Let not your heart be troubled. You are listening to the Sean Hannity Radio Show podcast. All right, So I have insomnia, but I've never slept better. And what's changed just a pillow. It's had such a positive impact on my life. And of course I'm talking about my pillow. I fall asleep faster, I stay asleep longer. And now you can to just go to my pillow dot com or call eight hundred zero nine zero use the promo code Hannity, and Mike Lindell, the inventor of My Pillow, has the special four pack. Now you get off to my Pillow premiums and to go Anywhere pillows. My pillows made here in the USA has a sixty day unconditional money back guarantee and a tenure warranty. Go to my pillow dot com right now or call eight zero nine zero promo code Hannity to get Mike Lindell's special four pack offer. You get to my Pillow Premium pillows and to go Anywhere pillows forty percent off. And that means once those pillows arrive, you start getting the kind of peaceful and RESTful and comfortable and deep peeling and recuperative sleep that you've been crazy eaving and you certainly deserve my pillow dot com promo code Hannity. You will love this pillow clad you with a Shawn Hannity Show right down on toe free telephone number. You want to be a part of this extravaganza. I am going to pull all of this together for you because there is something much much bigger and deeper going on than anybody seems to be able to put together as it relates to General Flynn his resignation slash firing from earlier today. And you've got to understand that there's this is so deep, and it's all related to everything that is predictable and frankly everything that I warned would happen, and that is there is an unrelenting attempt by the entire establishment in Washington, d C. What do they vote for percent for Trump and DC to destroy his presidency. And you can see it right out of Olynsky, one on one, isolating people one after the other, and I keep I was pointing out they've even gone after the president's son for crying out loud as ten year old son. Oh, isn't that Isn't that brave? Of them to do. They've at different times what they've gone after. Tried to get Steve Bannon out. They made Eric Trump stop his charity raising money for St. Jude's. That was a great success for them. What the things that have been said about Melania Trump, imagine if they were said about about Michelle Obama, for example, then you've got they've gone after Reiks. They've tried all weeks to demonize Steve Miller. While we have an update on Kelly Ann's story, according to the Office for Government Ethics, because an off literally an entire off the cuff comment. Now, the Office of Government Ethics has now informed the White House Council's Office there is strong reason to believe that Kelly Ann Conway has violated the standards of conduct and that disciplinary disciplinary action is warranted. Why because Avanka, the daughter of the president, was targeted for political reasons and her entire business put in jeopardy and she said, go buy Avanka's online big deal? I mean, is this the superfluous nonsense? There is such great hypocrisy on every level here where was this outrage over Hillary Clinton top secret information special access program information she sought to bypass congressional oversight and put an email server in the closet of a mom and pop shop bathroom. What about the ethics involving the Clinton Foundation While Secretary of State, she and her husband are raking in millions and millions to their foundation and for themselves, and she's making specific actions connected to donations. Nobody there wasn't the breathless reporting by the alt left radical media on any of those issues either. Now Flynn submitted as letter of resignation to the President saying that he inadvertently gave Vice President Mike Pence incomplete information on phone calls that he had with the Russian ambassador in which he allegedly discussed lifting lifting sanctions against Moscow. I have sincerely apologized to the President and Vice President, the letter stated, and they have accepted my apology. Now, you know, you go back. He's been a target, but think about this. Everybody's been a target, and everybody will be a target. But what they're what they're really aiming for, is much higher. And that's the president and that's the Donald Trump. You've got a media establishment, you've got a lobbyist establishment, you've got the entire democratic establishment and their party and their friends which owns d C. And then you've got, of course the Republican weak establishment. They are part of this as well, because the way of doing things is now dramatically changing and they don't like it. You know, this idea that that he may have violated the Logan Act, which bans unauthorized US citizens from communicating with foreign governments, is a joke. It's from and it has never ever, ever been used, not one time. So let's be real here, and I read the Washington Post right now. Trump knew that Flynn misled officials. Well, Sean Spicer earlier today dealt with this at the press conference when he said, yeah, but the White House Council said that no crimes were committed. And then in the course of understanding this, General Flynn talked to Mike Pence and didn't give him the full context of the call. Now the question is, and it remains, well, who's up to their eyeballs in this? And how is it that communications that only an intercepts, that only our intelligence community would have ends up in the newspaper time and time and time and time again. Eli Lake will a great column today, the political assassination of Mike Flynn, and what he points out here, if you're Flynn, he resigned because he lied about the conversations with the Russian ambassador to the Vice President, etcetera. He doesn't buy that one bit any point. The point here is the White House at such casual opportunity. You know, he has criticisms of the of the White House, but that's not the important part here. This is what Trump ran on. And it's very likely in conversations in the Intern, between being elected and putting a government together and getting inaugurated that I'm sure Donald Trump many times said to General Flynn exactly whatever it was that he discussed with his Russian counterpart. So there's a big part of all of this here that's not being told. Now, we have a series of incidents now where our intelligence community keeps leaking information. Now, the information in this particular case was glean from a phone conversation. How is he like A Lake points out in his column, Normally, intercepts of US officials and citizens are some of the most tightly held government secrets. And he writes for good reason, selectively disclosing details of private conversations that are monitored by our government, by the FBI, by the n s A gives the permanent state. What is the permanent state? Those are the Obama holdovers, Those are the people that hate Trump. That is the swamp, that is the bureaucracy that is threatened by the very presence of Donald Trump. But he says it gives the permanent state the power to destroy reputations from the cloak of anonymity. And he rightly writes, this is what a police state does. Remember one of the early leagues over the summer was, you know, after Trump claimed that analysts have this first classified briefing as Republican, that the nominee told them through their body language that they disagreed with President Obama's pol sees the sort of thing that intelligence professionals pride themselves on not doing well. All of a sudden the next day, as Sam Frazel pointed out in a really good column, the very next day, NBC News sighted six current and former senior officials who described Flynn as repeatedly interrupting the analysts at the classified briefing. Flynn called the report bs and In January, just before the president was inaugurated, multiple senior intelligence officials told CNN about classified briefings from intelligence officials about the dossier, the claim that Russia operatives, Russian operatives had compromising information on the president. And remember, senior US officials provided the Washington Post with an account of Trump's you know, phone call with the Australian Prime minister, contradicting the White House version of events. Who's leaking this? And as Eli is saying Lake in his column, these intercepts of US officials and citizens are some of the most tightly held government secrets because selectively disclosing private conversations, monitored by what he calls the permanent state in the FBI, in intelligence, in the n s A gives power to destroy reputations from the cloak of anonymity. And this is what a police state does. Well, how does it keep happening again and again? And last week and current officials Flynn discussed U S sanctions against Russia in a phone call and apparently didn't remember all the details, didn't tell at all to the Vice president. And this is where we end up today. And this is the first blood that the swamp has been able to draw from any of the Trump people that they have been attacking from day one. There's not one Democrat that wanted one person except Joe Manchion, that wanted one person in Trump's cabinet that Trump pick, not one. They wanted to do everything to smear, slanderby smirch, and destroy every single one of them. Now, Congressman Nunez is quoted in this column, aairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said that he saw the leaks about Flynn's conversations with his Russian counterpart as part of a problem that does not appear to be. There does appear to be a well orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration, from leaking phone calls between the president and foreign leaders, to what appears to be high level FISA court information, to leaking of American citizens being denied security clearances. It is a pattern. And he was gonna bring this up with the FBI. Now they're going to investigate here, etcetera, etcetera. And but you've got to understand the bigger picture. Now, I want you to add this. Paul Sperry, both Paul Sperry and Eli Lake will be on the program later today that he writes a column, how Obama sche mean the sabotage Trump's presidency. He's living right down the block. The President encouraged people to keep going out there in protest, and you keep That's what he said publicly. So if he's encouraging the pro the public protests, what is he doing behind the scenes. Well, according to Sperry, he's working with a network of leftist nonprofit organizations led by Organizing for Action. Normally, it would expect an organization set up by a politician and his agenda to close up shop after that person leaves office. But not Obama, not O f A. As a matter of fact, they're gearing up for battle and growing a war chest and more than two fifty offices around the country. Wow, that seems a little unusual. And since Trump's election, this group of well funded protesting arm is beaped up. There's that. What do you think showing up at these at Tason Shafts, his town hall and all these and Mitch McConnell's office. These are all the Obama people. So you got Obama basically and his his Sperry rights, he's kind of setting up a shadow government. All not to protest is not only to protest is threatened legacy, but to sabotage Trump. So the political assassination of Mike Flynn is what Eli Lake writes, and how Obama I'm a scheming to sabotage Trump's presidency. It all begins to fit, doesn't it. And then all the leaks from the intelligence community, and then it looks like they want to give Kelly Anne Conway the death penalty over the fact that she innocently mentioned Ivanka Trump. And then they've gone after Jared Trump, Ivanka Trump, Baron Trump, Eric Trump, Don Trump, and the Junior and his kids. They're gone after Milania with the fierceness. Then they've gone after Bannon, and then they're gone after Kelly Ann. And then they've gone after Renes is on the chopping block. I'm reading all over the place today, and then there's talk of Chris Christie coming in, and then they've gone after everybody else. Wiki leaks. Not to be dismissed, They've never been wrong. I sent I think they sent out a pretty cryptic message today, probably based on information they have, and it's a statement that blame the destabilization campaign by the media and Democrats for National security advisor My Flynn. Quote Trump's national security advisor Mike Flynn resigns after destabilization campaign by US spies, Democrats, and the press. The organization tweeted, including a screenshot of the press release from the White House announcing President Trump accepting Flynn's resignation. By the way, here's a point nobody else in the media will tell you. Did you know before Obama was even elected that the guy that ended up serving as his ambassador to Russia? This is weeks before the election and his lead up to the election, before he got elected. Mike McFall. He actually, he ended up serving as the US ambassador in Russia during the Obama administration, was in Moscow before Obama was even elected, in the weeks leading up to the two thousand and eight election, meeting with officials in Russia. As a former diplomat, US government official said, one needs to be able to have contact with foreigners to do one's job. McFall said, if you're ready to get out of the media spin room, you've come to the right place. Is the Sean Hannity Show. This is everything that I have tried to predict for all of you here, and they've they've there's been no honeymoon period. There will be no honeymoon period, and as long as Donald Trump as president, this is going to be how the country operates. But there's something very dark, very much bigger, going on behind the scenes. And you've got this coalition of people that do not want Donald Trump to succeed. It's everybody in the media, the alt radical left that have They've never said one nice thing, and Donald Trump has fulfilled many promises, not a thing. They're too busy chasing rabbits, as I've been pointing out here, and to stop the President from draining the swamp, which impacts all of them in the media and impacts every Democrat and impacts every establishment Republican and every lobbyist there. Now the DC swamp is rising. They're now colluding, they're now viciously fighting, and they have now allies within what what Kenneth Timmerman writes about in his book in two thousand and seven, Shadow Warriors, and how these covert operatives working in darkness and a universal lies, and how it involves a very sophisticated political sabotage operation aimed at leaders to doubt their own judgment, question their own subordinates. It's it's being used against Flynn and the shadow warriors are within our own intelligence community. As I've mentioned, there's been way too many leak now now as a result of this, I asked the President this question, are you going to investigate the leaks by probable Obama officials against your administration? Because if you don't drain this part of the swamp, this is never ever gonna end. And this is just going to continue, and this is only gonna get worse, and they're not going to stop until ultimately they get the president himself, because that's what their goal is. You know, now we have House investigators have said they're gonna pass on investigating the Flynn gate, but they said they may look into leaks to the private What do you mean may leak into you know? Go to Eli Lakes column today. Again, I urge you because it's too important to miss. This is not something that would happen on a regular basis. This is not normal operating procedure. What you have here are rogue intelligence officials purposely sabotaging and this case General Flynn. But ultimately it's the President who they disagree with the most and don't want an office. Hence the leaks against Trump again and again of top secret information. Then you got a president now organizing from down the block, a former president as part of this effort. And don't think these protests are not all by designing congressmen and senator's offices. We've been a reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to General Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth. We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, with a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. The President was very concerned that General Flynn had misled the Vice President and others. He was also very concerned in light of sensitive subjects dealt with by that position of national secure are the advisors like China, North Korea, and the Middle East that the President must have complete and unwavering trust for the person in that position. The evolving an eroding level of trust as a result of this situation in a series of other questionable instances, is what led the President to ask for General Flynn's resignation. Immediately after the Department of Justice notified the White House Council of the situation. The White House Council brief the President and a small group of the senior advisors. The White House Council reviewed and determined that there is not an illegal issue, but rather a trust issue. Understand that all of this information was leaked. The idea that not just in this administration, but the obamb administration, going back to the Bush administration back that we have an issue were classified information of which this would be is handled in such a way that it is being given out. And I know in some cases it's it's a good story, and I understand that, and that's to some degree your responsibility to write that. But I think there's also to a story here with an amount of leaks that are coming out of people that are entrusted with national security secrets and classified information are leaking it out. That's a real concern for this president that when he's talking on the phone with a world leader, that when he's making key decisions that are in an interest in protecting this country, that we have to wonder whether or not people who work for our government, who are entrusted with classified information and decisional based materials are leaking that information out. That I do believe is a big story that should be reported. I also believe that the President is rightly, so very very concerned about this because it's not just something that is plaguing, you know, the current situation, but it goes back through the Obama administration, the Bush administration, the Clinton administration. When we have government employees that are entrusted with this and can't and then leak it out, that undermines our national security. Frankly, so, now when I want to press to press these questions, who are the White House decided to do nothing for three weeks as flair set in on meeting at the meeting, at the meeting, did the president decide the way the counsel decided to wait? Something is wrong here, Madam Leader. Just this morning, friend tweeted, and this is a quote scapegoat, and the quote escapegoat he basically the Scott subscribe himself as a scapegoat. And so I believe we need to hold a public hearing with Flynn to get to the bottom of this. Our committee held three or four hearings, emergency hearings on Hillary Clinton in a matter of a week or two. And if there was any emergency at this moment in the history of this country. This is the moment, and so we need to get his security and clearance of documents. I want to see him. I want to see what he put in those documents to find out if he was honest on those forms. And we need to know how much he got paid to have dinner with Pewton. But that is only levigating the presses. I asked us over and over again. I know they asked the chief and asked the leader. Doesn't end here? Shouldn't things in here? No, they cannot end here, ladies and gentlemen. We are a fight in a fight for the soul of our democracy. The question is is whether whether we will clearly understand that this is our watch. And let's be clear. Chips said it quite eloquently. The Republicans need to join us. This is not a democratic issue. This is not a Republican he said. It's not an independent issue. This is an American issue for the soul of our democracy. Twenty four now till the top of the hour, Elijah Cummings making a fight for the soul of our democ Where was he? Where were they when it came to an email server with top secret Special Access program classification in on an email server in a bathroom closet of a mom and pop shop. Where were they when all of the collusion went on and millions of dollars were transferred to the Clinton Foundation directly connected to Hillary Clinton's job. None of that matter to any of the people that are screaming the loudest here. I want to backtrack now, Wiki leaks Annity, you like Julian Osandi. I think Julian Osandra has done us a favor. They sent out what I believe is a somewhat cryptic email. Today they're telling a story, probably based on information they have that has been my understanding following them on a regular basis. Trump's national security adviser, Mike Flynn resigns and listen to this part after destabilization campaign by US spies, That's what Sean Spicer was just talking about, how the intelligence community relentlessly as leaking since Donald Trump has been president, by U spies, by Democrats, and by the press. In other words, the entire swamp that Donald Trump would like to drain. The organization tweets out today. Now let's go to Devin Juniaz and let's go to Eli Lakes column again today because He's sang, as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee that the decision to League talks top secret information about General Flynn and his private conversations as appears to be well orchestrated by Obama administration intelligence officials. Now this is key because Devin Nunez goes on to say, there does appear to be a well orchestrated effort to attack flann and others in the administration from the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders. Remember the Australian League. Oh, he threatened to invade Mexico League. Remember all this stuff. Um, well, that's all intelligence because these conversations are jacked and recorded by the n s A and and and by top intelligence agencies. That's the shadow government that Timmerman is is referring to in his book and in his column today as is he went out on a lim in a pretty big way, defending General Flynn and saying that he's a victor him of this intelligence swamp. He said, with Flynn leaks, the shadow warriors draw first blood. He's talking about the Intelligence Committee, the same intelligence committee that Wicky Leaks is saying is involved, the same intelligence that Devin Nunez, who's the head of the House Intelligence Committee, is saying to handed to your conspiracy theorist. No, I'm not, I'm looking at the facts. He said, quote there does appear to be a well orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration. Stop what have I been saying systematically? Right out of a Lynsky one oh one? They go after uh tarth Vader, Steve Bannon, They they go after Jared, they go after Avanca, they go after Don Junr, they go after uh Eric. I love that they pick on a girl of Anka. Isn't that nice? The liberals are so loving, compassion and inclusive and all the things they always claim to be. Then they even go after Baron Trump, the ten year old Kelley and Conway. Now the report Today, the Government Ethics Offices informed the White House Council that Ms. Conway has violated the standards of conduct and that disciplinary disciplinary action is warranted because she stood up for her friend and made an innocuous off the cuff comment. Really the same people after the lies about Benghazi, the lies before, the lies during the lies after Now we're gonna get lectured at Oh, I like Ivanka Bayavanka's blind. I like it. Wow, that's such a that's such a code of ethics violation, the likes of which I've never seen in my life anyway. So it goes on to say, Devin Nunez, from the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders to what appears to be high level FISA Court information, this is the intelligence community that is leaking this information. This is very dangerous. Normally, intercepts of US officials and citizens are some of the most tightly held government secrets. This doesn't happen. And there's a reason, And Eli like, now, is it for good reason? Selectively disclosing the details of private conversations monitored by the FBI or the n s A or both gives the permanent state. What does he mean by the permanent state? He means the swamp, the holdovers, the Obama lovers, the four percent of DC that voted for Trump. It gives the permanent state the power to destroy reputations from the cloak of anonymity. And then he adds, this is what what police states do in the past. That has been considered scandalous for senior US officials to even request the identities of US officials that were incidentally monitored by the government, which was the case of Flynn. Here and Flynden remembered all the fact that the intercepts of Flynn's conversations with his Russian counterpart appeared to have been widely distributed inside the government as a red flag. This is the head of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunia said, he was by the way, don't these guys have better things to do, like monitor ISIS and monitor Russia and Iran and China and all of our enemies abroad. This is what the intelligence community is doing. And by the way, I have great respect for the intelligence community. But there are certainly people that are acting improperly here and certain people, as I believe, I think that Kenneth Timmerman is right that you know this this shadow warriors that have all this information, all this intelligence, all this power, that don't like the president and are leaking it repeatedly, as even Time magazine Sam Frazel and his column gives a list of everything that they've done up to this point, and I mentioned it in the last half hour. Look, you gotta understand here, the all radical left is hell bent on preventing Trump to be successful. I want to know what liberals fear the most. Trump is going to succeed. You want to know what the bureaucracy fears the most Trump's success. It's raining the swamp. And that's the reason. Gorka is under fire, Kelly Ann is under fire, Bannon is under fire, Miller, Miller is under fire, rans is under fire. You know, the president's children, including his ten year old son, or under fire for crying out loud one by one right out of a lynskey one oh one. What they're doing is their systematically going down a line of people close to the president and trying to take them out and discredit the president. That's what's happening. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. That's a lynskey. That's what they're doing. They smell blood in the water. That's why Democrats and the alt radical left media of bringing up impeachment. What did he know and when did he know it? What did he know? The White House counsel told them there was no law breaking here, and then they were fully investigating, and then it became an issue of what he told the Vice president. It really is that simple. The larger more important question is who in the intelligence community, which I'm sure has political affinity for Obama and and Serve the former president, is involved in all of this. That to me is the exact same say, the bigger question that needs to be investigated in Congress, better get off their ass and get their heads out of their ass, and they better start investigating because these guys right now are winning and that blood in the water is gonna even bring more of this, not less of this. Top House Democrats ripped outgoing National Security Advisor Flynn from a tweet sent from a fake account purported to be Flynn's and it becomes fake news. The account of General Mike Flynn tweeted earlier Tuesday that is being made into a scapegopers contact with the Russian government. It wasn't Flynn's account. This is how bad and how ill prepared the media is. They've had a political earthquake and political movement unlike anything they've seen in their lifetime, and they can't handle it. All they want to do is fixate on on following the rabbit like a greyhound in a track, and they mel blood in the water, teaching the president. That's their goal. They've even said it, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi. They're trying to make anything into the next water Gate. They've ignored Hillary Clinton. They defended a private email server, they defended the corruption pay to play at the Clinton Foundation, they defended her endless lies. They were silent when Obama was caught on a Hawk Mike talking to Dmitri Medvedev saying, oh uh, Dmitri, Dmitri, listen, tell Vladimir that, you know, I'll have a lot more flexibility. I'll have flexibility of tell tell them as soon as I'm elected, but I'll tell me about the people have more flexible dispersed the listener, unbelievable. There's no secret that Flynn had a rocky relationship with the national security establishment when in the Obama administration. He said that was previously forced out of that government for speaking up about the rise of radical Islam. They already had a a a prejudice, if you will, a prejudgment towards him, and a hate towards him. And then the endless leaks about the Trump administration. You know, Devin Noon is saying, what this is? Ever since Trump ran for president, there has been a witch hunt, and they don't want Ivanka. They just loved collateral damage. They're not looking for Jared, they're not looking for Ryans, they're not looking for Flynn, they're not looking for Bannon, they're not looking for Miller. Their goal is to get the president and prevent him from training the swamp and their lives and their very existence as establishment media, establishment lobbyists, establishment Democrats, and weak need, weak spine, pathetically uh, pathetic Republicans that can't keep promises. They don't want the pressure of having to actually do some work, and they want him to go to And the hell would the people on food stamps and poverty and that are out of the labor force. The hell with our national security going down the tops. It doesn't matter, John Hannity, there's nothing that you don't think about it this way. Is there any one cabinet official that the Democrats would support. No? Is there anyone family member of Donald Trump that's not been attacked. No? Is there any one court appointment he's gonna make that's not going to be attacked. No? Is there any policy that's not going to be attacked. I said this all to you is going to happen. If it's extreme vetting, they'll oppose it. If it's Neil Gorsuch or an originalists of any kind on the court, they'll they'll oppose it. Repealing replacing, they will oppose it. Energy independence, they will oppose it. Building the wall, they will oppose it. Tax cuts will be characterized even though they're for the middle class, for the rich, and for businesses. Wealthy businesses. Yeah, the people that hire people in Detroit and Cleveland and Milwaukee. Yeah, that's all gonna happen. There's nothing Trump won't do that won't cause this insane reaction will continue. This. We're going to do whatever is necessary to keep our country safe. We will not allow people into our country who are looking to do harm to a people. This is keeping American people safe, and they has a market. This is about a band on Muslims that is unconstitutional and amoral. This executive order is so bad and so poisoned, and its genesis is so bad and terrible that he ought to just throw it in the trash can. Freedom is back in style. Welcome to the Revolution. The new seawan Nnity Show more be I'm the Scenes, information on breaking news, and more bold inspired solutions for America. We've been reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to General Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks, trying to ascertain the truth. We got to a point not based on a legal issue, were based on a tru stissue, with a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. The President was very concerned that General Flynn had misled the Vice President and others. He was also very concerned, in light of sensitive subjects dealt with by that position of national security advisors, like China, North Korea, and the Middle East, that the President must have complete and unwavering trust for the person in that position. The evolving an eroding level of trust as a result of this situation in a series of other questionable instances, is what led the President to ask for General Flynn's resignation. Immediately after the Department of Justice notified the White House Council of the situation, The White House Counsel briefed the President and a small group of the senior advisors. The White House Council reviewed and determined that there is not an illegal issue, but rather a trust issue. All right. That was Shawn Spicer at the press conference that I well, he's the White House or Press secretary. Eight nine for one, Shawn told free telephone number. You want to be a part of the program. We continue our top story today and that is General Flynn is now stepping down from his position. And of course this has a lot to do with I think a political assassination, as Eli Lake writes in his piece earlier today, and he'll be joining us later in the program. But I think what we're watching is a lot bigger, and I think you're watching systematically, one by one in you know, right out of the o Lynskey handbook, isolating targeting, you know, one person around the president at a time. The media has ignored the success of Trump, the political earthquake that has taken place under their feet. And you've got the giant swamp now, which is the establishment in d C. You've got the media establishment, the Democratic establishment, you've got the lobbyist establishment, and the Republican establishment not liking all the changes that are coming their way and and changing the way they do things there. But think about it that he've even gone after Baron Trump, who's ten years old. In the media, they've stopped Eric Trump for raising money for St. Jude's Hospital. They've gone after and said everything about Melania Trump. Uh, They've gone after Steve Bannon, They've gone after Rents, They've gone after you know, this week, it's been Stephen the Miller. Prior to that, it was Kelly in And what they're really after is the president himself. And this is a seek and destroy mission. And when you look at the utter hypocrisy of if national security issues such as this matter as much as the media is claiming, then they certainly would have paid a lot more attention. There would have been a lot more hyper ventilating in their reporting as it relates to Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, the money that foreign countries paid them, the quid pro quo, the email server scandal. We have an email she's purposely trying to by pass oversight by Congress, putting in an email server inside of a mom and pop shop closet bathroom and lying about it repeatedly. Here with some perspective, a guy who's been around the block just a time or two is Patrick J. Buchanan. How are you, sir? John Fine shown. I think it's too bad that the officer who has served his country as well as General Flynn did, and and when you, whatever your views about General Flynn's particular views on foreign policy, it's sad to see someone, after three weeks, when he's reached the pinnacle of his career, go out like this. But there's I tell you you were right in your introduction. Uh, they're going to go directly for the President on this one. And I'll tell you where they're going to go at him on. The question is going to be that, did Mr President, did you authorize General Flynn to talk to the Russian ambassador about the sanctions? Did he tell you about his conversation and what he told the ambassador about sanctions and the possibility you would take a different approach? And were you aware that when General Flynn spoke publicly that and told the Vice President that he had not mentioned anything like that, were you aware that the general was not telling the truth at the time of the full truth? Well, all those questions were answered by Sean Spicer today at the White House briefing. Every one of those questions. No, he said he did not know. He didn't know, And again it came down to an issue of trust. The issue that they're raising here is that he didn't tell the Vice president everything, and he apologized publicly to the president, and vice President said they accepted his apology on that, And according to the transcripts that were released as as it relates to the conversations, the conversation show that, in fact, it was the Russians that brought it up to him. So now the question is, Okay, why didn't he say that. I don't know the answer to it, But I think the broader question here is, you know they're out for blood. But my question is still on General Friend. It's the suggestion I didn't hear a spicer on for the way you've described it. I heard the later part of it. The question is where General Flynn freelancing on his own and giving some kind of assurance to the Russians about sanctions or how the president would react or what the President elect excuse me, would like the Russians to do. And because that's a real assertion of authority, that would be that frankly, a you know, a national security advisor should never take without this precise authorization or direction of the president. Well, they could have talked about it more broadly in meetings, Pat, I mean think about it. I would have I would assume that the President didn't like or had probably had a disagreement that he verbalized many times in many meetings about his position about what's going to happen. I think, Sean, you take a McCain and those other folks, some of the folks that are really out have no enthusiasm for the president and who smells something here? And I think this is where they're going to go at him and I But don't you don't you think it's more goal is really there to get the president? Certainly the media and uh And there was a good piece in the Wall Street Journal today in the editor what are these guys doing u uh, you know, over hearing listening and recording conversations of the National Security Advisor, etcetera. They claim they picked it up on the on the Russian ambassador alone. Well, I mean, I think that's a great question. But they would listen. Knowing the president as well as I do, and having talked to him in the interim between that time when he was elected and he was putting his government together, I know he talked at length about all of the things that he would want to do. Now, he didn't talk to me specifically about this, but I mean, generally just reiterating that he wants to fulfill his promises. So let me say so, so hang on made my point. I would assume pat that General Flynn hurt his opinions about the issue of Russia and Obama and whether or not he agreed or disagreed with them. I mean, let me say this. I think that if the President elect older view and even told General Flynn looked, you know, when you talk to the ambassador, um, you know, tell the ambassador not to overreact to this stuff, I have no problem with him doing that. Quite frankly neither. Why you know, what they're saying is that this is a violation of the Logan Act, which bans unauthorized US citizens from communicating with foreign government independitentiary for life. Yeah, you know, because the countries all over the world negotiating deals and and and twenty minutes, you know, and twenty days later, he's about to be the National Security Advisor. But no, he can only do it the minute he's he's he's um, you know, I guess sworn in. I mean, to me, the whole thing is silly in a lot of ways. But let me tell you a story. And when I when Nixon was elected, I had contacts with the Russians and I'm sure the guy with kg D and it was in December, I believe, and he called me up and said he would like to see me, and I gave you know, went to see the guy and wrote up a report on exactly what he asked so you could find out his questions were. But you informed your guys. I've gotn't informed the government, but I did inform. I believe it was Dr Kissinger or his shop at the time. So I don't see any problem here with that or even with what Trump did. And and my problem here is that did it frankly, do you think that that the general fell on his sword here? But what's the reason for falling on his sword that? In other words, that the print that the president told him to directed to talk to them baby, and he's trying to protect that knowledge. Maybe that you say, suggesting that the president did it, or you suggesting that the president told him to do it, I mean the president elect looking and it would I would have no problem with it if he had done this, which is to say, you know, when you're talking to the ambassador, I don't tell him for heaven sakes you guys, you're not overreacted. These sanctions. Have no problem with him making that state myself. And they talked about the Logan Act or whatever. And if I had less didn't throw out all our diplomats is a good thing. I totally completely agree with you, because it would have precipitated a crisis. And if he was trying to calm the waters and say there's a new chief coming into town, then chief executive coming into town, that I don't see a problem. Uh, you know, But I do think there's a broader issue here is if you look at you know, Steve Miller went on the Sunday Shows and and how NBC has put him in dark black and white demonization and what they did to Bannon and the cover of Time magazine. I thought he was great this week and agree with you at it reminds me of you, Patton, with a little bit more, I know. But the point is, I think what's happening here is broader. They've gone They've avoided the political earthquake and the success that Donald Trump has had, and all they're doing is one by one trying to demonize and pick off all the guys around him, getting as much collateral damage to discredit him as possible. But with their ultimate goal is you know, to use Eli Lake's column today, he called it the plitical assassination of Michael Flynn. But really it's about Trump. Really, I think you're exactly right. First, I think they want to break Trump's agenda, and the things he campaigned on and what he promised he would do are going to be very difficult in this city, more difficult than even I thought they were going to be. And they're after him on those. And secondarily, they want to get rid of him personally. And there's folks any way to embarrass or damage or drive him down in the polls so they can't realize the agenda he ran on. I could not agree with you more on that. Even there are bigger problems that got hopes hopes invested here and uh and and we are concerned about what we're saying. Aren't you as concerned as I am at who in the in the intelligence community leaked these phone calls? You know? That should be investigated by the guy. I mean, that should be investigated internally by Pompio at the at the CIA and and anybody at the FBI to find out who did this exactly and run that down. That is a horrendous standal, unbelievable because doesn't that suggest to you that that maybe Paul Sperry was right. There are their Obama Hillary supporters within the intelligence community angry at Trump. I want to undermine the astonished if there weren't, I mean many of these agents. Donald Trump got four of the Voteshton d c hang on one second, friendly a city he's entered. Yeah, that's true. All right, stay right there. A couple more minutes with Pat you Cannon one Shawn told free telephone number. Also, we are going to get back to the story with author Eli Lake who wrote that this is the political assassination of of Mike Flynn. We'll get to all of that and more faith I'll find it here there now right as we continue with Patrick J. Buchant in our top story today, and that is the resignation of General Flynn as National Security Advisor or he has been let go, depending on how you want to characterize it. I want to put together two different pieces that have come out. One has to do with Eli Lake's column, which is this is a political assassination and all the leaky from all the intelligence communities. And the second one is from Paul Sperry, where he wrote how Obama's scheming to sabotage Trump's presidency as you look at the big picture in the attack on every single person around the president and the president himself at the while Washington ignores all of these major changes in success that he's had in US a few weeks. Do you see what I see? And that is an orchestrated attempt by all the different you know, straining the swamp components, which is the media component, establishment, the Republican establishment, democratic establishment, lobbying establishment. Do you see them converging together and partnering in this effort to smear, slander, besmirch, and literally a race a Trump presidency if they can. I certainly do you know what I want to within the into the White House with Nixon earlier and I said, we're like the dust on a tabletop. I mean, you've got a few hundred, even when you get fully staffed, a couple of thousand people in there, and you've got a mamithed bureaucracy which is by and large totally hostile built up in the Great Society, a new deal, and this, this bureaucracy built up under Obama is totally hostile to the agenda of Donald J. Trump because he threatens everything they believe in. Now, a real question here, Sean, is the we've expelled all the Russian diplomats. President Obama did throw him out of the country, and A apparently they were upset or surprised that the Russians didn't retaliate, which is I think one of the motives were going after all this material question interesting question was this design to sabotage a Trump foreign policy with regard to Russia before Trump got even into office. What is the motivation for these folks here, as you mentioned, who would being all these people control who are looking over and recording and taping what the general said and leaking it all out. I mean, what beneficent purpose do they have in mind in doing this, Even it's not to damage and destroy the Trump administration before it even gets into into power. It's so it's really really chilling. You know, Wiki Leaks actually came out with a theory today, and I don't disagree with them on this either, because I think it's you know, they may have sources that Sean Hannity and Pat Buchannon don't have and they might be reading things that none of us know about, but they're suggesting on a pretty high level that in fact this was the intelligence community. Well you know, they would not would not surprise me in the least. But again we get back to I don't know the problem here. I don't know exactly, to be honest, what exactly General Flynn did wrong if, as you suggest, the ambassadors talking about this on the phone and the call from from the general, and the General says something like we hope you don't overreact to this, and for heaven's sakes, I don't find any of that that any if it's what if it's what if it's deeper than that. What if he said specifically, well, when we get in, we're gonna fix this. Look, it's gonna be a new day here in a month or so. We please don't overreact, that's a natural response. I don't understand, frankly, why the general if he said that didn't help, you know, pens this. I did say that. I did say that because I don't see anything wrong with it, And frankly, the average individual with it is what Trump has been saying the whole campaign. When I get in, the policy toward Russia is going to change. We're gonna try to work with him if we can. We're gonna bring him into the bottom against PAP. You can and always appreciate your insight. Thank you for being with us. Eight for one, Shawn told free telephone number. We'll get back to this in our news round up Information Overload hour at the top of the hour end. We'll get your calls in. When we come back, you'll meet two people. The battle over the Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is heating up. Let's talk to people who really know them too, people who clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Anthony and Scalia and much more. Straight ahead, let me you're from the Department of Justice, if I understand correctly, UM, so you're aware of law enforcement? How many arrests have there been to foreign nationals for those seven countries since your honor? I don't have that information. I'm from the Civil Division if that, If that helps give me off the hook any well, let me tell you the answer to that is none as best I can tell. So, I mean, you know you're you're here arguing on behalf of someone that says we have to protect the United States from these individuals coming from these countries, and there's no support for that. Yeah. And I think the point is that because this is a question of foreign affairs, because this is in an area where Congress has delegated authority to the President to make these determinations, it's the President that gets to make the determinations, and the Court doesn't have authority to look behind those determinations. They're essentially like determinations that are committed to agency discretion. And we do think that despite planets claim that Clindings, the Manzell is directly on point um and that if the if the if the four corners of the executive Executive Order off of facially legitimate and bona fide reason for it, which they do here, that that the Court can't look behind that. Well, I cancil, I understand that from your from your papers, and you any very force presented that argument. But I'm also asked to look and determine if the executive Order is irrationally based. And rationally based to me implies that to some extent I have to find it grounded in facts as opposed to fiction. The Court finds that for purposes of the entry of the temporary restraining order, that the state has met its burden of demonstrating that it faces immediate and irreparable injury as a result of the signing and implementation of the executive order. I find that the state has satisfied the test that it is likely to succeed on the merits of the claim, which would entitle them to relief. I find that the balance of equities favor the States, And lastly, I find that a temporary restraining order is in the public interest. If I were to apply the Nine Circuits alternative test, I would find that the states have established a question, a serious question, going to the merits, and that the balance of equities tips sharply in their favor. Pass such, I find that the court should and will grant the temporary restraining order. All right. That, of course, was the Seattle Judge Robard who made that initial ruling out in Yattle, which then led to the Ninth Circuit. And of course I make the case that I believe this was an instance of judge shopping because they went to a liberal court knowing it go to the Ninth Circuit on appeal, and the decision about what's going to happen with the administration on the executive order is still forthcoming. Um. It has been one year since the tragic death of I think one of the most brilliant jurist justices in the history of the country, Anthony and Scalia and Neil Gorsiche. Now, if you think this battle over the National Security Advisor General Flynn is bad, we'll just wait till Neil Gorsach and his hearings begin. We don't use the term borking as a verb very often, but we know what they did, and I played it before. What they've done. A Judge Robert Bork another genius when it comes to the law, the Constitution, and of course legality and the role of government and each particular branch of government. And Neil Gorcich, by the way, none of his opinions have been overturned by the Supreme Court. In more than a decade on the Federal Appeals Court. Not one of his writ and opinions was overturned by the Supreme Court. Not one. He has shown the same judicial originalist constitutionalist philosophy of Judge Anton Injustice Anton and Scalia and somebody like, for example, Justice Clarence Thomas. Now the question is how far will the left going trying to demonize him. Anyway, we might get a little bit of insight from Matthew Owens and Michael uh kenneely is with us, both clerking for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia. And Uh, first of all, it's I know it's a year since you lost this great man, and Uh, I thought some prayers go out to him and his wife and his family, and uh and both of you as well. I'm sure you had a great fondness for him. Matthew, Yeah, definitely we did. And thank you very much for saying that. I know all of Justice Scalia's law Clarks took his death very hard. He was not just a mentor to us, but a lion of the law and a kind of patriarch of our of our movement, a little bit um for for conservatism in the law, and it was very a hard year without him. Michael, I remember a speech in particularly the Justice Scalia gave when he explained what it is to be an originalist. You remember that speech, sure, explain it well. Originalism is the philosophy that the Constitution means today what it meant when it was enacted, and if you want to change what it means, you have to pass the Constitutional Amendment, which is the mechanism at the Constitution itself provides for changing it. Um. You can't go to court and ask a judge to change it because they because you think that the original meaning of the Constitution is no longer a good one. In other words, it's no longer valid. And this is where the great divide in the country is because there are those of us that I believe in originalism myself, and I believe in separation of powers and coequal branches of government. But I argue that the left in this country, what they can never get done at the ballot box by arguing before the American people are making a case for elective office, what they could not get done legislatively, they try to rely on the courts through judicial activism to impose on the American people. Is that true? Yeah? I mean, in some ways, originalism puts a lot of faith in UM the people to uh put forward the laws that they think are best for governing them. And that was one of the arguments that Justice scale would always give to it. UM. You know, if you're in a democracy and the people are sovereign um. Going to the courts and asking unelected judges to create new laws is completely intention with that commitment to democracy. And don't, Matthew, don't we see that on a fairly regular basis from the courts. Look at the Ninth Circuit. I think it's about eighty percent over the years there that they're overturned by the Supreme Court. Well, you see a lot of courts that think it's their job too to read into the Constitution the policy ideas that they like. Uh. And you know, the Supreme Court when Justice Sallee was there, didn't didn't always didn't always like that. He used to say that, you know, if you're opposed to death penalty, you should convince your neighbors that you're right and pass a law. You don't need to come to court and try to convince a judge to pretend that the Constitution has anything to say about that. Tell me that that philosophy protects democracy. Explain what what judicial activism is to you. Well, for me, I mean, I think the term can be can be a little hard to define, but it should mean when a judge looks to something other than the law to decide a case, when he looks to his his own feelings or political views or something other than what the people's elected representatives have passed into a statute or what the founders ratified in the constitution, when you look beyond that to try to to try to put social policy into the constitution, because it's it's your own political views. That to me as activist, I just played Justice Road part out in Seattle, and here he made a statement that was factually at accurate. He made the statement, well since nine eleven he was he was asking the Justice Department, lawyer, has there been any instances of any of the seven people? As far as I can tell, none? He said, you have committed acts of terrorism. In fact, we have now been able to identify seventy two separate cases of people from those seven countries. What does it mean when a when a judge get something wrong on the facts like that, Michael, I feel like I'm testing you guys in law school, by the way, I want to see how it's always troubling when when you know judges make mistakes of any kind, whether it's legal or factual. I mean, one of the good things about our system is that, uh, you know, that's the kind of UH issue that can get litigated fully. You know, we're at a very early stage in that case. And UM, eventually the challenges are going to have to put on a factual evidence to support their challenge, UM, because the challenges they bear the burden of proof, as I understand it. UM. So you know, I think at the end of this we're at a very early stage of the litigation. I think by the end of it will have all those issues fully aired in court. If you are going to advise, both of you, what are your current actions? Are you in a position away in on your own own judicial philosophy here, both of you, because I want to ask you if you were to advise the Trump administration on the best way to go forward. They have a number of options. One they can go back to the Seattle judge and and argue the case there, or they could try once again at at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as I understand it, Or they could bring it to the Supreme Court, where then Justice Kennedy would have an opportunity to either make a decision one way or the other or bring it to the entire Supreme Court. If you were to advise or they could rewrite the entire Executive Order and start over. If you were to advise the administration, Matthew, I'll start with you, what would you do? What would you advise them? To be honest with you, Sean, I am not in a in a position where I can where I can comment on that. I think that all of those options are the ones that they will consider. Um. I know that there's been some whispering that they might rewrite the Executive Order and try to clean it up a little bit and start over. Well, we've had Jay Seculo, I'm sure both of you know, from the American Center for Law and Justice on and he actually rewrote his own version and said if he did those things, it would make it, you know, fairly bulletproof if it ever got to the entire Supreme Court. He predicted eight oh, and that's of course without Neil Gors. Michael, Yeah, Well, it's one of those, uh, one of those things where, um, it's a tough decision for the president because you know, he has to sort of wigh getting what he thinks is in the national security interests of the country in place immediately versus um avoiding you know, protracted litigation it's a it's a tough decision. I'm sure his advisors are weighing your options carefully. Last question, because you both clerked for antonin Scalia, Michael, I'll start with you, tell us some anecdote about this great judicial philosophy mind that I think people would enjoy hearing well. I think you know, it's it's evident to a lot of people on the outside just what a uh, you know, brilliant guy he was, and how deeply principled. But one of the things that sometimes gets lost in the popular portray al says him is just how happy he was in life. You know, he's sort of portrayed as a curmudgeon a lot of the time, and he could have, you know, his bad days as much as anyone. But he was just jade viev kind of guy. We had just a week before he died. A tradition in chambers is to have a birthday party whenever one of the chamber staff or clerks is celebrating a birthday, And just the week before he died, we had one of my co clerks was celebrating a birthday and he would like nothing more than leading the whole group in a spirited singing of Happy Birthday, so I'll always remember that as a happy By the way, on the Court, I think it was the funniest justice I ever heard. When you listen to you can't see them, but at times when they release oral arguments, he cracked me up um and with an incredible wit and sense of humor in a biting commentary. If he felt like at Matthew last word, we got about twenty seconds. Sure, I'll echo what Michael says. He was. He was full of life. He was a great tradition at the Court to have a Christmas party for everyone who works there, and everyone who went always knew Justice Glee was gonna sing a duet of usually good King Winces List or something like that. He was the life of the life of the party building. And one last, last last question, do you guys know Neil Gorsuch? Yes? One simple yes and yes or no question. Do both of you believe that he shares the judicial philosophy of antonin Scalia? Matthew, Yeah, yes he does. Michael I agree. Alright, alright, thank you guys, all right when we come back. Uh. Eli Lake wrote an article the political assassination of National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn, and then we have Paul Sperry he wrote about a shadow government of Obama, and Patrick Poole. All coming up. Our top story, the resignation well firing of General Michael Flynn, will get to that next. The final hour of the Sean Hannity Show is up. Next, hang on for John's conservative solutions. All right, as we continue Sean Hannity Show News Round Up Information overload. At the top of the next hour, Eli Lake writing a pretty provocative column the political assassination of Michael Flynn, Paul Sperry talking about an Obama shadow government, and also Patrick pool All check in as we get to the resignation or slash firing of General Michael Flynn. Let's go back to our busy telephones here as we say Hi to Carry is in Texas. Carry, how are you? Glad you called? Hey? Mr Hannity, How are you today? I'm good? What's going on? Well? Happy VALENTI stay to you, your family, yours, Thank you very much. Happy Valentine's Day to you, and I hope, I hope the guys in your life took care of you absolutely well. Um. I wanted to use your platform today to inform your listeners, UM about a few things that I know that happened in the state of Texas. UM living here my whole life and having seen it firsthand. UM. The things that aren't brought up. And this is regarding illegal immigration, and these are the things that don't really get a lot of attention. And I'm not sure a lot of the nation knows about these things. So I just wanted to bring a few up. I am a I'm a ranch owner. I have a I own a hunting ranch. And how big is your ranch? How many are my my hunting ranch? Mind? You you know the way they survey it is, you know, from point this to point that. But I've got several hills, so I would say it's closer to eighty acres. But it's just a hunting ranch. And that's what I want. I want a little baby ranch like that. Well I'll tell you, when you're taking care of it, it doesn't feel like a baby ranch. I bet I was gonna. I was married to a Texas ranger for fourteen years. I mean, I remember one time he got seven hundred thousand dollars out of an eighteen wheel or coming from Alabama out of chi Laredo, or the time he got fifteen hundred pounds of marijuana when we lived in Pearsall or the time that when I was in pre term labor they couldn't get carried hospital. Let me tell you how bad it is. And I don't want to cut you short, but when I was down in Texas on the boarder with Governor Perry, I got a briefing, a security briefing six hundred and forty two thousand crimes committed against Texans in a seven year period, six hundred and forty two times. Alright, finish your last comment. I got a role um our vehicles would be in stolen because when I get over here, nobody's got a picnic basket for him and handing him a set of keys to a car basket. Free free, Free Washington State, New York, the Hampton's, Pennsylvania. People wake up. It's not happening to you there. The reality is what we are scary experiencing in the southern and the southern border states. So thank you for your attention to it. And I just wanted to um uh use your platform. I was trying to explain this to her, Hey Ramos last night, and I gotta tell you something. It's unbelievable to me. Now there's a lot of people, are a lot of victims of crime. What about Americans? Why don't we have the right to safety and security? All right? Back to our top story, the resignation slash firing of National Security Advisor Flynn. What do you hear from Eli Lake who says that the political assassination Paul Sperry, he looks at the fact that Obama may be running a shadow government and much more showing up next our final news round up and information overload hours and when I want to press to press these questions. Where the White House decided to do nothing for three weeks, as Flynn said in on meeting, at the meeting, at the meeting, did the president decide the way the counsel decided to wait? Something is wrong here, Madam Leader. Just this morning Flynn tweeted, and this is a quote scapegoat, And the quote escapegoat he basically the Scott subscribed himself as a scapegoat. And so I believe we need to hold a public hearing with Flynn to get to the bottom of this. Our committee held three or four hearings Emergency hearings on Hillary Clinton in a matter of a week or two. And if there was any emergency at this moment in the history of this country, this is the moment, and so we need to get his security and clearance of documents. I want to see him. I want to see what he put in those documents to find out if he was honest on those forms. And we need to know how much he got paid to have dinner with Puton. But that is only lebrigating the presses. I asked us over and over again. I know they asked for the chief and asked the leader. Doesn't in here? Shouldn't things in here? No, they cannot in here. Ladies and gentlemen. We are a fight in a right for the soul of our democracy. The question is is whether where whether we will clearly understand that this is our watch. And let's be clear. Chiefs said it quite eloquently, the Republicans need to join us. This is not a democratic issue. This is not a Republican he said, is not an independent issue. This is an American issue for the soul of our democracy. We've been a reviewing and evaluating this issue with respect to General Flynn on a daily basis for a few weeks trying to ascertain the truth. We got to a point not based on a legal issue, but based on a trust issue, with a level of trust between the President and General Flynn had eroded to the point where he felt he had to make a change. The President was very concerned that General Flynn had misled the Vice President and others. He was also very concerned, in light of sensitive subjects dealt with by that position of national security advisors like China, North Korea, and the Middle East, that the President must have complete and unwavering trust for the person in that position. The evolving and eroding level of trust as a result of this situation and a series of other questionable instances, is what led the President to ask for General Flynn's resignation. Immediately after the Department of Justice notified the White House Council of the situation, The White House Counsel brief the President and a small group of the senior advisors. The White House Council reviewed and determined that there is not an illegal issue, but rather a trust issue. Understand that all of this information was leaked. The idea that not just in this administration, but the obomb administration, going back to the Bush administration and back that we have an issue were classified information of which this would be is handled in such a way that it is being given out. And I know in some cases it's it's a good story, and I understand that, and that's to some degree your responsibility to write that. But I think there's also a story here with an amount of leaks that are coming out of people that are entrusted with national security secrets and classified information are leaking it out. That's a real concern for this president that when he's talking on the phone with a world leader, that when he's making key decisions that are in an interest in protecting this country, that we have to wonder whether or not people who work for our government, who are entrusted with classified information and decisional based materials are leaking that information out. That I do believe is a big story that should be reported. I also believe that the President is rightly so very very concerned about this because it's not just something that is plaguing, you know, the current situation, but it goes back through the Obama administration, the Bush administration, the Clinton administration. When we have government employees that are entrusted with this and can't and then leak it out that undermines our national security. Frankly, all right, that was Sean Spicer, and prior to that, it was Elijah Cummings. Uh so we're fighting for the soul of our democracy. Really, where was his outrage over Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation and the money is paid by countries while she was Secretary of State garnering influence through the Clinton Foundation, through donations, through speeches, Bill Clinton is making what about that quid pro quoil. I didn't hear the same outrage from the left from Democrats when it came to Hillary Clinton violating the laws it relates to having an email server to bypass congressional oversight in the closet of a mom and pop shop in a bathroom. I didn't hear the same type of outrage. But Sean Spicer raises the big question here, Why are these leaks continually coming from the intelligence community. This is not stuff that is normally ever leaked by anybody. Well, there are two great columns out and I'm putting them both together in my own mind, thinking there might be something to all of this. Eli Lake writes for Bloomberg and He wrote a great column today called the political assassination of Michael Flynn, and just days before, a good friend, Paul Sperry wrote how Obama's scheming to sabotage Trump's presidency and could these two in some ways be related anyway? Welcome both of you to the program. Thanks so much for having us Eli. Let me let me start with you, Eli, because this is important. What do you mean by a political assassination? And you went into a lot of depth and detail in your piece to describe the intelligence leaking that's going on here and why that might be happening, especially as it relates to these calls that are never leaked historically. Well, it really comes down to the question of what exactly doesn't mean to have discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Um My sources have told me that this is something that the ambassador brought up in a conversation with Mike Flynn, and Flynn simply said, Hey, we're coming in a couple of weeks. We're going to be reviewing a lot of things in Russia policy. Why don't you give us some time. But it wasn't the center, it wasn't the main topic of the discussion. And I mean my understanding, and we know this because it's public record, is that Flynn is having several phone calls to date, He's got two phones. He's talking to ambassadors, foreign leaders, other national security advised But isn't this an upcoming job. I mean, I know what the Logan Act says, but he was about to be the National Security Director, Agency director. I mean, you know, so I would imagine that prior to getting into that position, he wants to establish a report with the people that are going to be that he's going to be talking with on a daily basis. No, absolutely, And what's more, I mean, and I can say as a foreign policy columnist, I disagree with the idea of trying to have a reset with Russia. But Donald Trump campaigned on that. Mike Flynn is his incoming national security advisor, so of course he's going to reach out to the Russian ambassador trying to set up that call. And let's assume for a second that that he also eli in the course of his discussions with the President that the President said, you know, well, just make sure that whoever your counterpart is on the Russian side knows that Obama's actions will not be my actions and that things are likely to turn around. Would it be a violation of the Logan Act to to mention that to your counterpart? Well, the Logan Acts is, in my view is red herring has never been prosecuted. More importantly, I don't think it would be improper. But to the key point, which is that did Flynn lie to Vice President Penn? He says he doesn't remember it. And if if we're having a ten minute conversation and for thirty seconds we talked about something, but the main topic with something. I can forgive a guy that's working, you know, fourteen hours a day on his vacation talking to lots of foreign leaders, and when he's giving a briefing several days after that phone call, doesn't mention it. If it wasn't an important thing and the ambassador brought it up, I would imagine that Slynn would maybe get the benefit of the doubt. But it looks to me like this was sort of taken out by the acting Attorney General. There was an Obama holdover and you know, taken to the White House and said this is a very serious matter and this information, I mean the fact that his name appears in an intercept that there's nine sources talking to Washington Post about it that says it's it seems it's pretty wide. So you're basically suggesting that the hold over Sally Yate, so, who involved herself in the executive order as it relates to extreme vetting and and the temporary ban on immigrants, that she was up to her eyeballs in this too. But I listened very closely to the briefing today by Sean Spicer, and he said the White House Council did not believe there was a legal basis to worry about this when he advised the president, so acting on that, then it became an issue of what why wasn't he fully trained its parent with the Vice president. But I'm not so sure that. I mean, yes, he should have remembered that detail of the conversation, but I think that there's a difference between having it come up from the ambassador sort of saying all right, you know, give me some time, we're coming in now, let's talk about the phone call between Putin and Trump and having it the conversation and having an in depth talk with the ambassador, and then shielding that from the Vice president. I think it was the former, not the ladder, and he should I thought should should have been given a pass on that. But because of the way that it was sort of leaked out and everything else, it became a political crisis over the weekend and he had to regot. Yeah. By the way, our friend Paul Sperry as was us one of my favorite writers and authors, and he's amazing how Obama is scheming to sabotage is a New York Post column, this author of the Great American Bank Robbery. All right, so you just heard what Eli said. I don't know if you're ready elize column today, but it really fascinated me. And when I put it together with your column from a couple of days ago that Obama is using a network of just nonprofits led by Organizing for Action and basically creating a shadow presidency, I'm thinking, do you think he could be up to his eyeballs and this? After all, he did encourage all the protesters to go out there and keep doing what they're doing against the president. Well, he did have control over the intelligence community um at that time, so I wouldn't doubt it he was trying to delegitimize Trump in regards to um, the Russians, uh, leisurely hacking into all these data bases. Let me let me quote from your column. Obama is working behind the scenes to set up will what will effectively be a shadow government, to not only protect his threatened legacy, but to sabotage the incoming administration. And it's a and it's popular American first agenda. Yeah. I mean, all these anti Trump protests, well not all of them, but most of these anti Trump protests are not spontaneous. They're being gennd up by Organizing for Action or o f A, and o f A is Obama. O f A is a nonprofit group that's sufficially tied to to Obama in these protests. In fact, as I reported in the post column, Obama is tweeting through o f as Twitter County. He's holding conference calls to rally the f A troops, and he's listed o f A on his new website. Anybody can go to the homepage and his new website and there at the bottom only one of only two organizations listed on that on that website. One of them is o FA, the others the Obama Foundation. And by the way, o f A is going to be rolled into the Obama Foundation and the Presidential Library, So it's going to become of an even bigger jug or not going forward. Well, he's he's angry because Trump's gonna wipe out in a hundred days of his agenda, assuming that these idiot Republicans get off their ass and repeal and replace Obamacare like they've been promising for eight years. That's right, He's trying to salvage his legacy and his legacy programs like Obamacare and the Dreamers and all that. Yeah. Well, and that's the problem when you rule by executive order. Um, and all right, I want to get back to this with both of you hanging there, Eli Lake and Paul Sperry. We appreciate your time. Eight hundred nine one, Shawn are told free telephone number you want to be part of the program, Hannity site sized version of the show that you can take with you. To sign up today for Hannity headlines, go to Hannity dot com. He never stops working for the good of the country. Sean Hannity with behind the scenes information on today's breaking news. Hannity is on right now alight till the top of the hour. Toll free or telephone numbers eight D nine one Sean, if you want to be a part of the program full coverage of what is going on in Washington tonight, I have I think one of the hardest hitting opening monologues I've ever done tonight, where you're getting information and you're not gonna get anywhere else. There is an all out effort. And I warned all of you ahead of time that this was all coming, that this is not really about General Flynn. This is not about Steve Miller, This is not about Kelly Ann Conway. This is not about the Darth Vader Steve Bannon as they call him. This is not about Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Donald Jr. Even when I after Baron Trump and Don Jr's kid. This is about an entire establishment, what Trump called the swamp, incapable of accepting election results. And even the intelligence community now has been highly politicized because as we have been pointing out for the better part of the day, and Eli Lake, who I thought wrote a great column as I mentioned earlier, and he joined us in the last half hour. Normally these inner sets that they're referring to, which is the conversation with General Flynn and his Russian counterpart. There's some of the most tightly held government secrets, and for good reason that you know selectively, as Eli writes, disclosing details of private conversations monitored by the FBI or the n s A gives the permanent state. What does the permanent state mean? Permanent state means all of those people that live there forever, the bureaucrats, the swamp, the people that are making their careers there. The power to destroy reputations from the cloak of an anonymity means they do it all privately. Well, let's leak this. We don't like this guy. And then he writes, this is what police states do. Kind of scary. This is unbridled power. And when you look at the contempt and hatred that exists towards the president, it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it. And the media me how does the media not focus in on all of the success in three weeks. They're just obsessed chasing the rabbit, like a greyhound running around a track. They just race after it, race after it, and pay no attention to a political earthquake and a broader narrative constantly calling the president a liar, constantly attacking those around him. Well, now they've been able to they've been able to get a little bit of blood here, and all that's gonna do is increase the scent and increase the breathlessness in their reporting, and increase the intensity by which they try to pick off one by one those people surrounding the president, isolating them one by one, all an attempt to delegitimize the president. Now, it used to be scandalous for US officials to request the identities of US officials that we're incidentally monitored by the government because they were not monitoring General Flynn, they were monitoring his Russian counterpart. But they do in any way to people they don't like. Congressman Nunez, who is out in California, chairman of the Household Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Eli Eli Lake that he saw the leaks about Flynn's conversations as part of a pattern. Quote. There does appear to be a well orchestrated effort to attack Flynn and others in the administration, from the leaking of phone calls between the president and foreign leaders and to what appears to be high level pis a court information to the leaking of American citizens being denied security clearances. It looks like a pattern. Yeah, it looks like a pattern. What's the pattern? Pattern is to undermine the president. The pattern is the intelligence community in the cloak of secrecy with top secret information that normally never gets leaked, to hurt anybody they can in and sound and surrounding the president. There really now this is a stuff of spy novels, but it's all very important. Obama sent his ambassador to Russia before he was even elected. Remember the former US official, you know, US officials said that building a case against Flynn would be daunting because the law against US citizens interfering with the foreign uh diplomacy, known as the Logan Act, is from s and it's never been prosecuted. There's no case history here to help guide authorities. That's not really what's in play here. And so if it's not a legal issue, as the White House Council told, the President has shown Spicer and Kelly Ann related today and the only thing that I guess is left that for any of us to know is that, Okay, then I guess it had to do with General Flynn not being totally and completely honest and revealing to Vice President Mike Penn's all that had taken place. Um, you know, Mike McFall, who served as US ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, says he was in Moscow meeting with officials in the weeks leading up to Obama's election. Win. Wow, they even doing it before Wicky Leaks. Got to give them some standing here. They've never been wrong. Have they released a statement this morning? Sat General Flynn was brought down by spies in the Obama administration working hand in glove with the all left fake news media. Wow. Pretty scary. I wonder what they have. And also we learned today from the UK Guardian. Whether it's true or not, I can't confirm, but that the FISA courts turned down an FBI request wire tap Flynn. Unbelievable, unbelievable. All right, let's get to our busy telephones here as we move forward. Susan is in California. Susan, you're on the Sean Hannity Show. You know, I'm just so disgusted. I mean, I'm not only a California with our governor and our legislatures. It's treason as what they've done with the dam But the fact now that they've they've leaked these conversations with Flynn, I mean, the American people see this, and I swear it's going to backfire as the Californian and as somebody who used to be in the film business, and it's not going anywhere. These people have lost their minds. They have their panties in a wad, and it's treasonous. The fact that the media and whoever is working at the White House that is leaking this stuff, it's just it's embarrassing. And and watching this train wreck happen with the Democrats is just embarrassing. And and their neglect for for the American people is embarrassing and just horrendous. And if if I was the Justice Department, I would investigate where these leaks came from, and I would have a special eye on whether or not they're related to Obama officials and holdovers from the Obama administration, because I'm pretty sure that's probably what happened here. You know, they have to now of course it's it has to be. This is a political attack, and we're using now our intelligence has been politicized. This is a big problem. Now, this is not the first time. This has happened a lot of times. Anyway, good observation, good call. Thank you. Kate is in Houston, Texas, ktrh. Hey, Sean, I've got two things I want to talk to you about, and the second thing I hope we get you because it's gonna be a little agreement with my friend there, Linda. So I just want to tell you, Linda's ears just perked up. Linda, you better put your microphone on now so I don't have to order. Come on, Linda, We're gonna, like Kate finish. She's going to support me on my second point. Okay, So the first point, I just gotta tell you I am heartbroken over when it happened to General's Lynn. He's a three star general, a man of incredible integrity, his record impeccable, and he's having to lead in the shame and the media breathing him out in the way that he's being about. I can't tell you how disgusted I am. I saw that in the middle of the night last night, and I just couldn't even really sleep. How would wake up at three o'clock and look up that four and I'm thinking about this poor man. It's not it's him, it's Kelly and Conway, it's Sean Spicer, who I like to call Sean Spicy because he's rather spicy when he gets out there and he starts talking. And they're going after anybody and any anyone like you were saying from the beginning around Trump, as if they were going after the witches and the Sale trial. These are not the people that the media is making not to be, and yet everyone has collectively lost their brain and being able to process information. I'm really disgusted. You have every you have every right to be because but you gotta understand something here, and I get it. I I have done monologues on this radio program, on television. They are not your friends, no, the you know what we're paying me. The thing that is also interesting to me about the whole Congress, I mean, we've got people singing folk songs on the capital steps and they're given out all this information and they're feeding the media, the media backlash. Right. These are people that I think everyone needs to do is listen to your show right now. Recognize we pay them, We are the ones that hire them. They are working for us, and we don't seem to be able to get that message clear off. Enough we did with Chump, but we gotta do it again and get all these bunafix. I mean, secially, when Nancy Pelosi starts talking to anybody really thinks it's like your grandmother that you're worried, you know, at a party. When is she going to say, you know what I'm saying. But she's one shy of the full fifty two. I honestly don't know how she gets realisted every time you know what I'm saying, I understand completely. Look, okay, we're gonna tell you. You know, I said to uh people that were going into the White House that I know that I'm probably, I said, listen, trust me. Corporate politics and for example, there's politics and every business. I don't know if you if you're in business or you've been in an office environment, this politics everywhere. One of really important decisions I made very early in my TV careers. I'm I'm in the building maybe an hour and a half a day. That's it. I show up at my air time to do my show, and and I have an office here at radio when nobody bothers me, and I'm alone all day. I like to be alone and doing my preparation. You've got the best teams. Look at people. I'm looking at them and they're all nodding their head affirmatively as we speak, and I listen, I really do. I have the best team in radio and the best team in television and agree, and I'm going to talk about what Linda and I just totally okay, all right. The other day you were getting a little spicy and you're like, you know, Linda, she cusses very time she opens up her mouth. And she said, well, you know, Linda curses all the time. Linda, Well yeah, but she threw it again. She said, you know, you've been getting it all the time. And here's the thing. You've got little fans, four of them being my children, and they love you, Uncle Sean. You know, they love thank you. And you've been throwing out this word that is used in the Bible, but you're not using it in the disblical sect. Tell you, I'm gonna say it. What is it? Word? Okay? The S S? What you talking about? Donkeys? You know, but you're not in every time every time you say that word, my kids like, can you just say art for the mistakes to say a R S S. What if we had what if we had like a little agreement where he wasn't allowed to say it until after four o'clock. Okay, okay, that's my big thing is he can't curse in front of the kids. And three o'clock. The kids are in the car on the way home, and we have to educate them. So we'll just curse the different we're in different time zones when it's four o'clock here, it's three o'clock at Central time. Okay, well, in the first hour of the show, in the first hour of the show, if you're in a car with your kids. No, no, no, I can't make this problem. Listen, I gotta be real, Kate. Is the way real people talk. Even I you want to spell it, maybe we'll start spelling it like donkeys in the Bible. You can just like it. Can I love you? But if he starts saying donkeys in the Bible, I gotta go home. It's just not gonna work. I think that's it's just not gonna work. I love you, girl, But no, alright, listen, you're asking. You said she would agree, you have no. She has the worst potty mouth of anybody on this team. By four admittedly so, but I don't do it on the air like some people. Is not a bad word. Art is not a bad words. You can't even say it right now, even if he can't get it right. But all it is ever thank you, thank you for helping him. I don't know. I've never I never used really bad words in front of my kids, but my daughter kids. When I say that, when I say that word in front of my daughter, she still hits me. I think, I know. The big problem is when they are able to spell. Once they start spelling offense, listen, they know. Listen. I have in a will, certain provisions in my will, and I've told my kids about your eulogy. No, no, I want you to. I want to sell the otherwise I can't tell your life story. Okay, so here's the truth about So I would tell my daughter, well, I put in there a certain legal thing that for you and your brother, and uh, you know, when you have to explain it to somebody else in your life, just say my dad was a crazy talk show host. Is nothing I can do. He was just nuts. Yeah, exactly. That was very nice. Thank you, Kate, Love you alright. Kiss always a matter of fact, stay on the line. We'll send Trump and Sherry's Burris to you, guys. Valentine's thank you, alright, stay on the line. Eight nine one Shawn is a number.