Sean Hannity: What’s Next For The Fox News Star?

• Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has disclosed his third client: Fox News pundit Sean Hannity!
• The political commentator had kept his connections to Cohen secret. How will Fox News respond?
• Hannity continues to dominate the ratings; will that continue?

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, only had three clients. We knew the identity of two of those clients, but the third remained anonymous. Then the FBI raided Cohen’s home and office, and the lawyer was forced to disclose the third client in court.

That client: Sean Hannity. Yep, that Sean Hannity. Sean Hannity, the Fox News pundit that has had Cohen on his show numerous times and has defended both Trump and Cohen from any attacks from the media, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and the FBI.

The plot thickens! Let’s preview some props.

The @MichaelCohen212, executive VP to @realDonaldTrump joined me in studio today to discuss the #TrumpPhenomenon pic.twitter.com/reEaksFaX4

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 10, 2015

What Cohen Did for Hannity

Michael Cohen only had three clients.

The first client was, of course, Donald Trump. And as we all now know, Cohen paid $130,000 in hush money out of his own back pocket to Stormy Daniels, a former porn actress who reportedly had an affair with the President.

The second client was Elliott Broidy, the former deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. Cohen arranged a $1.6 million hush money settlement after the wealthy Republican fundraiser impregnated a Playboy Playmate.

Is there a trend there? What could Cohen possibly have done for his third client, Sean Hannity? My guess is as good as yours.

How perfect that Sean Hannity is involved with Michael Cohen. Would anyone be surprised to find him up to his eyeballs in misconduct? Vis-a-vis Trump, Hannity is a little league fraudster. But given his near hysterical attacks on the government, we can be sure something is amiss.

— John Dean (@JohnWDean) April 17, 2018

Hannity claims he merely sought advice on real estate. “I never retained his services, I never received an invoice, I never paid Michael Cohen for legal fees,” the host claimed on his show. “My questions exclusively almost focused on real estate.”

As Donald Trump’s most fervent backer in the media, Hannity has never missed a beat to leap to the defense of the President.

As Donald Trump’s most fervent backer in the media, Hannity has never missed a beat to leap to the defense of the President. He’s also been quick to latch onto Trump’s talking points, especially the Mueller “witch hunt”, the “deep state” conspiracy, and unsubstantiated rumors about Hillary Clinton’s health during the 2016 campaign. Perhaps Hannity was communicating with Trump through Cohen under the guise of attorney-client privilege.

The Fox News Darling

When the FBI raided the home and office of Michael Cohen, Sean Hannity escalated his attack on Robert Mueller and the FBI. As he defended Cohen and criticised the FBI, Hannity did not disclose his connections with the lawyer. That is, at the very least, a breach of journalistic ethics.

Trump & his backroom advisor Sean Hannity are bosom buddies — both getting advice from the “fixer” Michael Cohen. Can’t wait for the tell-all tapes.  Get ready for impeachment!!

— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 19, 2018

So what will Fox News do about this?

For now the answer is… nothing. Like us, the news network had no idea about Hannity’s connections with Cohen. Nonetheless, the ratings-grabbing host still has “full support” from Fox News.

This isn’t particularly surprising. With Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly out of the picture, Hannity is now the face of the network. Other news pundits and commentators have been suspended and fired for far less, but when you’re the golden goose of Fox News, different rules apply.

Fox News was the top cable news network in the first quarter of 2018, and Hannity was the top cable news show. As it stands, it’s a race between Hannity and the Rachel Maddow show, and the marquee Fox host is in the lead.

It’s possible that the recent revelations could drive viewers away from Hannity, but it seems unlikely. Spreading the “Seth Rich murder conspiracy” did not affect his credibility in the eyes of his viewers. Neither did spreading the “Obama birther conspiracy”.

Whether you love him or hate him, the man knows his audience and gives them exactly what they want. That’s a recipe for ratings gold.

FBI and The Russia Investigation

Michael Cohen is under investigation for possibly violating campaign finance laws due to the payment he made to Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf. He’s had his home, office, and hotel room raided by the FBI, and has had his emails, tax records, business records, and phone recordings seized.

Being listed as a client of Cohen isn’t a good look for Sean Hannity, but it certainly doesn’t break any laws.

Being listed as a client of Cohen isn’t a good look for Sean Hannity, but it certainly doesn’t break any laws. With what we know at the moment, it seems unlikely that Hannity will face any legal turmoil.

As for Donald Trump, it’s still unclear whether it’s possible to indict a sitting President. Either way, it’s extremely unlikely to happen.

There was a time when Sean Hannity was a staunch critic of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. In 2016, he completely changed his tune. He praised the whistleblower for publishing leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee, and even invited the controversial fugitive onto his show.

Hannity and Assange seem to have a murky relationship, which could make Hannity a suspect in the ongoing Russia investigation.