Riding the crest of renewed ratings success, Fox News's prime-time host Sean Hannity is ratcheting up his strong defense of the Trump administration in the face of continuing Deep State sabotage, multiple investigations, and unprecedented attacks by the mainstream media.  He is also keeping up the pressure on rival channel CNN in the wake of recent reports of scandals rocking the original cable news network.

Hannity's program on Wednesday night (10-11 P.M. E.T.) was an example of the latest salvo in his nightly information-packed deconstruction of unfair charges against President Trump, along with breaking news about where the various investigations targeting Trump might go next.  (Hint: Hannity is predicting a boomerang effect in which the target might be deflected 180 degrees away from President Trump and back at the original anti-Trump attackers.)

On a typical night, Hannity's Fox News show consists of monologues by the host, compilations of video clips illustrating examples of outrageous reporting by the MSM (mainly CNN and MSNBC), and live appearances by journalists and several attorneys.  The segments are content-rich, and interested parties benefit by the publication of program transcripts on the Fox News website after the show airs.

The lead story Wednesday was mounting irrefutable evidence that CNN (the "Clinton News Network" in Hannity's view) has been faking news including pushing the Russian "collusion" meme – for the benefit of the news channel's ratings.

Sean Hannity Fox News, June 28, 2017

Hannity jumped on CNN for publishing and then having to retract a story in which it falsely reported that a Trump associate was under investigation for colluding with the Russians.  Three top CNN staffers – one of whom won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting when he worked for the New York Times – resigned in the wake of that controversy.  Hannity also highlighted undercover videos released by James O'Keefe of Project Veritas this week that appear to show a CNN producer revealing that the channel's preoccupation with the Trump-Russia collusion story was "b-------" and ratings-driven and originated at the top.  In another video, frequent CNN contributor Van Jones admitted on hidden video that the Trump-Russia collusion story is "a nothingburger."  In Hannity's opinion, "[w]e are now witnessing the collapse of the liberal mainstream media."

Sara Carter of Circa News and Sharyl Attkisson of Sinclair Broadcast Group, two of the best journalists in the country, were among Hannity's guests on June 28.  Carter has been breaking stories for the past several weeks on various developments in the investigations by Congress and the special counsel and indications that officials of the previous administration may become ensnared in the probes.

As of this writing, the official transcript of the 6/28 show has not been posted, but by Thursday, it should be online here.  The video of the June 28 Hannity episode is here.

Sharyl Attkisson on Hannity, June 28, 2017

Several quotes are worth noting.  Discussing her new book The Smear and the MSM's uniformly negative reporting on President Trump, Attkisson said: "One of the quotes I got from the smear operators [disinformation specialists] who I interviewed was 'Everything that you see [in the media] you should suspect has been put there for a reason – every image and every narrative. Someone wants you to see it and has spent a lot of money to bring you that.'"

Sara Carter and Fox News anchor, reporter, and attorney Gregg Jarrett did a segment on the investigations that are now expanding to look at acting FBI director Andrew McCabe.  ZeroHedge summarized the questions being raised about McCabe, based on original reporting by Carter at Circa News:

Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe may have made a serious error by refusing to recuse himself from the Michael Flynn investigation. As it turns out, per court documents reviewed by Circa, McCabe may have harbored a personal vendetta against Flynn after he intervening on behalf of an FBI Special Agent, Robyn Gritz, who had accused McCabe and other top FBI officials of sexual discrimination. Apparently the lack of inter-agency camaraderie didn't sit well with McCabe as other FBI agents subsequently confirmed that his complete disdain for Fylnn was readily apparent.

But, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), McCabe's apparent conflict of interest in the Flynn investigation may not be his only issue these days as he's also the subject of an ongoing investigation for an alleged violation of the Hatch Act for illegally campaigning in his wife's Virginia Senate race.

Gregg Jarrett updated the news about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's potential conflicts that also involve former FBI director James Comey, who was fired by Trump, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the lawyer playing a key role in Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian collusion involving Trump's associates.

Gregg Jarrett on Hannity, June 28, 2017

Commenting on the whole situation, Jarrett said: "You can't make this stuff up.  This stinks as bad as a sick oyster at low tide.  The stench of this is just awful.  It all emanates from Hillary Clinton.  She's like Pig-Pen in the comic strip Peanuts: wherever she goes, whatever she does or says, she is engulfed in a cloud of dirt and scandal.  And McCabe is the latest cloud of dirt.  Here he is, overseeing the investigation [of alleged collusion with Russia by Trump operatives] and her [Clinton's] multiple violations of the Espionage Act while at the same time his wife is getting $675,000 – truckloads of money – from the Clintons' money man [Virginia's Gov. Terry McAuliffe].

According to a source at Fox News, President Trump is a loyal viewer of Sean Hannity's nighttime Fox News program.

Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about national politics, media, popular culture, and health care.  His bio with links to many of his writings can be accessed here.