Popular Fox News Host, Sean Hannity, says that the media “went insane” regarding the revelation that he was also a client of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. He attempted to minimize his link to Cohen on Monday saying that he has a “right to privacy” and that the relationship was “minor” and “nothing political.”
“Predictably, without knowing all or frankly any of the facts, the media went completely insane,” Hannity said in the last few minutes of his program, rehearsing tweets from earlier Monday. “Let me set the record straight: Michael Cohen never represented me in any legal matter, I never retained his services. … They never involved any matter ― any matter ― between me, a third party, a third group at all. My questions almost exclusively focused on real estate.”
“In response to all the wild speculation, I want to set the record straight.”
But earlier in the Fox News cycle, Alan Dershowitz criticized Hannity for not mentioning his link to Cohen before on any of his shows where he covered the FBI raid on the attorney’s office, hotel room and home.
“I really think that you should have disclosed your relationship with Cohen when you talked about him on this show,” Dershowitz said.
Alan Dershowitz (!) says that Hannity should have disclosed that he was a client of Cohen before discussing the FBI raid last week.
Hannity responds: “I have the right to privacy.” pic.twitter.com/lheMdQWqHl
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) April 17, 2018
“I have a right to privacy,” the Fox News host retorted. “It was such a minor relationship and it had to do with real estate and nothing political.”
It was revealed in court on Monday as a part of a federal investigation into Cohen’s business and financial dealings that Hannity was one of Cohen’s clients. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ordered Cohen’s attorney Steve Ryan to reveal Cohen’s client list after hearing that Cohen had worked for 10 clients since 2017.
Cohen reportedly did “traditional legal tasks” for three clients, Trump, former RNC official Elliott Brody and a third person who had asked to remain anonymous.
“The client is a publicly prominent individual,” Ryan said, arguing that the then-unnamed person would be “embarrassed” to be identified.
Wood then demanded that Ryan reveal the client’s name. Ryan identified Hannity as the third client and, according to The New York Times, there were audible gasps in the courtroom.