handcuffs on people. That's not your job. You're a legislator.

You can make referrals. I totally get that. But I think the frustration is, you know, is there any pressure that we can put on the DOJ and people to do their jobs? It seems like the inequities are leading to a real imbalance.

I mean, the republic only matters if the people have fidelity to it and believe that the Constitution means something. It seems to mean something for one side but mean absolutely nothing to the other side of the political debate. And I guess my question better phrased is, what from your side can be done about this?

TURNER: I think the general investigation --

(CROSSTALK)

BONGINO: Sorry, I was just getting a quick follow-up. I'll go to you Congressman Gaetz for the last word. My apologies.

Congressman Turner?

TURNER: My understanding is, you know, if you look to Attorney General Barr's investigation, the inspector general's investigation, these are going to get to the heart of were there laws broken, where there procedures broken? You know, clearly, things were done by the book. Clearly, there were abuses of the process. We're going to get data and information from which those investigations can lend themselves to the criminal prosecutions hardest and the referrals from the Intelligence Committee and the Government Oversight Committee.

BONGINO: Congressman Gaetz, I give you the last word on that. What do you think can be done? I mean, people are getting frustrated out there.

GAETZ: The American people are sick and tired of a double standard that seems to pave a yellow brick road to the exoneration for Hillary Clinton, when they were clearly crimes committed there, while at the same time casting these aspersions on Donald Trump without a basis as a result of bias. The only reason while we haven't had people thrown in jail yet is because Jeff Sessions did a terrible job as attorney general.

Now, we got a real attorney general. Mr. Durham is on the case. And the information we have now seems to indicate that at every level of this corruption, there is going to be accountability and there is going to be a restoration of justice and the rule of law. And I can't wait for it.

BONGINO: Congressman Gaetz, Congressman Turner, thanks so much. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

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