What do you do when the host of your No. 1 time slot becomes part of the story? If you’re Fox News and that host is ratings-magnet Sean Hannity, then you give the guy a pass.
On Monday, it came out in court that Hannity was a client of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer whose office was raided on April 9. Aside from Cohen’s well-publicized payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an affair with Trump quiet, the attorney arranged for former GOP fund-raiser Elliott Broidy to pay $1.6 million to a former Playboy model who had become pregnant after an affair.
The fact that Hannity is being included in the same client list as Trump and Broidy caused the host to make multiple statements that his discussions with Cohen didn’t involve issues with a “third party.” Hannity hasn’t expanded on what he meant by that, but it’s easy to guess.
Hannity made statements on his radio show and Fox News spot, where he spoke briefly about his relationship with Cohen after a montage of anchors saying his name over and over and over again. Wearing an American flag pin, he said he spoke with Cohen occasionally regarding legal questions he had. So far, Hannity hasn’t said what they discussed exactly beyond that it had to do with real estate, and although at one point he claimed he hadn’t paid Cohen legal fees or retained his services, he later said he “might have handed him 10 bucks” and had wanted attorney-client privilege.
Cohen had appeared on Hannity’s show in the past, but they never disclosed that Cohen was Hannity’s lawyer. During an appearance last year, Hannity called Cohen “a personal friend of mine, long before this election ever started.”
For a network that muddles hyperpartisan commentary with conservative-leaning news coverage, the Hannity revelation has put Fox News in an awkward position when it comes to how its personalities and hard-news anchors should address the issue. Hannity has served as an adviser to Trump and his 2016 campaign, so in a sense this just adds to the conflicts of interest for one of the president’s biggest defenders. But the nature of this story isn’t the kind of thing the network can just release statements on, hoping it will go away, because it won’t.
Fox News has a track record of defending popular hosts during controversy, such as Bill O-Reilly. In a statement on Tuesday, the network expressed surprise to learn about Hannity’s legal relationship with Cohen, but said the host has Fox News’ “full support.”
Tucker Carlson, the Shirley to Hannity’s Laverne, had already set the tone for the network’s response on Monday. “Keep in mind: Sean Hannity is a talk show host,” he said. “He’s not under investigation by anyone for anything. Who he hires as a lawyer, and why, is nobody’s business.”
But during the next time slot – Hannity’s show – his own guest told him he should have disclosed his relationship with Cohen. A co-host for “The Five,” Juan Williams, brought up that point, as well.
The most telling example of how Fox News plans to handle the story came up in a segment Tuesday morning from correspondent Laura Ingle and America’s Newsroom co-host Sandra Smith. During a conversation on Cohen, they briefly discussed the news about Hannity. Then they spent an almost equal amount of time on Stormy Daniels, who Ingle said made Cohen’s hearing on Monday “chaotic.”
Giving those topics equal time and equal emphasis shows us the network’s priorities – and in under three minutes.
Contact Mollie Bryant at 405-990-0988 or bryant@bigiftrue.org. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Follow Big If True on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.