Fox News host Bill O’Reilly used debunked right-wing myths to claim there is “enough evidence of corruption in the Justice Department” to warrant appointing an “independent prosecutor” for the FBI and the DOJ, citing the closed investigation relating to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s use of private email as secretary of state, and the long-debunked IRS targeting pseudo-scandal. The allegation of corruption from O’Reilly comes despite his previous praise of FBI Director James Comey during the investigation relating to Clinton’s email use.

During the October 6 edition of The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly asked if “a major scandal” will “erupt in the Department of Justice,” claiming “[m]any Americans, including this one, now believe the fix was in regarding investigations into the IRS hammering some right-wing groups, and the Clinton email fiasco.” He then claimed “there is now enough evidence of corruption in the Justice Department that an independent prosecutor should be appointed,” though he didn’t specify what should be investigated. 

To back up his claim of corruption, O’Reilly played clips from Congressional hearings about immunity deals that Clinton aides received in connection with the FBI investigation. But the immunity deals were limited and were necessary to resolve interagency disputes on what information contained in the Clinton email server should be retroactively classified, and Director Comey explained during the hearing that it “is a fairly normal tool in investigations.”

O’Reilly also alleged there was corruption regarding the investigation into the IRS allegedly targeting right-wing organizations, complaining that then-IRS head Lois Lerner “was never really held legally accountable.” But a congressional investigation revealed that progressive groups were also subjected to the same kind of scrutiny as conservative groups, evidence which Fox News itself ignored when it first came to light. And months before that, in June 2013, the congressional investigation found the culprit behind the increased scrutiny of organizations applying for tax-exempt status: not Lois Lerner, but a Cincinnati-based IRS manager who told investigators that he “instructed his team of screeners” to look for cases of political-sounding groups applying for tax-exempt status, and that “he took this action on his own.”

O’Reilly brought on American Center for Law and Justice’s Jay Sekulow and the Clinton-obsessed Judicial Watch’s Chris Fedeli to bolster his claims of corruption. After he made the introduction, O’Reilly admitted that he “supported Director Comey” at the beginning of the email investigation and “thought he would do an honest investigation,” but “now, I do not believe the investigation was honest.” But Sekulow also praised Comey as “a man of principle” and “a serious guy.” O’Reilly previously described Comey as “an honest man” and said he “trusts” Comey.