Rep. Eric Swalwell taught a master class on how to go on Fox News yesterday when he refused to be bulldozed by host Martha MacCallum, put her on defensive instead, and charged right through the Barr letter on Mueller to the evidence that Donald Trump is an agent of Russia. And more.
Swalwell appeared on The Story with Martha MacCallum last night, one day after the Trump campaign issued an un-American directive to television producers suggesting that Swalwell and other, mostly Democratic guests should not be booked because they have claimed that Trump has colluded with Russia.
The memo falsely stated that Trump has been completely vindicated and, therefore, “At a minimum, if these guests do reappear, you should replay the prior statements and challenge them to provide the evidence which prompted them to make the wild claims in the first place.”
File that under “Be careful what you wish for.”
I kinda sorta give Fox props for booking Swalwell and showing a crack of daylight between Trump’s wish and a Fox producer’s command. But MacCallum complied by replaying Swalwell’s prior statement accusing Trump of being an agent for Russia and asking for evidence. Then, when Swalwell turned on the tap, MacCallum tried to stop the flow. It didn’t go so well for her.
A few highlights:
SWALWELL The only person who has been caught lying about Russia is the president. He said he had no business dealings with Russia. We have now learned that he had dealings going all the way up to and beyond the primary.
MacCallum did not dispute that point.
Then came the “Russian agent” discussion. Swalwell, it should be noted, is a member of the House Intelligence Committee:
SWALWELL: I saw evidence and the country has seen evidence of collusion. Bob Mueller has said that he can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt which I accept but it doesn't mean that there wasn't collusion.
[…]
I think he acts on Russia's behalf and he puts Russia's interests ahead too often of America's interests.
MACCALLUM: Do you think that was too strong a word to call the President of the United States of America a Russian agent? I mean, that is a very strong charge and you said you had evidence to back that up. Do you stand by that?
SWALWELL: Yes. The evidence is that he seeks to reduce the role of NATO. That's Russia's position. He has pulled us out of Syria. That's Russia's position. He accepts that Russia --
MACCALLUM: He has also ramped up our defensive -- offensive help against Ukraine.
SWALWELL: Well, do you -- would you like me to finish, Martha, because I've got more. I've got more if you want me to keep going.
MACCALLUM: Well, so far -- OK, go ahead. And these are all reasons that you believe the President of the United States is a Russian agent?
SWALWELL: Acts on their behalf.
MACCALLUM: Let me just ask you this. So now you're changing -- acts on their behalf but -- so do you --
SWALWELL: Agency is acting on someone's behalf.
MACCALLUM: Is that what you really meant when you call the President a Russian agent?
SWALWELL: But let me -- let's not go back and forth on agency. Let's go through the evidence which is he has pulled back sanctions against Russia.
MACCALLUM: Well, I just feel like in the light of what -- of the Mueller finding that maybe --
SWALWELL: I don't think you want me to finish, Martha.
MACCALLUM: -- it's time for a little bit of retrospective about what you said --
SWALWELL: But I don't think you want me to lay out the evidence because I can lay out the evidence.
MACCALLUM: Go ahead. Mueller laid out you know, 2,800 subpoenas in two years of evidence, but if you've got something he didn't find, let's hear it.
SWALWELL: Do you -- do you like the way that he works with Russia and kicks interpreters out of the room or destroys their notes?
MACCALLUM: It's not a question of what I like or don't like --
SWALWELL: Do you think that's how a president should act?
MACCALLUM: We're talking about the original charge which was that the President of the United States in your words was a Russian agent and that he had worked with the Russian government through his campaign to throw an American election.
So now there's all these kinds of revisions being made to the argument. And I think that just as a country, all of us regardless of your politics need to go, OK, we all waited for this report. Let's look at this report and I know you want to see it in full and so do I and so do I think most people in this country, but isn't it time for a little bit of reflection on everything that's happened?
SWALWELL: Donald Trump acts at Russia's behalf. When he meets with Vladimir Putin, he won't tell the country what was said and he destroyed -- and he essentially took the notes from the interpreter. That really worries me and I think Martha it should worry you too.
But just because he's not been criminally indicted for collusion, doesn't mean he has conducted colluding types of behavior with the Russians. And again going back to your earlier segment, you're outraged because [Jussie Smollett] wasn't charged with a crime although you think you know what happened.
I'm upset and I think a lot of people are upset because we've seen this president have his campaign, take meetings with the Russians where dirt was offered, we've seen the president say on a stage Russia keep hacking, and we've seen the president constantly lie about his contacts with Russia.
I agree what Bob Mueller -- I accept his report that the president did not commit criminal collusion but if the best day of his presidency is that he's not been indicted for criminal collusion, we still have problems, and that's what I think should be addressed by seeing the full Mueller report.
All that was before Swalwell destroyed MacCallum’s attempts to discredit the Steele dossier by citing Michael Cohen.
Watch Swalwell do so many things right in this appearance below, from the March 26, 2019 The Story with Martha MacCallum. Presidential candidate or not, this is the kind of muscular response to Trumpism we need to save our democracy. That is #NotHyperbole.
(Transcript excerpts via Fox News)