Last week during a court hearing in New York Michael Cohen’s lawyers reluctantly disclosed a secret that a lot of people were hoping would remain hidden. They revealed, at the judge’s insistence, that Fox News host Sean Hannity has been a client of Donald Trump’s lawyer/fixer for a long time.
The details of the Hannity-Cohen relationship are the subject of a lot of speculation right now. For his part, Hannity has been denying that there is an attorney-client relationship between him and Cohen, yet he has steadfastly refused to offer any more insight into what exactly Cohen has been doing for him.
One thing we know for sure is that Cohen and Hannity are two people who are extremely close to President Donald Trump. In fact one could argue that they are Trump’s two closest advisers.
Yesterday there were two more developments on the Hannity secret-relationships front. The Hill carried this story:
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“Fox News host Sean Hannity is linked to a group of shell companies that have spent $90 million buying hundreds of homes across the U.S through the help of foreclosures and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Guardian reported Sunday. Several of the properties Hannity purchase were obtained with funding help from HUD, according to the newspaper.”
“Hannity did not disclose his cooperation with HUD when he had the agency’s current secretary, Ben Carson, on his show last June, the Guardian noted. During that segment, Hannity praised Carson, telling him, “you’ve done a good job.'”
This story is important NOT because it shows that Hannity is dishonest and has no journalistic integrity, because everyone knows that already. What it shows is that Hannity has a history of keeping secret his relationships with people who he interviews on his show. And by doing that he is making a lot of people ask a lot of uncomfortable questions as to his motivations and what he is trying to hide.
Cohen is another example of a secret relationship. He has been on Hannity’s show numerous times, and neither one has ever mentioned the secret client relationship they have. This relationship could be much more extensive than has been disclosed so far, according to Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for Stormy Daniels.
As usual, Avenatti was all over the Sunday Morning talk shows. On CNN he had this to say about Hannity and Cohen:
“I think that the relationship is going to be far more extensive than Mr. Hannity has led people to believe.  I don’t know that there’s anything nefarious that went on between Mr. Hannity and Mr. Cohen, or that there was any nondisclosure-type involvement or anything of that nature. But what I do know is I think it’s going to be far more extensive than people have been led to believe.”
When secrets exist, people try to guess what is being hidden and why. For example, Sean Hannity was accused of sexual harassment in 2017, so it is possible Cohen has represented him in cases of a similar nature.
Many of Michael Cohen’s secrets are coming out because of the FBI raid they gave them access to documents and electronic files. We learned, for example, that Cohen is the subject of a criminal investigation which makes it likely that he will soon be indicted. And now Sean Hannity’s secrets are coming out also.
As secrets come out about Donald Trump’s two closest advisers, it is likely that in the near future we may be learning more secrets about him also. Some of these secrets may cause political damage, and others may even lead to criminal charges. We can only hope that the American people will soon be getting the full truth about all of the hidden dealings of these shady characters and their capacity for doing harm to our country will be minimized.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
