The cat is out. The gig is up. [Insert other Big Reveal metaphor here.]
It was revealed in court Monday that Fox News host Sean Hannity is Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s third and previously unnamed client to whom he’d given legal advice over the last year.
That’s it. That’s literally all that came out.
But since evidence shows Cohen had assisted his other two clients – President Donald Trump and Republican donor Elliott Broidy – in paying large sums of hush money to women with whom they’d allegedly had affairs, the entire Internet immediately assumed Monday’s “bombshell” meant Sean Hannity must have at least one scantily clad skeleton in his own closet.
There’s no evidence of that as of right now, of course. Nor is there any proof of moral misconduct or criminal wrongdoing. The only thing we know is that Hannity talked to a lawyer who also happened to represent Donald Trump.
But that didn’t stop Twitter - including many verified personalities - from immediately branding Hannity a philandering criminal who probably has sex with gay dudes.
Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen was also secretly Sean Hannity’s attorney the entire time. I hope they all like prison!
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) April 16, 2018
To divert attention from being Michael Cohen's third client, Sean Hannity will be airing Simpson's porn tonight instead of his regular programming.
— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) April 16, 2018
Please let it be true that Sean Hannity used Michael Cohen to pay off a gay lover. 🤞🤞🤞🤞
— Preztone76 (@Preztone76) April 16, 2018
Oh. 😂 My. 😂 God. 😂 😂 😂
— Jamie Carter ❄ Vote Blue (@JCTheResistance) April 16, 2018
Wonder if @realDonaldTrump and @seanhannity will be able to share a jail cell. 😂
Fox News star Sean Hannity revealed to be Michael Cohen's mysterious third client — along with Trump and a man who paid off a Playboy playmatehttps://t.co/ecIpyneIRA
Wow. Sean Hannity is Cohen's "mystery" client. Now y would a broadcaster need a "fixer" lawyer. I say rut row. Cats flying out of bags. Meeeow.
— Kathleen Madigan (@kathleenmadigan) April 16, 2018
We're proud to have created this website. Tell @SeanHannity's advertisers to #FireHannity by taking action at https://t.co/fo3dlDw7kW https://t.co/nV0DMFrD9e
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) April 16, 2018
We're proud to have created this website. Tell @SeanHannity's advertisers to #FireHannity by taking action at https://t.co/fo3dlDw7kW https://t.co/nV0DMFrD9e
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) April 16, 2018
Of course, the revelation that Hannity talked to a lawyer (again, I cannot stress enough how that’s literally all we know at this point) is hardly proof of any crime, corruption, or moral failing in and of itself. But I suppose details just aren’t important enough to wait for before rushing to instantaneous judgment.
As for Hannity himself, the Fox News host said in a statement that he never hired Cohen for legal representation.
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.
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 16, 2018
Sources close to Hannity have said the legal advice he sought from Cohen had to do with his longstanding feud with Media Matters and didn’t include a third party, much less a woman.
Gabe Sherman claims the work Michael Cohen did for Sean Hannity related to the advertiser boycott organized by the left-wing Media Matters group.
— David Martosko (@dmartosko) April 16, 2018
But in the court of public opinion, verdicts are readily handed down before the charges are ever filed.
(Cover Photo: Gage Skidmore)