Sean Hannity could now be looking at felony obstruction of justice charges
When the legal team representing Donald Trump and his attorney Michael Cohen revealed in court today that Cohen was also an attorney for Fox News host Sean Hannity, it raised questions as to whether this was a screw-up or part of a plan. Did they expose Hannity out of their desperation to prove that Cohen was a legitimate attorney in general, or were they somehow trying to legally protect Hannity? As the day has gone on, we’re now leaning toward the latter.
Trump’s legal team has been so bumbling through all this, we initially thought perhaps they were simply throwing Hannity under the bus. If they disclosed that Cohen represented Hannity, and wasn’t merely a business employee of the Trump Organization, perhaps it would convince the judge that Cohen was indeed a legitimate attorney. But that was an incredibly weak argument, and to the surprise of no one, the judge struck down the Trump team’s motion anyway. But it’s worth keeping in mind that Trump and his side are well past the point of appearances.
It’s long been established that Hannity and Trump are close friends who speak regularly. By their own prior admission, Hannity and Cohen are friends. Now suddenly Trump and Cohen are asserting in court that Cohen is Hannity’s attorney. When the news first broke earlier today, Palmer Report wrote that it raised “the question of whether the communications seized by the FBI include communications between Cohen and Hannity.” Then later, Hannity asserted on Twitter that the only legal advice he’d ever sought from Cohen was about real estate. This was completely nonsensical, of course, and it raised the question of what Hannity was really hiding.
When Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti appeared on the Lawrence O’Donnell show on MSNBC tonight, he finally put it together. He stated his suspicion that the communications seized from Michael Cohen’s office are evidence of Sean Hannity and Donald Trump going through Cohen to coordinate their messaging. If so, then Hannity hasn’t merely been hiding his legal relationship with Trump’s attorney while reporting on the Trump scandal, and instead he’s been using his show to help Trump obstruct justice. If that’s the case, then naming Cohen as Hannity’s attorney is a humiliating but necessary last ditch effort to legally protect Hannity from criminal charges.
