Trump's personal lawyer reveals name of mystery client: Sean Hannity

I don't blame the third client for wanting to maintain anonymity. If I was stupid enough to hire Cohen, I wouldn't want anybody to know it either.

Hannity is rich enough to be able to hire any lawyer he wants. For some reason, he chose the legally disbarrable lawyer known for paying off women to make his clients' scandals disappear.

Also he chose to attack the FBI raid on Cohen without disclosing the conflict-of-interest of him being a client, but you know, it's not like ethics matter at FOX, so...

He has the right to retain any lawyer he wants

Of course he does. But Cohen isn't just a lawyer in the ordinary sense. He's more of a fixer, a guy who sets up deals that operate in a legal grey zone and who makes his clients' problems disappear in equally sleazy ways. Remember Tom Hagen in The Godfather? That's Michael Cohen.

So yeah, Hannity has the right, but it makes one wonder why Trump's most vocal on-air defender and cheerleader chose this particular "lawyer". It's also morally questionable that Hannity has used the airwaves to defend Cohen without disclosing that he's his lawyer. (I know: the left, libs, Hillary, "bias media", deep state, etc.)

So if Cohen isn't his lawyer then there's no attorney-client privilege. If Cohen is his lawyer then he should have disclosed it.

Bass: Hannity has the right to retain any lawyer he wants

Based on your 35 years as a journalist, can you give us a rundown on disclosure? For example, if your editor told you to interview a lawyer, and you’ve had an ongoing relationship involving legal advice with that lawyer, do you tell him or is it ok to withhold that information? Is the news organization required to disclose your professional relationship during the reporting?

Hannity will be the next Fox "news" presenter to take a "vacation" . Karma.

Well the question is what happens next. Does Cohen insist Hannity was a client, or does he change the story he gave to the judge?

Oh, and to be clear, Hannity tweeted:

I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear they never involved any matter between me and a third-party.

which means they likely involved matters between him and a "third party" (sex scandal alert!). Not that it matters except that Trump's most influential TV propagandist ending up sharing his lawyer does not pass the smell test. Hannity is through.

Hannity has the right to retain any lawyer he wants.

And, he chose Cohen. Maybe it is just because they were in the same circles. Who knows. Probably nothing will come of this except...

Maybe Cohen doesn't have a third client. These fools (supposed attorney Cohen and his supposed clients (Trump and Hannity) alike) keep saying things in public that make it look like there is no attorney client privilege. Hannity said he paid $10 dollars to Cohen because knew he was on thin ice.

That is bad for team Trump because the government attorneys are trying to push an argument that Cohen is not an attorney to further break attorney client privilege, well not break but show it doesn't apply.

Aside from the fact that a sitting president's attorney is under a criminal investigation, that the prosecutors are attempting to break Cohen's ability to shield his business and criminal acts behind AC privilege is remarkable and the thing to watch.

If it isn't Cohen and Trump's lawyers, the right will go apoplectic. There needs to be a disinterested third party. Of course, if there is and it isn't far right enough, the right will cast aspersions upon it.

Solid strategy.

At that social stratosphere, it's a small world. Wouldn't be surprising if it were simply another sexual harassment coverup.

More important is leverage. Who has how much dirt on whom, and how does all of that affect their relationships and actions? Extrapolated, this is what turns this Hannity hilarity into serious business.

Technically, Hannity said, “I might have handed him $10.” The door is open either way at this point, whichever he chooses.

It’s hard to see how Fox keeps him. Hannity is gong to go full conspiracy and he has the base who will believe him. Best for Fox to cut ties now rather than run the risk of Hannity turning his base against the channel.

In other news, this has been a good week. Trump’s lawyer is being investigated, his favorite newscaster just got caught with his pants down, and I’ve heard something about a book release?

Time to start following Trump on Twitter again.

My respect for Cohen is through the roof.

He is like a Robinhood of the Rich, does pro-bono for Hannity, pays money out of his own pocket for Trump....

If there was a Nobel for Charity I would give one to Cohen right now.

Not word games; words have meaning and that is why being a lawyer is a profession. If a lawyer is not acting in his/her capacity as a lawyer, they are not a lawyer in that situation. The only people "out to get" Cohen are the authorities because they have evidence that he committed crimes. No evidence of crimes = no search warrant.

Why are conservatives so soft on crime?

Why are conservatives so afraid of justice?

Why are conservatives so paranoid that people are "out to get" other conservatives?

If Hannity is off the air, who will Trump rely on for policy ideas and tweet topics? Will he go straight to Rupert Murdoch? Bring Bannon back? Alex Jones?

Or just wait for Putin's visit so Vlad can tell him what to do while they're eating chocolate cake.

The goal of forcing the release of the name was to feed the speculation machine.

Nope. Cohen's legal team forced this on themselves by claiming that the FBI search would infringe on the privacy of what he termed "numerous" other clients though evidence shows he has only a handful. The importance here is not who the clients are but what documents Cohen possesses which might pertain to several ongoing investigations into illegal practices. Trump's team pushed too far by demanding ability to first review the documents seized from Cohen in FBI raids last week before prosecutors have a chance to review them.

Hannity has nothing to worry about unless he has something to worry about.

Hannity is on right now to tell the facts! That's rich given Hannity's dubious, at best, credibility.

It's fun watching the right flail around trying to grasp at any straw to make it look as though the flaming clown car that is the Trump administration isn't careening down the alley, smashing into things and catching them on fire.

Multiple liberal media calling Cohen "Trump"s fixer" with impunity. 

Gee, I dunno, Black. Cohen set up an LLC (called, ironically, "Essential Consultants" - musta been "essential" for some people at certain times) in Delaware, a state notorious for slack disclosure requirements, and all we know of it to date is the $1.3 million payment to a former Playgirl who'd had an abortion after an affair with the married Republican National Committee member Elliott Broidyto and the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf (though where the money came from and who knew what when remains undisclosed). And now Hannity is somehow mixed with this luscious bunch - for whatever reason (he'd better hope precedent is not it).

So, yeah: These are the acts of a standard lawyer, not a "fixer" in any way. Oh, the impunity!

Cohen won a partial victory by being able to go through his files with his lawyers before the judge determines whether a special master will be appointed. Cohen does not get to dig through his files and make the determination on his own.

Let's see, Cohen had three clients. For two of three, he arranged payments to keep affairs of married republicans quiet. Jeez, I wonder what Cohen did for Hannity. I'm sure it simply had to do with real estate. Of course, we may never know because attorney-client privilege is so strong.

He implies confidently there is nothing, I tend to believe him.

Right on, I mean how can you doubt that a rich guy hired a lawyer, took his advice and did not pay a penny.

Hannity is not on thin ice. 

I didn't mean Hannity himself, I mean the claim that there is not an attorney client relationship but expecting privilege.

If he says there is no attorney client privilege, he undermines Cohen. That is why he mentioned maybe giving him $10 after saying he was not a client.

I am sure he doesn't want to be associated with Cohen at this time. After all, Cohen is radioactive, to quote Storrmy's attorney.

Thank God, Cohen did win a partial victory, now he can at least get the files, go over them and separate what is client attorney privilege and what is not.

As Tommy correctly said, Cohen can only get a copy of his files with the court order. Nothing profound here, defense is normally entitled to evidence held by the prosecution.

The feds will still retain the files as evidence, but they can only access the files pertinent to the search warrant.

The judge is only considering whether to appoint a third-party to assess that pertinence. My guess is that the judge will allow the third-party to control the release of the files.

However, the prosecutors appear to be taking a position that Cohen doesn't provide legal advice, so the files are not covered by AC privilege. The disclosure of Hannity is part of the judge's attempt to address this point. If Cohen cannot show that he is providing legal advice, then the third-party will be irrelevant and all records may be open.

As it stands, there may be a lot of what Cohen did that isn't protected, especially is in furtherance of a crime. The prosecutors already have evidence of a crime, otherwise they couldn't get the search warrant. So, overall it is a bad day legally for Cohen and Trump.

Everyone knows he is Trump’s personal lawyer. That’s why the are out to get him.

Of course Mueller would be looking at financial arrangements as part of the collusion investigation. Cohen was named in the dossier. Of course Cohen is being looked at.

The DOJ prosecutors are out to get Cohen because he used his license to hide criminal activities. Very Simple. No animus required. I've seen it happen before.

I know there may have been a crime bevauseva search warrant was issued.

Hannity lying is well documented.

Yeah, ratings and twitter followers equal credibility. ROFL!

No, it doesn't depend. Ratings and twitter followers are a measure of popularity, not credibility. Simply look at Trump's twitter followers. He has millions but has zero credibility because of all of the outright lies he's in record as uttering.

Yeah, next week the media will get bored and start chasing another dead end story created by Dumpster Fire Don.

Some posters clearly have issues with the meanings of words and phrases. For example dead end.

bass4funkToday  09:12 pm JST

If he did, so what? What does that have to do with Trump of Russia

It's weird how I haven't said one word about this being about Russia and you keep demanding I show how this is about Russia. You seem to have strong feelings about this being about Russia. Maybe you could just tell us what you think the Russian connection is, rather than demanding I explain a point I never made.

and how would that influence your life? 

Because for all my life I've listened to the religious right in the US invent a theology that says the most important thing to their God is that all sex take place within the bounds of a church-sanctioned marriage and all my life I've watched them demonize innocent people simply for not conforming to this rule of theirs and suddenly when Republicans get caught flagrantly and shamelessly breaking this rule the evangelicals are trying to pretend it never mattered to them in the first place.

We don't know why Hannity was discussing legal matters with Cohen. We do know that discussing legal matters with a lawyer gives rise to ethical obligations on the lawyer to treat the situation as if that person is a potential client.

Ooooh some of the bloated swamp things are being pulled out now. They are noisily thrashing about like trickily trapped foxes. Hannity's joke about how he maybe paid Cohen ten bucks makes them both seem cheap, doesn't it? With that kind of pay rate, how did he ever scrape together the cash to buy Stormy's silence just days before the election?

Doesnt matter if he is a client or not. The goal of forcing the release of the name was to feed the speculation machine.

No, it was to see if Cohen is really an attorney. See above.

If they want to go after Hannity for God knows what, Mueller better be careful, this could backfire in the worst way on him. Hannity has every right to seek or hire whomever he wants. It has nothing to do with Trump or this witch hunt. This is desperation at its worst. We just don’t know what’s going on, but he’s on now telling the facts to kill all speculation, so let’s see where this goes.

I don't think prosecutors are the least bit interested in Hannity. Something may come out of it, but I really don't think so other than Cohen as an actual attorney.

Rather, you will have journalists investigating to find out what it is about because it could be a large story.

We just don’t know what’s going on, but he’s on now telling the facts to kill all speculation, so let’s see where this goes.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt without need of facts. However, if he is defending himself or Cohen, I will scrutinize him.

Lol! I wonder who Hannity got pregnant!?

Bass: Thank God, Cohen did win a partial victory, now he can at least get the files, go over them and separate what is client attorney privilege and what is not.

He can give his opinion, then the judge will take the opinions of a taint team and others. The judge is depriving the conspiracy theorists of oxygen.

He can give his opinion, then the judge will take the opinions of a taint team and others. The judge is depriving the conspiracy theorists of oxygen.

And we know what will happen if the judge rules against these people, the judge will be labeled a hyper-partisan, corrupt individual. It's the standard play of the right.

Nobody is disputing whether Cohen is a lawyer. People are trying to determine if he was acting in his capacity as a lawyer. Reading comprehension is hard, I guess.

And he probably is the only lawyer on earth who doesnt charge his clients

He's definitely the only lawyer on earth that uses his own money on behalf of a client and doesn't inform the client, if he is to be believed.

Lying is indicia of culpability. If you have no reason to lie, you don't, unless you are a compulsive liar. Hannity does have a track record of compulsively lying, so perhaps that is the reason he lied about Cohen.

Love how certain posters take Hannity's word when he clearly has credibility issues. That's obviously easier than being intellectually honest and waiting for the results of investigations.

I always believe people based on how confident they come across instead of looking at historical evidence demonstrating an utter lack of credibility.

https://www.alternet.org/10-worst-lies-spewed-sean-hannity

bass4funk: "Oh, stop! Hannity didn’t do anything illegal or unethical."

Hahaha! You also think the same of Trump.

"He has the right to retain any lawyer he wants and as long as it doesn’t conflict with him and his job performance or uses his pulpit and if he asks legal questions pertaining to his show. "

The thing is, he has said he did NOT retain Cohen for anything. We know you love Hannity as well as Trump, and it's good to see the proof that he's just as unethical and nearly as corrupt as Trump, and to see his defenders panic. Even the other FOX commentators are laughing and saying Sean should have been more truthful.

Ok, so Martha Stewart spends time in jail for a small lie

.... to the FBI is a crime.

I guess, Cohen could go to prison sneezing then.

Nice try a conflating a bank fraud and wire fraud as a sneeze. Those are serious crimes.

Actually, an attorney who commits commits a crime is even more serious than lying to the FBI.

Cohen can get 30 years in prison for bank fraud.

Lying to the FBI, maybe 1 1/2 years. (Cohen may get that charge too)

Sneezing, a dirty look.

bass4funkToday  07:48 am JST

Uh-oh.....lol...you’re not trying to say, Hannity had something to do with the Russians?

Actually, no, I'm saying I think Hannity probably tried to pay off a porn star or prostitute or nude model or someone like that so they don't talk about his embarassing performance in his affair with them. That seems to be Cohen's specialty. But if you think he had something to do with the Russians, I'm happy to listen.

Oh, stop! Hannity didn’t do anything illegal or unethical.

I mean aside from editorializing for his own personal advantage without disclosing his stake in the narratives he was pushing, sure. If you ignore all the unethical behavior he did, he comes out totally looking clean!

The evolution.

Should Hannity have disclosed a relationship with someone he is reporting on?

Bass: Technically, he should have

and then...

That’s a grey area, should he have told his viewers? Maybe.

You had a third post that got pulled saying Hannity did not have to disclose and this is actually an invasion of his privacy. So you have a YES, a maybe, and a NO.

So I’ll ask again, based on your 35 years as a journalist, what are the rules and norms for disclosing relationships with people you are reporting on?

I don’t understand the difference between technically and privately. Based on your decades of experience as a journalist, what are the norms of the industry? Do journalists disclose their relationship with the people they are reporting on?

For example if a doctor is in the news and a journalist gives him favorable editorials, should the reporter disclose that the doctor is someone he personally calls on for medical advice?

Trump's swamp has outswamped any other swamp that may or may not have existed before!

I’m not sure what Hannity has to do here.

...Hannity does have the right as well to ask for legal advice, it just depends on how management views this....

Well, yes, management view is a factor, but underlying that are the reasons for the consultations. What they were may or may not emerge, but until (and unless) they do, no reason exists to view Hannity as a serious newscaster (if there ever was).

Probably his wife.

His wife and? Getting your own wife pregnant is hardly reason for getting an attorney.

Oh, so it has to be an affair?

It doesn't, I don't know. But, why would Hannity lie about his relationship with Cohen? Oh, right:

Karen McDougel, Aubrey O'Day, Stormy Daniels, and Elliot Broidy. Cohen brokered hush agreements with the first three, and for the last one.

So when in a muppet like Hannity lies about his relationship with Cohen it makes one wonder.

I keep forgetting the left is obsessed with race and sex.

Hilarious, Bass. See above. Whose really obsessed with sex? :D

Cohen is definitely a lawyer and he represents a minority, the rich.

And he probably is the only lawyer on earth who doesnt charge his clients.

Not charging people who can obviously pay, thats called real charity.

Are you insinuating? 

I am just stating the facts. Sometime just looking at facts is more useful than dreaming up conspiracy theories.

Liberal selective facts are now considered pure facts?

Care to point out whats not correct rather than put a political color on them .

Hannity is rich

Sought advice from Cohen

'Confidently' denied he paid any money for the advice.

bass4funkApr. 17  09:59 pm JST

Because the left keep hoping,

You need to one day learn you are talking to individuals, not "the left".

Anyway, someday when you're ready I do want to hear what you think the Trump-Hannity-Russia connection is.

But if the left do it with zero shame, it’s acceptable, right?

"The left", that fictional bugbear you love swinging at, does not generally demonize innocent people for sex outside of marriage. So yes, actually, it is acceptable. The problem isn't the sex itself, the problem is the hypocritical evangelical community treating it as the worst sin possible when someone they don't like does it, but then pretending it's normal when they get caught doing it.

Tommy

Not quite. In the state of New York ,  a prospective client is "a person who consults with a lawyer about the possibility of forming a client-lawyer relationship with respect to a matter..."

see https://www.nysba.org/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=50671 pg 99.

IOW, in New York, you can talk to a lawyer all you want about all your legal issues and not form a 'potential' lawyer client relationship. That is, you can get free advice from a lawyer, so long as you don't think you are going to use that lawyer as your lawyer.

Of course, if pay them, or have paid them, or are considering hiring them, well, in the words of Hans Landa.

'It's a Bingo!"

Is this the same Hannity that sat sat down for dinner at mar largo with Trump recently, oh what a web we weave.

Funny how certain posters that think the FBI is corrupt are disparaging others about conspiracy theories.

Funny how certain posters that can't have any idea about what Hannity utilized Cohen for are saying there is nothing in Hannity.

We know exactly how the right determines whether a judicial officer is corrupt: If the judicial officer rules against a conservative, that officerbis corrupt.

Viking: Nice rebuttal of intellectually dishonest rants.

No, it doesn't depend. Ratings and twitter followers are a measure of popularity, not credibility

Oh my! I understand the issue now. Trump supporters think that popularity equals credibility, and base everything on that assumption.

Who did Trump lose to in a head-to-head popularity contest? The most well funded and publicized popularity contest on the planet. Who won that?

You know the contest I'm talking about. It was such an important contest that some of the best hackers in the world participated. That's an impressive popularity contest. Who won that by millions of votes? It happened in November.

Northern: Great post. But, conventional posting, please.

You know conservatives have nothing when they start screaming about shredded emails (?), Clinton, Holder, Whitewater, etc. It's hilarious given none of those are relavent to Dumpster Fire Donny or his corrupt lawyer.

We don't know what Mueller has, other than the multiple indictments and guilty pleas. We do know the right has nothing when they bring up individuals not involved in the Trump Dumpster Fire.

The left are as much a collective as the right. I recognized this, but lump you all together here because that's what you do to the left.

The left wing force anyone to make a cake. The left will prevent bigots from refusing to make a cake by enforcing equal protection of the laws. Intellectual honesty, please.

Yes, it is acceptable for the left to engage in sex outside of marriage because the left doesn't run around telling other people not to do it, that's what conservatives do.

What a great lawyer this Cohen guy is. Only 3 clients, works for free, and even pays his clients' blackmail money out of his own pocket

The game is afoot.

Sean Hannity, whatever he has been up to with other women (or men), no doubt thought it would be really cool to stroll along the corridors of power in the company of Cohen, the same lawyer-fixer as his revered "Dear Leader", heedless of the inevitable Trumpian Karma to follow. Hannity, rhyming with inanity, a most suitable epithet given his penchant for sententiously spouting his daily verbal diarrhea of counterfactual Foxed up opinions, may find himself when Mueller finally gets round to his role in Cohen's "Three Stooges" having to enter a plea that rhymes him with insanity.

bass4funkToday  07:53 am JST

Don’t give me that crap. If you don’t want to make a cake for someone because of your religious convictions, the left will force you to do so.

That's not what actually happens.

Anyway, I'd love to know what you think the Trump-Cohen-Hannity-Russia connection is.

Conservative talk show host asks conservative lawyer for free advice. No shock there.

I think Cohen overstepped by calling him "a client."

I work in computer and network security. If I kept track of every non-paying client asking for advice, I'd never get anything done.

I am just stating the facts.

Liberal selective facts are now considered pure facts? How so?

Sometime just looking at facts is more useful than dreaming up conspiracy theories.

Ohh, please tell every liberal that and make sure Pelosi and Waters hear it as well. Holder might run around screaming with his fingers in his ears.

.... to the FBI is a crime.

But shredding emails, hiding servers, using government email accounts, taking home government mail to your residence and having your aide use her PC to hide more files is not a crime? I see, so home baking Steward was the ultimate criminal. Boy, if you were in front of me, I don’t think you would be able to finish that sentence while looking straight at me without busting into full uncontrollable laughter.

Nice try a conflating a bank fraud and wire fraud as a sneeze. Those are serious crimes.

For Cohen, could be, but if Whitewater was nothing, Cohen should be just peaches and candy.

Actually, an attorney who commits commits a crime is even more serious than lying to the FBI. 

Doubt it. Didn’t hurt the Kennedy’s or the Clinton’s, now you’re giving me more hope than I previously had.

Cohen can get 30 years in prison for bank fraud.

He could, but Trump would Pardon him. kudos!

Lying to the FBI, maybe 1 1/2 years. (Cohen may get that charge too)

Clinton didn’t go, both of them, so he should be fine. Viking, you really opened my eyes and all my friends told me Dems are emotionally positive. I am as well.

It's weird how I haven't said one word about this being about Russia and you keep demanding I show how this is about Russia.

Because the left keep hoping, praying and talking about Russia, that’s a wise what else do they have? Can the other option for them would be to find something that lead up to an obstruction charge, but they need to dig up and find something that’ll stick.

You seem to have strong feelings about this being about Russia.

Actually, I don’t quite the opposite, if it did lead to Russia, we would have already known about it, so it leads me to believe either Mueller is really stupid or merry Democratic lawyer posse lawyer comrades don’t have a single clue...

Maybe you could just tell us what you think the Russian connection is, rather than demanding I explain a point I never made.

I don’t think anything when it comes to Russia, at least not in the form of collision to the point that would make it a doomsday case for Trump. But I’m not for bursting the lefts bubble.

Because for all my life I've listened to the religious right in the US invent a theology that says the most important thing to their God is that all sex take place within the bounds of a church-sanctioned marriage and all my life I've watched them demonize innocent people simply for not conforming to this rule of theirs and suddenly when Republicans get caught flagrantly and shamelessly breaking this rule the evangelicals are trying to pretend it never mattered to them in the first place.

But if the left do it with zero shame, it’s acceptable, right?

Dont hate the man at all just hes a proven liar time and time again if your the lying kind of type maybe someone like Hannity would appeal to you..

Hmmm...those are the haters outlook of Hannity. When I think of the lying type, I’ll watch reruns of YouTube Videos of the last President and the CNN or for real serious laughs, I’ll read the NYT.

Did I say it was unfair to support Trump everyone has the right to support whoever they want to..you really got to stop just making up stuff dude...

I’m just going by that negative liberal paranoia, my bad.

So Obama has 97 million does that convey trust then.

just like 70 million for Trump, I guess it does.

No, it doesn't depend. Ratings and twitter followers are a measure of popularity, not credibility.

Well, then that settles it, you made my point for me.

Simply look at Trump's twitter followers. He has millions but has zero credibility because of all of the outright lies he's in record as uttering.

Uh-huh...sure. Lol

That's like someone telling me, No, but seriously, the Earth is flat.

Actually, no, I'm saying I think Hannity probably tried to pay off a porn star or prostitute or nude model or someone like that so they don't talk about his embarassing performance in his affair with them.

If he did, so what? What does that have to do with Trump of Russia and how would that influence your life? If Hannity did such a thing, he wouldn’t be the first and if you really want to nit pick, then you should see what Mika and Joe did, both started the show married and then both cheated on their spouses and now they are a couple getting married, while I could care less what other people with their lives or get involved in their marital lives, but those two and other news pundits or politicians can't say anything. They all have dirty drawers.

That seems to be Cohen's specialty. But if you think he had something to do with the Russians, I'm happy to listen.

Oh, the left and their so called Russian collusion. I think it’s just another dog chasing its tail. “You spin me round like a record baby....”

I mean aside from editorializing for his own personal advantage without disclosing his stake in the narratives he was pushing, sure. If you ignore all the unethical behavior he did, he comes out totally looking clean!

My gosh, the man is a lawyer. I always sleep with one eye open and that includes Mueller and Comey. When I hear ethics, I usually don’t differentiate between lawyers and politicians.

You know conservatives have nothing when they start screaming about shredded emails (?), Clinton, Holder, Whitewater, etc. It's hilarious given none of those are relavent to Dumpster Fire Donny or his corrupt lawyer.

Now you know how conservatives feel, the left have nothing, no collusion, no crime, a failed porn star, a desperate dirty cop and....and....oh, yeah, nothing.

You need to one day learn you are talking to individuals, not "the left".

Oh, now “the left” have left the collective?

Anyway, someday when you're ready I do want to hear what you think the Trump-Hannity-Russia connection is.

Why wait? Scroll up, I already did.

"The left", that fictional bugbear you love swinging at, does not generally demonize innocent people for sex outside of marriage.

No, but they love to demonize people that believe in worshiping or having religious point of view. Don’t give me that crap. If you don’t want to make a cake for someone because of your religious convictions, the left will force you to do so. Yes, the party of tolerance is in reality intolerant.

So yes, actually, it is acceptable.

Not at all.

The problem isn't the sex itself, the problem is the hypocritical evangelical community treating it as the worst sin possible when someone they don't like does it, but then pretending it's normal when they get caught doing it.

Sure, both sides shouldn’t be hypocrites, but the left can’t pretend that it has the moral high ground in this when they have their own skeletons they need to worry about.

Let the speculation begin. Has all the buzzwords here: “collusion”, “probe”, Russia investigation”, multiple Stormy references, her real name too, “sex” and “trump”.

The judge in this case officiated the wedding of George Soros.

Based on your 35 years as a journalist, can you give us a rundown on disclosure? For example, if your editor told you to interview a lawyer, and you’ve had an ongoing relationship involving legal advice with that lawyer, do you tell him or is it ok to withhold that information? Is the news organization required to disclose your professional relationship during the reporting?

Technically, he should have, is it a big violation or Firing offense not really, it would depend on the details of what the relationship was and how it was used. But the late Tony Snow failed to disclosewith FNC that he supported and contributed to Bush’s campaign, he was disciplined for it, not terminated, so I don’t think anything will happen because Hannity does have the right as well to ask for legal advice, it just depends on how management views this, but as of now it doesn’t seem like something big will come of this. Cohen is a different story as far as his legal oncerns go.

Hannity does have a track record of compulsively lying, so perhaps that is the reason he lied about Cohen.

Actually, the media has a track record lying on Hannity and it’s pretty much shown nightly. Maybe if the left were to get their act together and start supporting facts a lie less....a lot then maybe they could reach the number one spot which equals credibility and trust. But it’s more fun to smear than to tell the truth because there are more clicks involved.

Love how certain posters take Hannity's word when he clearly has credibility issues.

Not surprising that some posters enjoy drinking the Kool aid and will believe alternate contrived facts. And the left wonder why they lost so many seats 2010-2014, 1000 legislative seats only 16 liberal governors. Sad, sad, sad....

Like Hannity said, if he listened to everyday what the MSM would say about him, it would be too funny. He’s right, people say what they want to say, but ratings followers, popularity matter. Now if msnbc and CNN could work that in their brains, they could have a bigger slice of the pie instead of people pulling their plugs.

I am sure he doesn't want to be associated with Cohen at this time. After all, Cohen is radioactive, to quote Storrmy's attorney.

He didn’t duck, he looked straight into the camera and didn’t deny it and said it straight up. On a side note, when the porn star opens her mouth, she just looks like a bigger stuck up kid that has to call her boyfriend because there’s no way she could do anything on her own.

The judge is only considering whether to appoint a third-party to assess that pertinence. My guess is that the judge will allow the third-party to control the release of the files.

Which is not bad news, it gives Cohen the right to file a motion to keep the records he deems as confidential to his client privilege case. He can drag this out as well. So let’s see where it goes.

Of course Mueller would be looking at financial arrangements as part of the collusion investigation. Cohen was named in the dossier. Of course Cohen is being looked at.

Of course Mueller HAS to do something, can’t get to Trump, let me get the lawyer.

The DOJ prosecutors are out to get Cohen because he used his license to hide criminal activities. Very Simple. No animus required. I've seen it happen before.

Ok, so Martha Stewart spends time in jail for a small lie, Blogoovitch in federal prison for trying sell Obama’s old seat. I guess, Cohen could go to prison sneezing then. Oh, the establishment...

Hahaha! You also think the same of Trump. 

I don’t know what Trump thinks. I think for myself.

The thing is, he has said he did NOT retain Cohen for anything.

I take him at his word for it. Yes, the haters will think he’s lying, but his ratings and standings tell a completely different story. 3.6 million on Twitter don’t think so.

We know you love Hannity as well as Trump, and it's good to see the proof that he's just as unethical and nearly as corrupt as Trump,

Well, that’s your personal opinion. I just have a different one. No harm.

and to see his defenders panic.

You keep saying that. No one is panicking, Annoyed, that’s a different subject.

Even the other FOX commentators are laughing and saying Sean should have been more truthful.

No one laughed and you know that. Dershowitz said, he should have acknowledged they talked. That’s a grey area, should he have told his viewers? Maybe. Did he have to legally, of course not. Next week, the media will get bored chasing another dead end story.

Doesnt matter if he is a client or not. The goal of forcing the release of the name was to feed the speculation machine.

Im sure if it benefits Hannity with some privilege, the judge will just rule he "really isnt" a client after all by the end of the week.

His wife and?

Oh, so it has to be an affair? I keep forgetting the left is obsessed with race and sex.

Getting your own wife pregnant is hardly reason for getting an attorney.

There are a million other reasons as to why people get attorneys, try and think a little bit outside the box I know it’s hard for left but it doesn’t hurt. On the other hand they don’t have anything on him, so with that smirk he’s during them to go ahead, unlike O’Reilly that desperately tried to hide all the lawsuits that were pending an ongoing against him.

He can give his opinion, then the judge will take the opinions of a taint team and others. The judge is depriving the conspiracy theorists of oxygen.

We shall see. It wouldn’t be the first time that the left was wrong with the conspiracy theories and it won’t be their last either, but I get, it’s frustrating, they need to find something.

And we know what will happen if the judge rules against these people, the judge will be labeled a hyper-partisan, corrupt individual. It's the standard play of the right.

Could possibly be. Nothing should be ruled out, but it would all depend on where the judges loyalty lies with the law or if she’s a partisan and we don’t know as of yet, but I don’t think it’ll come to that, just like the way it went with Laura.

The only people "out to get" Cohen are the authorities because they have evidence that he committed crimes. No evidence of crimes = no search warrant.

What evidence? What crime? How would you know that what they are looking for or have found constituents as a crime? Just because you wear a badge, it doesn’t mean you are immune from corruption. Mueller, McCabe, Strzok, Hoover.

Why are conservatives so soft on crime?

Why do so many politicians bribe or threaten officers like in California inhibiting them from doing their jobs

Why are conservatives so afraid of justice?

Why do liberals try to twist the Justice system to favor their political causes.

Why are conservatives so paranoid that people are "out to get" other conservatives

Why did liberals feel that way about conservatives in 1998?

Yeah, ratings and twitter followers equal credibility. ROFL!

That depends, but it does convey trust.

Should Hannity have disclosed a relationship with someone he is reporting on?

“Yes and No.” Technically, he should have, but privately, he doesn’t have to. Like I said, it’s a grey area.

You had a third post that got pulled saying Hannity did not have to disclose and this is

actually an invasion of his privacy. So you have a YES, a maybe, and a NO.

Yes

So I’ll ask again, based on your 35 years as a journalist, what are the rules and norms for disclosing relationships with people you are reporting on?

I gave you the answer already.

So whats the over/under on Adam Schiff saying Hannity needs to testify before Congress? I have 48 hours or less. and a Dem congressman will call for his firing by time his show is over tonight in about 40 mins (if they havent already).

exactly the speculation machine I am talking about.

Multiple liberal media calling Cohen "Trump"s fixer" with impunity. Dem lawmaker and buddy of Schiff on the intel committee calling him the conduit for info and shady deals. Also Trump's "enforcer", while calling for Hannity to be fired and smearing him just for being a client.

Yet Cohen hasnt even been indicted for anything or really charged with anything, whats with all the mob references and assumption of guilt for "something" not only for Cohen but for all his clients?

Hannity has nothing to worry about unless he has something to worry about

Yes, he explained his actions and that he asked questions about his interest in real estate which he invests heavily in (smart move) and nothing more, so he should be OK. So he shouldn’t have to worry about anything.

Trump's most influential TV propagandist ending up sharing his lawyer does not pass the smell test. Hannity is through.

Oh, please. Lol, not at all, the left has been trying to be him off the air since 2001. No smoke, no fire and like Ingraham, he’ll be fine, so in other news.....

Speculation overdrive. Cohen is obviously a lawyer. I didn’t see any questions like that when comey’s leaking buddy became his “lawyer” or when hillary’s staffer Cheryl Mills was suddenly her “lawyer” too while st same time getting immunity as a suspect.

word games. Someone’s lawyer is their lawyer, none of this are they acting in the “capacity” of a lawyer or not. Everyone knows he is Trump’s personal lawyer. That’s why the are out to get him.

Of course he does. But Cohen isn't just a lawyer in the ordinary sense. He's more of a fixer, a guy who sets up deals that operate in a legal grey zone and who makes his clients' problems disappear in equally sleazy ways. Remember Tom Hagen in The Godfather? That's Michael Cohen.

Tom Hagen? So now Cohen orchestrated the hit on some people. I know the left the stratosphere a long time ago, but this latest desperate attempt is just odd, funny...but so, so odd. And watching Ray Donovan episodes again? ROFL! Stay away from Showtime.

So yeah, Hannity has the right, but it makes one wonder why Trump's most vocal on-air defender and cheerleader chose this particular "lawyer".

I could care less. Hannity has the right to retain any lawyer he wants. Holder and Obama were joined at the hip, so what?

It's also morally questionable that Hannity has used the airwaves to defend Cohen without disclosing that he's his lawyer. (I know: the left, libs, Hillary, "bias media", deep state, etc.)

Yup.

Well the question is what happens next. Does Cohen insist Hannity was a client, or does he change the story he gave to the judge.

Well, if Hannity or Cohen does, it really doesn’t matter. If they want to go after Hannity for God knows what, Mueller better be careful, this could backfire in the worst way on him. Hannity has every right to seek or hire whomever he wants. It has nothing to do with Trump or this witch hunt. This is desperation at its worst. We just don’t know what’s going on, but he’s on now telling the facts to kill all speculation, so let’s see where this goes.

What they were may or may not emerge, but until (and unless) they do, no reason exists to view Hannity as a serious newscaster (if there ever was).

If that were true, then he wouldn’t be on TV killing everyone in the ratings. You don’t have to lik the guy, but you didn’t hire him or you can’t take away he credentials. Of course he’s a journalist. Hating the guy won’t change that fact.

And, he chose Cohen. Maybe it is just because they were in the same circles. Who knows. Probably nothing will come of this except...

Yup, most likely not.

Maybe Cohen doesn't have a third client. These fools (supposed attorney Cohen and his supposed clients (Trump and Hannity) alike) keep saying things in public that make it look like there is no attorney client privilege. Hannity said he paid $10 dollars to Cohen because knew he was on thin ice.

Hannity is not on thin ice. The left said that about Ingraham and that just blew up in their face......again.

That is bad for team Trump because the government attorneys are trying to push an argument that Cohen is not an attorney to further break attorney client privilege, well not break but show it doesn't apply.

Thank God, Cohen did win a partial victory, now he can at least get the files, go over them and separate what is client attorney privilege and what is not.

Aside from the fact that a sitting president's attorney is under a criminal investigation, that the prosecutors are attempting to break Cohen's ability to shield his business and criminal acts behind AC privilege is remarkable and the thing to watch.

Yes, that basically, the rules of justice favors certain people depending on who is hated or who. Is liked. Love.

It’s hard to see how Fox keeps him. Hannity is gong to go full conspiracy and he has the base who will believe him.

There’s nothing wrong with that, CNN and MSNBC see they cater to the people to hate tromp mostly, so it’s perfectly legitimate nothing wrong with that. Why do I have to watch or listen to network that is one side and bash as a president? We have the right to listen to opposite opposing view sides. But he’ll be there don’t worry, the left two weeks ago had already dug a deep hole for Laura, so they need to feel that back up again. The left once again in the haste went way ahead of themselves and they never learn.

Best for Fox to cut ties now rather than run the risk of Hannity turning his base against the channel.

Dershowitiz said, you should’ve just mentioned disclose that he was dealing with or conversing with Colin, that’s about it. Turning him loose? Did he sexually harass someone? The late Tony Snow did worse, he donated to presidential candidate while working for nature conservative network. So this little thing should blow over within a few days, this fina be a breeze.

In other news, this has been a good week.

Hannity seemed all smiles, I think so.

Trump’s lawyer is being investigated, his favorite newscaster just got caught with his pants down, and I’ve heard something about a book release?

Gossip news you mean. So besides what’s going on Syria anything of real news or substance happened?

Lol! I wonder who Hannity got pregnant!?

Probably his wife.

Right on, I mean how can you doubt that a rich guy hired a lawyer, took his advice and did not pay a penny.

Are you insinuating? You don’t know that and neither do I, but I do tend to believe the man, he seemed extremely confident, so he probably is.

Hannity is a serial liar so not much news here...

His haters say that, this is true.

Not surprising that some posters will say anything just because it doesn't support their point of view...

Such as?

repeating the same lines copying and pasting whatever they can find it must be hard to be a Trumplet..

Oh, so the Trump haters think its unfair to support Trump, Huh? What?

Hannity is rich enough to be able to hire any lawyer he wants. For some reason, he chose the legally disbarrable lawyer known for paying off women to make his clients' scandals disappear. 

Uh-oh.....lol...you’re not trying to say, Hannity had something to do with the Russians?

Also he chose to attack the FBI raid on Cohen without disclosing the conflict-of-interest of him being a client, but you know, it's not like ethics matter at FOX, so...

Oh, stop! Hannity didn’t do anything illegal or unethical. He has the right to retain any lawyer he wants and as long as it doesn’t conflict with him and his job performance or uses his pulpit and if he asks legal questions pertaining to his show. Should he have disclosed that info with his viewers, not necessarily, but we live in an age where personal attacks are more important than facts.