Tucker Carlson demands 'smoking gun' evidence during combative interview with Democratic congressman
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Monday for a contentious debate over the basis for the investigation into whether President Trump's campaign colluded with Russian meddling during the 2016 election.
Host Tucker Carlson asked how Swalwell would feel about an informant reporting to the FBI about one of his political campaigns, referring to recent reporting that an FBI informant spoke to two Trump campaign advisers to ask about suspicious contacts. "If they didn't have probable cause, I'd be pissed," said Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. However, Swalwell argued, the FBI did have probable cause to investigate the Trump campaign.
"Of the evidence I've seen, there were very good reasons to be concerned about the contacts that the Trump campaign had," said the congressman, who insisted that investigators had acted appropriately in launching the probe. Carlson disagreed with just about everything Swalwell said, laughing at the notion that "probable cause" meant anything and accusing Swalwell of lacking common sense.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The two continued to spar as Swalwell presented unclassified evidence that the Trump campaign's actions merited an investigation, with Carlson demanding a "smoking gun" to prove collusion and Swalwell suggesting Trump was dumb enough to admit his crimes in public. Watch the full combative interview below, via Fox News. Summer Meza
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
Claude Code: the viral AI coding app making a splash in techThe Explainer Engineers and non-coders alike are helping the app go viral
-
‘Human trafficking isn’t something that happens “somewhere else”’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
What would a credit card rate cap mean for you?the explainer President Donald Trump has floated the possibility of a one-year rate cap
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
