Sean Hannity voiced his frustration with former South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy over whether or not those caught up in FISA abuse would face jail time.
Gowdy joined Hannity for a segment of his Fox News show Friday and said that, while he believed those responsible for abusing the FISA court would ultimately be held accountable, he wasn’t sure that they would all go to jail. (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Has Harsh Words For Comey, McCabe: ‘If I Were Donald Trump, I’d Think The FBI Was Out To Get Me Too’)
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Hannity asked Gowdy whether he had any doubt that the abuse of the FISA court — relying on unverifiable sources in order to secure warrants to spy on associates of President Donald Trump — was premeditated.
“No,” Gowdy confirmed. “Which is why Devin and I wrote the FISA court 18 months ago and brought this to their attention. And Adam Schiff and all of our friends in the D.C. media said, ‘Look at those crazy House Republicans.’ No, I have been living with this for 18 months, Sean. 18 months.”
“Follow the bouncing legal ball, shall we?” Hannity asked.
Gowdy nodded, but protested, “I can’t put people in jail until there has been a jury trial. I’m not wired to put people in jail.”
Hannity repeated his assessment of the situation, noting that the Steele dossier had been used repeatedly despite the fact that it had been discredited, and asking, “Do you see a danger if we don’t prosecute the people that did that?”
“I see a danger any time we have a justice system that is perceived as treating people differently,” Gowdy replied, explaining that even without external prosecution, the FISA court could mete out its own punishment to agents who had abused the system.
“Are you confident that the people who did this to this country will be held accountable?” Hannity asked. “That’s my last question.”
“Yes. Depending on how we define accountability,” Gowdy responded. “Will everyone go to jail? No. It may be that no one goes to jail. But the American people have a unique way —”
“Shred the Constitution! Shred it,” Hannity threw up his hands in frustration. “If they don’t go to jail for that, you can spy on a presidential candidate and —”
“That same Constitution gives you a jury trial,” Gowdy reminded Hannity. “You got to have a jury trial.”
“I believe it. The evidence was there, the inspector general confirmed it. We now know it all happened. We know it all happened,” Hannity insisted.