Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Devin Nunes calls Democrats, mainstream media 'cults'

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Republicans stood united, remember, during the attempt to take down of Brett Kavanaugh and they succeeded in getting him confirmed. Republicans didn't buckle during the Mueller hysteria. So learn the lesson. Support the President now against these baseless charges or you'll face the wrath of voters tomorrow, and that's "The Angle."

Joining me now Congressman Devin Nunes, Ranking Member of the House Intel Committee; Congressman Lee Zeldin of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; and Congressman Bradley Byrne, House Armed Services Committee Member.

Congressman Nunes, let's start with you. This is obviously in the hands of the Senate, because you just don't have the majority in the House to stop this. Are you concerned, though, that some Senate Republicans aren't with most overwhelming majority of Republicans nationwide thinking this is a farce.

REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF.: Well, other than Pierre (ph), Alecto (ph), Romney I don't think there's any others.

INGRAHAM: Murkowski?

NUNES: Yes. I mean, you know, we'll see. But I think we're going to be OK, because the facts just aren't there. So we go behind - we go into the basement every day and things leak out and it's a bit like watching a cult. It's become a cult. I mean, this is our - we were talking earlier.

This is your two-year anniversary - happy anniversary.

INGRAHAM: Thank you.

NUNES: I was here for your very first show.

INGRAHAM: Show, that's right.

NUNES: And we're talking about the very same things that we were talking about two years ago. And what's happened is, so many millions of Americans minds are poisoned. There's a cult going on in the basement and a skiff behind locked doors.

And then you walk outside about 50 feet outside the doors and you see another cult and that's the media. They're down there every day - 14 hours a day. And you know at times it will swell to like a 100 people in the mainstream media. And they're just waiting for the marching orders that - that the Democrats--

INGRAHAM: Give me the narrative.

NUNES: Yes. They pass the narrative.

INGRAHAM: Yes, give me the narrative.

NUNES: And then they run the narrative up. And that's what we deal with every day. And it's been this way for more than two years.

INGRAHAM: But the Democrats are like, Republicans are complaining about process, because they're not going to complain about substance, because the underlying conduct is so bad, of course, they have no the criminal provision that was violated. There's no quid pro quo.

Steny Hoyer, though, I want to play this for Congressman Zeldin. He made a comment today that basically contradicts the provision that Nadler made. Let's watch.

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REP. STENY HOYER, D-MD: This is going to be due process. It's going to be fair. There will be a forum in which the President is given the opportunity to call witnesses, to cross-examine and to have his representatives present. And I am surprised that the Republicans say they're not going to vote for a resolution. That in effect gives them what they asked for--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: But in the resolution it says the President can't ask questions or may be denied the ability to ask questions if certain documents aren't turned over to the committee, correct? What's the truth here?

REP. LEE ZELDIN, R-N.Y.: It's going to be a total Schiff show, so this House resolution coming for a vote tomorrow. It doesn't guarantee the minority party could call witnesses, it doesn't guarantee that the transcripts are going to be released.

There isn't going to be an equal allocation of staff. And the President can't have counsel present to present evidence, to be able to cross-examine witnesses. This is going to be another missed opportunity for an illegitimate charade - a circus that lacks credibility, fairness, transparency.

So, listen, they're losing the process argument. You want to have a substance argument, bring it on Adam Schiff, because we know that Ukraine didn't even ask about a hold on aid until after August 29th, and it was released shortly thereafter.

And you know what, the United States of America had to get from Ukraine in order to release to hold on aid? Nothing.

INGRAHAM: Yes. But the opinions of people who were listening in on the conversation that the President knew were listening, those opinions of a transcript we already have are supposed to run into - up to impeachment of the President United States, is that the low bar we're setting Congressman?

REP. BRADLEY BYRNE, R-ALA.: There's no substance here, that's what I've concluded. I'm not in the room with them. I read the leaks. I've seen what's in the transcript, I've listened what the President of the United States and the President of Ukraine has said. There's no there there.

INGRAHAM: But they have impressive people with impressive backgrounds marching up to Capitol Hill and there are impressive figures, and they say, well, these are these are patriotic people there concerned about the integrity of this government and they brought their concerns to their superiors.

BYRNE: But they're offering nothing new. They're offering nothing that's relevant to this. But the leak we had today was from a woman that didn't like the fact that she got a call - or calls from a lobbyist about the Ambassador to Ukraine, so what? It makes no difference.

INGRAHAM: The President can replace any Ambassador he wants to replace, it's called bringing in your own people. So they don't like it Congressman Nunes when a President like Trump gets to appoint his own people, because why? The Deep State at the State Department wants to run the show. They're the elected people. Trump's just along for the ride, and that's how this goes.

NUNES: And for all the people who claim that they're experts in this town, OK, and genius, it's amazing that the common theme - because, of course we can't talk about what every individual said. But this is a common theme.

They have total amnesia about what Ukraine did to Trump as a candidate. They seem to have forgotten, for example, that the Ukrainian Ambassador here in Washington bashed Trump as a candidate. I mean, all of these guys--

INGRAHAM: We have this. Just show people understand what congressman Nunes is talking about. This is some of the amnesia by the publication "POLITICO."

The outlet reporting today that Lieutenant Colonel Vindman testified that a long time Nunes staffer who had no discernible Ukraine experience or expertise was feeding Trump's belief that Ukraine was brimming with corruption and had interfered in the 2016 election on behalf of Democrats. OK, so that's what he said.

But in January of 2017, they said the opposite over at POLITICO. They said, "Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire. Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the President-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton." Oops, POLITICO.

NUNES: So let me - so this is - that's a great. I didn't know you were going to put that on there.

INGRAHAM: Yes, well say its second anniversary and we wanted to celebrate with you.

NUNES: But you want to talk about substance, you know that they have no substance. So this is the second staff person of mine - either current staff or former staff that the mainstream media has been maliciously attacking now for weeks with every day's a new conspiracy theory about these staffers.

You know why they don't like Kash Patel, because Kash Patel was the lead investigator that totally annihilated Schiff and the Democrats and the entire Russia hoax. So the good part about this is, is that Kash Patel is - I mean, he's a patriot. He's a counterterrorism specialist.

INGRAHAM: You can't be called the patriot if he support the Republicans or this President. You can only be called a patriot if you're resisting. But--

NUNES: But it's even better, because guys like me, I have a problem proving defamation, because I have to beat New York Times V. Sullivan. Kash Patel does not. He's got a great case--

INGRAHAM: Well, he better find a lawyer and he better start pursuing this, because people have to pay for this type of slander. Congressman Zeldin, there is a lot of chatter in this town about how this is going to destroy the Republicans in 2020, how the American people are all for impeachment and removal this President. It's a narrative driven by what exactly and who is driving it?

ZELDIN: In the rage, hate - in enraged liberal base it's people who's - they lost their minds. When President's hand was on the Bible and getting sworn in office, they were lining the streets of Pennsylvania Avenue with signs that said impeach him now.

I mean, that political story that you just played actually had a whole bunch of other lives, One naming me, one naming John Radcliffe. But they put these leaks out that are either zero percent accurate or 3 percent accurate.

I can't wait for these transcripts to be released. I hope that they are, because the rest of the story, their narrative falls apart.

NUNES: The only truth to these stories is, is that we were down in the basement. We happen to be there. About - after that it's all false.

INGRAHAM: Well, they've been smearing you for two years, we know why, because you were on to them from the very beginning and the newly Smith book - centers on everything you did, its fabulous.

Congressman Byrne, you've heard my exhortation to the Senate. Thoughts on this process as it moves at whatever point. Nancy Pelosi today said it's going to be quick and narrowly focused. Not sure what that means. is it going to be quid pro quo? Doesn't exist. Or is it going to be an obstruction? We don't know.

Moves to the Senate, let's say, you could give some advice yourself to Mitch McConnell, what would it be?

BYRNE: Well, if they think they have to take this up they need to make sure they have a very tight proceeding over there and don't let the Democrats just go wild with it, because that's what they're doing with these guys.

Force them to come forward and show us bribery, treason, high crime, misdemeanor. They don't have it--

INGRAHAM: --and dismiss it in 30 seconds. You know what I say, I'd say case dismissed. Motion to dismiss. Out. I wouldn't give - this is a complete and utter abdication of constitutional responsibility.

BYRNE: But they don't have it in force them to show what they have not been able to show to this point. They won't show it to these guys. I'm not on the committee. They won't even let me read the transcript.

ZELDIN: Here in the House he is the judge, the jury, the prosecutor, the chief strategist for lying and leaking. And yesterday he was getting into witness coaching and he wasn't very good at it.

Over in the Senate he's just some dude. So Senator McConnell and Senate Republicans who are in charge they need to take charge.

INGRAHAM: They have an enormous amount of power. Don't act like you don't have power. Democrats know how to use their power and they use it like a sledgehammer against Republicans. It's time that Republicans stood up. I think McConnell is a crafty old dog. I think he'll do it.

Guys thank you so much for being here. And Congressman Nunes, can't think of a better person to be on both shows.

NUNES: Hopefully, I will be in here in two years hopefully.

INGRAHAM: Sounds great. Thank you all so much tonight.

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