Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell told Fox News host Bill Hemmer on Friday morning that he has evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia by encouraging the Russians to interfere with the 2016 election. “The president asked them to do it.”
During a brief appearance on “America’s Newsroom,” Hemmer asked Swalwell whether it was justifiable to place an intelligence operative within the Trump campaign team. “So if you use a warrant that is drafted on information that may be directly tied to the Kremlin and use it to spy on a national political campaign, what do you think of that?” (RELATED: Report: Government Informant Spied On Two Trump Campaign Aides)
Swalwell skirted the question, claiming that the bigger picture was more important than a small flaw in the execution.
“But I always invite people to take a step back and look at the big picture here. Donald Trump for years had been working with the Russians. He brought people on his campaign who had ties to the Russians. They were meeting in foreign places, receiving information from Russians on his political opponent.”
When Hemmer asked directly whether or not Swalwell had seen a fact that proved collusion, he said “Oh, yes, yes.” He then cited the campaign speech during which then candidate Trump had suggested that the Russians should “hack more.”
“The president asked them to do it, Bill. He stood on a stage and said, hey, why don’t you guys hack more, and they showed up to his Trump Tower, offered the evidence to his family. They received it, they didn’t turn it down.”
“That’s not what we found in the transcripts that were released the other day. You know that. That evidence wasn’t there,” Hemmer broke in. “Yeah, the meeting — and depending on who you believe, it was about adoption.”
Hemmer then asked how an offhand remark during a campaign speech constituted collusion. “Even if you just make a comment like that on stage in the middle of a national campaign, how does that prove collusion?”
Swalwell encouraged Hemmer to “look at the broader picture,” at which the Fox News host chuckled, “I’m trying.”