Sean Hannity gave Senate Republicans a list of witnesses whom “we should” subpoena as well as a detailed list of questions for them during a commentary in which Hannity appointed himself Armchair General of the Trump Defense Team.
Hannity opened and closed his remarks by pretending he was separate from the Republicans but in the middle, he made himself part of the party, probably at its head. At least, that’s what he wanted them to think.
I’m not going to go into the details of Hannity’s demands here, because it’s the demands themselves that I want to highlight. But Karoli Kuns, at Crooks and Liars (where I am a contributor) explained why this is little more than a plan to throw a lot of spaghetti at the screen to distract hungry viewers from the reality of Dear Leader's infidelity to the Constitution and the Rule of Law.
The specificity of Hannity’s commands suggests he’s very worried about Trump’s impeachment. Which means he’s worried about his own fortunes because if Trump sinks, so will he. But this is no time to get complacent about either of them.
HANNITY: It's right now time for Republicans to get tough. Senate Republicans need to pay attention.
…
There are witnesses that need to be subpoenaed immediately and I would start with the non-whistleblower whistleblower whose complaint was based totally on hearsay. We know he was close to Joe Biden. We know he's a Democratic activist. We know he had contact with [Rep. Adam] Schiff's office before he filed a complaint. Now he needs to answer some important questions. Where did you get your information? Did Schiff's office help write the complaint? Did they advise you to get an attorney? Go to the inspector general? What are your ties to John Brennan, your former boss? What was the nature of your relationship with Joe Biden and his campaign? Did you collude with anybody in Schiff's office?
By the way, we should also bring in Adam Schiff and Schiff's office. He should have to answer questions and, by the way, members of his staff - by the way, they don't have privilege, they'd have to show up. They can be subpoenaed and they can all be put under oath in the U.S. Senate. They need to answer for their involvement with the phony whistleblower.
It's also time to put Hunter Biden under oath. Did he speak with his father about his Ukrainian business deals? Their statements we already know and have pointed out are in conflict with each other.
We know The New York Times tipped off Joe Biden that his son was being investigated by the prosecutor in Ukraine. So that would mean Joe - well, he too should be subpoenaed, like Adam Schiff and Hunter Biden should be subpoenaed, like the whistleblower should be subpoenaed.
By the way, what did Hunter say to his father? Did he ask for favors? Did Hunter Biden know that Burisma paying him millions for no experience was in fact using his name to get the Obama State Department to do favors for Burisma Holdings?
Now the next person who would need to go under oath is former Vice President - yup, Joe Biden himself. He should be subpoenaed. What did he really know and when he did he know that his son was being investigated? How many people warned him his son was being investigated? When was he aware that the Ukrainian prosecutor that he got fired was investigating his son and how many times was he told his son was in fact investigated? What role did his son play in U.S. policy in Ukraine, if any?
And next, Hunter's business partner, fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer. What did he say to Vice President Biden about Burisma? They have a picture of them all golfing together.
Also Nellie Ohr needs to be forced to testify under oath in the U.S. Senate. She worked for Fusion GPS. Along with Christopher Steele. Her husband, the fourth-ranking highest member of the DOJ. What was her role in proliferating Russian misinformation throughout the highest levels of government? What did she get from Ukraine?
Also, we need to bring in – well, former DNC contractor, operative, Alexandra Chalupa. Remember Politico in January 2017 detailed her efforts to meet with Ukrainians in the Ukrainian embassy. Did she collude on behalf of the DNC and Hillary Clinton? Did they actually get dirt from Ukraine? So, did she enlist the efforts of this foreign government on Hillary Clinton's behalf? Who ordered her to do it?
Also, Ambassador Volker must be called to answer questions under oath as well. Did he have any direct evidence of aid to Ukraine being tied to a political campaign? Was the aid actually delivered? Do you think corruption in Ukraine is a legitimate concern for a president of the United States?
Near the end of this commentary, Hannity suddenly quit the “we” talk but not the commands:
HANNITY:The Senate Republicans have the power to bring in all of these people and they should issue those subpoenas. They've got to reject House Democrats that are corrupt, hypocritical, abusing their power, dividing the country, and really, they need to get to the truth in the Senate. The truth about the fake whistleblower who clearly had a political agenda, the truth about the compromised corrupt Adam Schiff, the truth about quid-pro-quo Joe. It's time to expose this witch hunt for what it is.
Republicans previously allowed Hannity/Fox News to script their questions in the Mueller hearings. So there’s every reason to believe they will at least partially carry out the orders again.
Watch Armchair General Hannity on duty below, from the November 11, 2019 Hannity, via Media Matters.
(Transcript excerpts via Fox News, with copy edits)
H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y
Which I believe is synonymous with “bearing false witness”.
Coming down the pipeline:
1. Pie’s buddy faces a judge.
2. Pie’s private conversations are outed.
3. Pie destroys his own reputation.
However, Ari is pointing out the real key to this fog machine is The Hill’s John Solomon. Solomon kicked off this disinformation campaign to distract America from the true story: Trump extorting Ukraine to torpedo his most feared Democratic rival. Hannity’s spew is just him parroting Solomon verbatim. In fact, Hannity has had the ringleader himself, Solomon, on his show many times. Fox News has even added Solomon as a paid contributor and extensively given him face time to promote his debunked conspiracy theories. No surprise Solomon is linked to Giuliani, Trump’s main mouthpiece, on Ukraine. Trump himself is even tweeting Solomon’s baloney.
Another example of the Trump/Hannity symbiosis.