Fox News host Sean Hannity issued a strong rebuke of MSNBC late-night anchor Brian Williams for criticizing his network’s coverage of the “unmasking” requests regarding retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
What set Hannity off was Williams’s assertion that Fox News spent too much time covering the Flynn controversy in lieu of the coronavirus pandemic, saying the network was spending “hours of its programming” on a “PR effort,” as he introduced former CIA Director John Brennan to speak about it.
The Fox News personality accused Williams of “playing defense for the deep state.”
“We’re going to explain why you’re a late-night cable host. And speaking of lies, there’s a reason you don’t have any credibility, and we don’t need lectures from you, and you no longer have much of an audience, why? Because you made a lot of stuff up and lied about your experiences,” Hannity said before noting that the MSNBC host lied about his experiences covering the Iraq War and has been accused of “misremembering” what he saw while covering Hurricane Katrina.
“You’re nothing but another fake news fraud who continues to spew nonstop hate and hysteria, attacking Trump, attacking Republicans, spreading conspiracy theories, smears. … We don’t need lectures from you, Brian,” Hannity added. “By the way, your network should apologize for all the lies they told on Russia, all the conspiracy theories that they spread. You are now a part of that coverage. And there’s a reason, lyin’ Brian, [that] NBC Nightly News is called NBC Nightly News hosted by Lester Holt and not you.”
Flynn, who was Trump’s first national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in 2017 but later filed to withdraw his guilty plea earlier this year after the Justice Department asked the judge to sentence him to up to six months in prison. His lead attorney, Sidney Powell, urged the judge to dismiss the case by arguing that the FBI unfairly treated Flynn, and the DOJ filed to do just that last week.
The judge presiding over the case invited outside opinions Tuesday and appointed a retired judge on Wednesday to argue whether Flynn should be held in contempt for perjury.
