WMAL Interview - BRET BAIER - 12.15.17

INTERVIEW -- BRET BAIER - Anchor of Special Report, Fox News Channel

BRET'S BOOK: Three Days in January: Dwight Eisenhower's Final Mission

TOPICS: Mueller probe's conflicts of interest becoming a larger issue, Fox had a lot of scoops on DOJ this week.... and upcoming tax bill vote, rumors of Paul Ryan resigning

TAX BILL

A top White House economist predicts Sen. Marco Rubio will ultimately be a "yes" on the GOP tax bill despite his threat to vote against it. During an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront," White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett said Rubio's concern is "something that the people in the Senate will have to work out with Sen. Rubio." He went on to predict that there would be an agreement and cautioned, "I don't think anyone thinks Rubio is going to hold up this bill."

VP Pence is delaying a trip to Israel to stay in town for the Senate's vote on tax cut legislation in case he needs to be the tiebreaker. Vice President Mike Pence began planning a Christmastime trip to Jerusalem weeks before President Donald Trump decided to upend decades of U.S. policy by formally recognizing the city as Israel’s capital.

PAUL RYAN

House Speaker Paul Ryan denies reports he may leave Congress. (AP) - WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan is denying reports that he plans to leave Congress after the Republicans’ treasured tax bill is approved. Politico and The Huffington Post published stories speculating that Ryan would make this Congress his last or even resign after lawmakers approve the $1.5 trillion tax bill, which could happen next week. When asked Thursday if he’d be quitting shortly, Ryan replied, “I’m not, no.”

COMEY EDITS

Comey edits revealed: Remarks on Clinton probe were watered down, documents show. (Fox News) Newly released documents obtained by Fox News reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey’s draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited numerous times before his public announcement, in ways that seemed to water down the bureau’s findings considerably.

FOX SCOOPS THIS WEEK:

Rosen scoop: Wife of demoted DOJ official worked for firm behind anti-Trump dossier EXCLUSIVE: A senior Justice Department official demoted last week for concealing his meetings with the men behind the anti-Trump “dossier” had even closer ties to Fusion GPS, the firm responsible for the incendiary document, than have been disclosed, Fox News has confirmed: The official’s wife worked for Fusion GPS during the 2016 election. Contacted by Fox News, investigators for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) confirmed that Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm last year.

'F TRUMP': Texts between ex-Mueller team members emerge, calling Trump 'loathsome human,' 'an idiot' (Fox News) -- Text messages between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in 2016 that were obtained by Fox News on Tuesday refer to then-candidate Donald Trump as a "loathsome human" and "an idiot." More than 10,000 texts between Strzok and Page were being reviewed by the Justice Department after Strzok was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe after it was revealed that some of them contained anti-Trump content. The messages were sent during the 2016 campaign and contain discussions about various candidates. On March 2, Strzok texted Page that someone "asked me who I’d vote for, guessed [Ohio Gov. John] Kasich."