In a New York court room on Monday it was revealed during a hearing that conservative political commentator and talk show host, Sean Hannity, was President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen’s third client, after a judge ordered Cohen to name his clients.
Many of Cohen’s legal documents were seized by the FBI on April 9, which the president himself referred to as “a witch hunt” during a meeting with reporters right after the raid. It was reported that Cohen might have had papers or information in his hotel room that proved that Trump paid hush money to adult film star, Stormy Daniels, who he allegedly had an affair with according to The New Yorker. The article also claimed that some of Trump’s other personal information was seized during the raid, as well. A warrant for the raid was obtained from a judge beforehand.
UPDATE: Federal judge rules that Michael Cohen must publicly disclose the name of his third client RIGHT NOW.
She’s not buying Cohen’s argument that the name can be kept secret. https://t.co/F00XeJYSJq
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 16, 2018
Sean Hannity, an outspoken Trump supporter, is now coming under fire for being a client of Cohen’s because there is question as to whether or not that crosses a line for a news program host, according to The New York Times. His Fox News show, Hannity, is one of the network’s most popular.
Cohen revealed during the hearing that he was working for 10 clients as of 2017. He provided seven of them, he claimed in a legal filing, with business consulting. President Trump, Elliott Briody (a Conservative philanthropist) and a then-unnamed third person were the other clients. Briody resigned from his position as a chairman to the Republican Party after it was revealed that Cohen helped him pay $1.6 million to a former mistress who had gotten pregnant with Briody’s child during the affair, according to The New York Times.
He was then court-ordered by Judge Kimba M. Wood on Monday to reveal the identity of the third person, who was Sean Hannity. Prior to revealing the name, as reported by The New York Times, Cohen’s legal team argued with the judge to keep the identity of the third person secret, so as not to shame him.
Hannity had denied working with Cohen, and maintains that he never paid him for his work and therefore didn’t count as an actual client of his.
On his website, Hannity released a full statement on the issue:
“Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective,” he said. “I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third-party. In response to some wild speculation, let me make clear that I did not ask Michael Cohen to bring this proceeding on my behalf, I have no personal interest in this proceeding, and, in fact, asked that my de minimis discussions with Michael Cohen, which dealt almost exclusively about real estate, not be made a part of this proceeding.”
Fox News has not yet commented on Cohen’s reveal or if it will affect the future of Hannity’s show — however, a number of contributors to the network have started to speak out about the situation and what Fox News anchor Shepard Smith called the “elephant in the room.”