Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer pressed a Democratic National Committee spokeswoman to provide proof of her claim the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.
Xochitl Hinojosa appeared on Wednesday’s edition of Bill Hemmer Reports to discuss the latest developments in the case of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had federal charges dropped by the Department of Justice last week. Moments before the interview, acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell released documents that showed former Vice President Joe Biden and other top Obama national security officials made “unmasking” requests targeting Flynn in the final weeks of the previous administration.
“Frankly, this is going to backfire on Republicans because it just showed how serious Flynn was and his conversations with the Russians. So, Republicans can try to use this to play political football. But in reality, this is going to backfire with them,” she argued, to which Hemmer asked her if it was “a crime to talk to other countries.”
Hinojosa responded, “Well, whenever you are trying to interfere in an election or in any way try to go against the United States, I think that is something that is. And so, I think right now, when it comes to Flynn and the Department of Justice politicizing things. This is just, time and time again, you continue to see this Justice Department politicize issues in order to help Donald Trump.”
Hemmer tried interjecting but ultimately let her finish her statement before asking, “The answer there was a suggestion of collusion. There’s been no proof of that. Where’s yours?”
The DNC spokeswoman responded, “You continue to see this Justice Department, and specifically Bill Barr, trying to cover up for the president generally. And so, I think that right now, what’s happening is you have thousands of Justice Department former employees who have come out and said, ‘We want independence. We want an independent Justice Department.'”
“But right now,” she continued, “the American people can’t trust that this Justice Department and that this attorney general, that they are fair and that they are neutral, and that they aren’t just playing political games in order to benefit Donald Trump.”
Hemmer again pushed her to substantiate her claim about collusion, to which she responded, “I leave that to the investigators. Frankly, you have seen the investigations done, again. And I encourage you to look at all of the work that Democrats have done in the House to continue to show the cover-up by Donald Trump.”
Hemmer pivoted to another topic after saying Hinojosa still had not given him proof of collusion.
