Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” nationally syndicated talk show host Mark Levin questioned the role of special counsel Robert Mueller and the boundaries he has crossed with his investigation into alleged interference of Russia in the 2016 presidential election.
According to Levin, Mueller has overstepped.
Partial transcript as follows:
HANNITY: Joining us now the host of CRTV Levin TV and the host of :Life, Liberty and Levin” right here on the Fox News Channel. As a matter of fact, this weekend, Governor Palin is going to be your guest on the show. I always liked Governor Palin. And we haven’t heard from her in a while. I look forward to watching, Mark.
All right. So the big question now is what the president needs to do. Apparently, the president’s lawyers negotiated with the special counsel over the idea that the president would speak with Robert Mueller.
The president himself is like I have nothing to hide. I’d speak with him. But if there is no underlying crime, if collusion is not a crime and the president has the right to fire Comey or anybody else and even Comey admitted as much, then the question is, you know, if they want to get into the president’s mindset, your thoughts can’t represent a crime in my opinion. You are the constitutional expert. Would you allow if the president was your client, would you allow him to speak to Robert Mueller?
LEVIN: No. Let me tell you. I wouldn’t allow him to speak for his sake or the sake of the office of the presidency. Because this is a rogue prosecutor, who is investigating nothing. You understand that? He is investigating nothing. There is no underlying crime.
When he got his appointment by the deputy attorney general, the deputy attorney general did not provide a basis for the appointment. That is, he didn’t say here are the criminal statutes I want you to investigate. Because there aren’t any.
I want to make a point that I don’t believe anybody else has made. And this is very, very important for the president, and for the president’s lawyers and the nation.
The official position of the United States Department of Justice under Democrat administration and Republican administration was set out by the Office of Legal Counsel. That’s the constitutional office within the Department of Justice in two memoranda.
And this memoranda says the president of the United States cannot be indicted while he is in office. Cannot be indicted while he is in office. So he can’t be a criminal target. The president of the United States can’t be a criminal target because he can’t be indicted.
That’s the official position of Mr. Mueller’s bosses over there at the Department of Justice. That’s number one. Number two, I keep hearing well, but what if he is subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury? Subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury.
Well, then you go to the federal judge, and you say to the federal judge your honor, my client can’t be indicted. That is the position of his bosses so why is he going in front of a federal grand jury? What we need him as a witness. A witness to what? What criminal statute, or what criminal violation do you think he was a witness to that he needs to testify to?
Well, we think he may have committed obstruction. And even though we may not charge him — excuse me, Mr. Mueller. This is a criminal grand jury. This isn’t being done so you can issue your report. So there are many constitutional obstacles of course to this argument that the president obstructed justice.
So firing a subordinate that’s obstructing justice? That’s absurd. If that’s obstructing justice then when Mr. Mueller fired Mr. Strzok, maybe that’s obstruction of justice, too, interfering with an investigation.
What I’m saying is when I watch people come on TV and say he can be subpoenaed. Well, anybody can be subpoenaed. He is the president of the United States. And you damn well better have a strong reason for trying to drag him in front of a grand jury, that’s number one.
Number two, a federal judge is not going to just accept that kind of a spectacle, and Mr. Mueller knows is. That’s why they are trying to negotiate at least some kind of a deal. You are going to drag a president who is dealing with all of these issues all over the world, who’s dealing with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and so forth and so on, and bring him in front of a grand jury? A judge is not going to want that kind of constitutional crisis.
That’s why Mr. Mueller is trying to negotiate some basis to interview Mr. Trump. But if I were Mr. Trump I’d say you know what? I didn’t do anything wrong, and that’s exactly why I’m not talking to you. That’s number one. I’m going to protect this office for Democrat and Republicans who elected to the president of the United States, that’s number two.
You have crimes that you want to prosecute? Go for it, baby. But I didn’t commit a crime. I’m not going to be indicted. I’m not going to be dragged in front of a federal grand jury, and that’s that. That’s what the president should say.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this next question because I think this is key. And there’s been very few of us that have done this deep dive into this. I would argue that corrupt team that Robert Mueller put together.
Everyone says he is beyond reproach. Well, look at his handling in the anthrax case post-9/11. Look at, you know, the case when he was in Boston as it relates to Whitey Bolger. Four innocent people went to jail, a $100,000 plus settlement. Two of those guys, two of the four died in jail.
And then you got this guy Andrew Weissmann the New York Time calls the Mueller’s pit bull. OK. That’s a guy that as a result of his actions twice was excoriated by judges for withholding exculpatory evidence. Tens of thousands of jobs who lost at Anderson County for no reason at all.
LEVIN: Right.
HANNITY: Overturned 9, zero in the Supreme Court. You and I both know that doesn’t happen a lot. And a guy that sent four Maryland executives to jail, Mar, four for a year, and that was overturned by the fifth circuit.
LEVIN: Right.
HANNITY: Wait a minute. Why would Robert Mueller with his background be appointing only Obama, only Hillary, only DNC donors and corrupt people like Weissmann to his team to be his pit bull?
LEVIN: And why are the Democrats so keen on him? Why are the media so keen on him? There is a lot of leaks coming out of that operation, too. Among them to The Washington Post the other day. He wants to put a report out by June or July. Where they are probably going to suggest the president of the United States committed obstruction of justice.
Not only is that outrageous, to the extent he does a report it’s supposed to be to the deputy attorney general on the crime he’s found or the crimes he’s prosecuting. He is not supposed to be given opinions.
Let’s be clear about something. The media treats this guy like he is a judge. He’s not a judge. He’s a prosecutor. And there are two sides to every argument. That’s number one. Number two, he is going to put out a report accusing the president of the United States of obstruction of justice? When, in fact, that means that the president of the United States will be accused of obstruction of justice for impeachment purposes?
That leak should tell the president of the United States everything he needs to know, which is that Mueller is out to destroy him.
HANNITY: All right.
LEVIN: He is out to run a report to give it to the Democrats and the House of Representatives.
HANNITY: We have a little over a minute left. And I would argue he would stepping right into a perjury trap. If there is no underlying crime and they can’t indict the president.
LEVIN: Defend the office of the presidency and defend yourself.
HANNITY: Well said. That is why we call you the great one. Rod Rosenstein, he shouldn’t even be in the position, number one. Number two, isn’t he conflicted out if he is the number one witness as it relates to obstruction with Comey because he wrote a letter recommending such?
And in fact, he signed on to this, extended this FISA warrant himself? Knowing that this was bought and paid for Hillary propaganda, Russian lies? And then appoints Mueller. How does he get away with the conflict? How do you see him in all this?
LEVIN: I see him as very bizarre. And really out of line. In addition to everything you said, we now know when that Mueller went in to Mr. Manafort’s apartment at 5 or 6 in morning when he and his wife were in bed, with the FBI’s were the guns drawn, he got a warrant from a federal judge, when he went in there, and he gathered information and then he goes to the deputy attorney general a week later to have his authority expanded to cover what he had just done a week before.
So Mr. Rosenstein expands his authority to cover the tracks for Mueller who was doing things he shouldn’t have done. And the reason why this is important, America, is this. Mr. Rosenstein is not the attorney general of the United States.
HANNITY: I got to go. Well said.
LEVIN: And he is acting like it.
HANNITY: All right.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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