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| All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.
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"The Trump-haters say his campaign worked with the Russians to derail Hillary Clinton's chances to be president. That accusation has angered the president and tied up his administration with unwanted controversy. Showing his annoyance, the president tweeted over the weekend that he believes Barack Obama ordered phone taps at the Trump Tower. So now all hell is breaking lose. Unfortunately, there are only two facts in this whole swamp of accusations. First, the calls between General Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador were tapped by somebody and a portion of the conversations was given to the Washington Post. So who tapped the call? We don't know. The second fact is that President Obama allowed Attorney General Loretta Lynch to change the way U.S. intelligence agencies share unconfirmed data. That happened in January, just a few days before Mr. Obama left office. The result? Leaks sprouted all over the place, leaks that were damaging to the Trump administration. So why did President Obama change the intel standards? We don't know. But Donald Trump apparently believes it was to sabotage his incoming administration. That's the only factual information we have. The entire tawdry mess is based on the Russian hacking, which bedeviled the Clinton campaign. As stated, some anti-Trump people accuse the president and his acolytes of working with the Russians. But the director of national intelligence under President Obama said he found no evidence of that. Any fair-minded person has to acknowledge there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, at least at this point. President Trump has asked for an investigation into the alleged tapping. We assume that will happen but this whole thing is terrible for the country.
America's credibility is being damaged all over the world, and the federal government's ability to even operate is being impeded. So, for the good of the country, perhaps we should tamp down the madness.Let Congress do its job and investigate, okay?"
The Factor asked former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for his perspective on the issue. "There apparently was some kind of wiretapping involving the Russian ambassador and General Flynn," he said, "and it was leaked, which is a felony. That's why you have this fury from President Trump, who is faced with a bureaucracy that contributed overwhelmingly to Hillary Clinton. He is surrounded by people who would like to destroy his administration and they are leaking like crazy. There is an ongoing war of the New York Times and Washington Post against the Trump administration." The Factor groused, "It makes me sick to read reports every day that are based on anonymous sources that are out destroy the president." |
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| For one Democrat's view of this controversy, The Factor turned to former Obama aide Austan Goolsbee. "If someone tapped the Russian ambassador's phone," he said, "they would have gathered the information from that call, so they didn't have to tap Flynn's phone. You want to know who leaked the information, and that' perfectly legitimate. They should not have leaked it, and I would like to know who did it unless it would violate national security. But the president of the United States accused President Obama of a felony and that is borderline insane! They should take his phone away." |
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| The Trump administration has reissued the travel ban that temporarily bars immigration from some predominantly Muslim countries. Brit Hume theorized that this executive order will be more likely to pass judicial muster than the first version that was overturned. "They have removed a number of the hooks that federal courts used to block the ban the first time," Hume reported, "and left the core of it in place. It's certainly likely that this will be challenged in court, but this order has a much better chance of prevailing. This new order exempts green card holders and has a period of ten days when people are still allowed to travel." The Factor concluded, "This looks logical to me." |
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| Last week some Middlebury College students shut down a talk by author Charles Murray, sending a professor to the hospital in the process; days later, anti-Trump protesters clashed with the president's supporters near the University of California at Berkeley. What in the world is going on? The Factor posed that question to Mary Anne Marsh and Katie Pavlich. "I expect this to get worse," Pavlich said, "because there have not been a lot of consequences for the protesters, who are really violent rioters. What we saw with Charles Murray was totally unacceptable, this was a mob. The administration can either punish the students or they can let it continue." Marsh contended that Middlebury school officials actually tried to act responsibly. "Middlebury did all the right things to prepare for this appearance. They prepared the students, they reminded them of the rules, and now they are having an investigation." |
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| The Factor asked Charles Krauthammer to analyze America's growing chasms. "I worry about the trust in our institutions," Dr. K said. "Democracy hinges on trust and custom and habit, and the peaceful transfer of power requires that both sides accept the same rules. Once you begin to chip away at the belief in the institutions, which is already at an historic low, then you have very little to hang on to. When Donald Trump said that George W. Bush, a Republican president, 'lied' us into war, that was conditioning the country to accept the absolute worst." The Factor theorized that the current situation is unique, saying, "There weren't high-placed people trying to destroy President Obama, there weren't leaks, and that is happening now." |
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| Jesse Watters headed to Fifth Avenue and spoke with some of the tourists who have been crowding into the city. Here is what some Europeans told him about President Trump and the USA: "There's been a lot more visitors coming into Trump Tower since Donald Trump was elected" ... "He does what he says, and that's good" ... "He wants to protect America" ... "He's the first guy in the world who isn't looking for money, he's got the money already." |
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Joe Sherwood, Albuquerque, NM: "O'Reilly, for you to side with the Democrats over Jeff Sessions recusing himself is just amazing. I thought you were better than that."
Rob Massa, Girard, KS: "Bill, as a public educator for 25 years, I can say that your analysis about school vouchers is spot on. I cannot grasp why progressives are against school choice."
Jacqueline Kathary, Mount Vernon, OH: "Get real, Bill. Poor students who go to private schools using vouchers are more successful because their partnes care about education. Those same students would succeed in public schools for that very reason." |
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| If you see someone engaged in reckless behavior that could harm others, do your civic duty and let the authorities know. |
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