Below is a partial transcript from FOX News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that aired March 20, 2023:

"If this indictment arrives... make no mistake, this is a turning point for the country. ... The headline here is that there, as noted, is a presidential race in progress right now, and if you check the polls, you will find that Trump is leading the Republican field. That's the unprecedented thing. Taking out your opponent using the justice system. If the Democratic Party is allowed to do this — allowed to crush the presidential front-runner, the main threat to their power with a bogus criminal case — where does that leave us? We're done! Because that precedent will live forever, and voters will never again determine the outcome of a presidential election. It's remarkable when you think about it.

"So, after all the yelling from 'permanent Washington' about January 6 and how it was a threat to our democratic norms and the peaceful transfer of power, they've decided to completely short circuit our democratic norms — not to mention the peaceful transfer of power — using the courts and prosecutors. What happens I they get away with this? … If they use the Justice Department, in full view of everyone, to settle a political score and to keep the White House? … It will destroy the justice system. And that's not a small thing.

"A functioning justice system has kept this country peaceful for hundreds of years. The purpose of a justice system is to administer justice so that citizens don’t have to do it themselves. You outsource that duty to the government. But what happens when you take that away, when there is no justice system? What happens when the Department of Justice decides that its goal is not justice but protecting the ruling class at all costs? Think about that. People are still going to demand justice. The desire for justice is an inherent human desire. We are born with it. But if there’s no neutral place to do it, some people arguing to decide they have to do it themselves. ... So, they hate Donald Trump. Fine. But they don't get to destroy America's justice system because they do. We would never recover from that."