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This morning, in a seemingly made-for-TV drama, the lawyer for Trump’s own embattled lawyer, Michael Cohen, was forced to reveal the name of a “publicly prominent individual” also represented by the aforementioned Cohen. The client, it turns out, is Fox News‘ Sean Hannity.
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Hannity, in characteristic fashion, took to Twitter to distance himself from the dismal optics of his direct – albeit undisclosed – link to Michael Cohen, on whom he has reported for weeks.
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What part of Michael and I never discussed anything that involved any third party is so hard to understand? https://t.co/uha1z13RJf
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 16, 2018
But MSNBC’s Joy Reid was not about to let the culpable Fox News host off easily. Instead, she took to Twitter to pose the questions everyone’s been asking.
Hi Sean. Did you disclose to your bosses that you were Cohen’s client while you were talking about him on air? Does your workplace have a standards and practices department? Did you feel no obligation to disclose your relationship w/ Cohen to your viewers? https://t.co/8zoy0ib9tL
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) April 17, 2018
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At this morning’s hearing, Todd Harrison, the lawyer for Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, argued that the Trump team should be able to review all documents seized by the FBI before they get a crack at it.
One of the arguments was that the identity of a third “publicly prominent individual” whom Cohen also represents would be inadvertently exposed to scrutiny. Harrison, of course, did not want that name to be released to the public.
The other clients are Donald Trump, for whom Cohen made an illegal $130,000 payout in hush money to Stormy Daniels using campaign funds, and Elliott Broidy, former deputy national finance chair of the RNC, for whom Cohen made a $1.6 million payout to a former Playboy model who said Mr. Broidy had impregnated her.
When presiding Judge Wood requested the legal grounds for withholding the client’s name, Trump’s lawyer said, “I’m simply trying to protect the privacy of that individual.”
Judge Wood, however, asserted that a client’s fear of guilt by association is not enough to prevent disclosure, followed by a mandate: the name “must be disclosed publicly now.”
“I understand that he doesn’t want his name out there, but that’s not enough under the law,” Judge Wood explains.
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“The client’s name is Sean Hannity,” Stephen Ryan, Cohen’s lawyer, said.
The implications of the fact that Michael Cohen is lawyer to both Donald Trump and Sean Hannity are massive. There is, of course, the glaring conflict of interest that the President of the United States and a right-wing conspiracy theorist who gives instruction to him via Fox News are represented by the same man. In fact, Hannity reported for weeks on Michael Cohen without ever disclosing that he himself is also a legal client, in flagrant disregard to any modicum of journalistic ethics that Fox News has left.
There is also the fact that, as a self-described “fixer,” Cohen deals frequently in extramarital affairs. Chances are that Hannity’s wife is none too pleased with today’s developments.
While Sean Hannity may think there is no issue with these disturbing developments, at least Joy Reid is willing to call the conservative host out for his glaringly disqualifying conduct.
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