Brent Bozell Reacts to Media Matters Scandal: "Like a Cornered Rat"

In a one-time only break with his longstanding policy of not discussing the far-left Media Matters, MRC President and NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night that the group has been exposed by the Daily Caller as "radicals" doing "the dirty work for the Obama administration."

Bozell praised the Daily Caller series on Media Matters, and predicted that as the group becomes more irrelevant, they could also become more dangerous: "I think the tactics they are employing are the tactics of desperation. When they go this personal, this savage, this ugly, that's desperation. And that's when I say to conservatives: Watch out."

Video and a partial transcript below the jump.

Host SEAN HANNITY: Let's go to their own memos. Let's go to what their plan of action was. I'm obviously on the list along with many of my colleagues and more interestingly, though, people that are not in the public eye targeted by them, an enemies list, if you will.

One thing said [words on screen, "Simply put the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. George W. Bush is gone, we really don't have John McCain to kick around anymore, and filling the lack of leadership on the right, Fox News has emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the Obama administration, our congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole."] What do you make of this?

MRC PRESIDENT BRENT BOZELL: Well, let me first preface this by saying as a matter of policy, I refuse to talk about this organization. I'm making an exception tonight because I do want to comment on it tonight. Because that memo -- and kudos to Tucker Carlson and "Daily Caller" for this -- that memo confirms everything you and I talked for the last year about the Left where they have an agenda.

They have -- objective truth has nothing to do with it. If you look at and read those words, where does the media bias come into play anywhere there? What they say is, their job is to do the dirty work for the Obama administration and Congress. And they are going after Fox not because of a bias on Fox, but because they want to do the dirty work of the Obama administration and they see Fox as not being in tune with the Obama administration.

HANNITY: All right, let's look at how this goes here. The whole mind set, the enemies list, the hiring of private investigators. Let me put this up on the screen there. This again, inside the memo from Media Matters that says, "We should also hire a team of trackers to stake out private and public events with Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors and senior network, corporate staff."

What they're saying here is -- this is a supposed non-profit and we learn through these memos deep collaboration with the highest levels of White House, Valerie Jarrett, nobody gets closer to the President. We went over this tonight. Close collaboration, meeting on a weekly basis, an enemies list is built, and their main role as a non-profit is basically to obliterate and destroy -- politics of personal destruction -- people whose opinion they don't agree with.

BOZELL: Not only that, it's to destroy the network. It's to destroy a corporation. Look how far these people -- these people are so radical. In their mind's eye, Mort Kondracke is a conservative.

You know, there is a lot that has been said about Juan Williams and how he was fired by NPR. Do you know that this organization tried to get Mara Liasson also to be taken off NPR because of the fact that she worked for Fox News? These people are character assassins. If you don't walk the straight and narrow with them, off with your head, and they'll try to destroy your career. They tried it over again.

How about this one, Sean? Think about this. We all know the phony soldier story with Rush Limbaugh. We all know how he was completely discredited and know how it was used as an attempt to end his career by going after his advertisers with an absolutely false story.

It was so false. It was so thoroughly debunked that his enemies on Capitol Hill had to issue a formal speech on the floor of the House to apologize. Do you know, Sean, that you can go on this group's web site and the story is still there? It's still there....

And the sound you hear -- from so-called reliable, serious journalism is silence. You are not hearing anybody talk about this. There are so many conflicts going on here, so many personal conflicts. But again, look, there is nothing wrong with a liberal criticizing Sean Hannity for something Sean Hannity says.

But to criticize Fox News because Sean Hannity is biased, well, of course, you're biased. It's your job to be biased. I love it when they go after Fox News and they talk about Bill O'Reilly.

They go after Fox News and they talk about Sean Hannity. They don't talk about Bret Baier. They don't talk about Shepard Smith. They don't talk about the news. They talk about the commentators.

HANNITY: Well, there is an editorial page at many of these newspapers. They have an editorial page. The whole thing is left-wing propaganda.

BOZELL: Sure. But it's one thing to criticize you or to disagree with you and you welcome that, and I'll welcome that. That is perfectly fine. But it's another thing to completely twist and distort what it is you say.

And that's what this group does on a regular basis with conservatives. It's interesting, Sean. Again, you and I talk about this over and over again. They can't fight us fairly. They can't go mano-mano with us on ideas.

So they have to hire private detectives to get into our personal lives to see how they can destroy us that way. This is a memo that proves it....

I am getting a sense that Media Matters is like the rat that is cornered that goes for the jugular. According to this report, their audience is down 63 percent. Their numbers are down 63 percent.

They've got more money than the Good Lord. But they don't have an audience out there. I think they are getting desperate. I think the tactics they are employing are the tactics of desperation. When they go this personal, this savage, this ugly, that's desperation.

And that's when I say to conservatives: Watch out.