Thread: FOX NEWS HAS A PROBLEM

Fox News has a problem.
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ANALYSIS
One of the network's top hosts is named in court as a client of Trump attorney Michael Cohen


Stelter: Sean Hannity has few rules, and now Fox News has a problem

by Brian Stelter @brianstelterApril 16, 2018: 5:27 PM ET


Sean Hannity operates at Fox News with few rules. He seemingly says and does whatever he wants, even when it embarrasses his own colleagues.

With his high ratings come huge headaches for Fox. Case in point: Monday's courtroom revelation about Hannity being a client of President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen.

While his off-air relationships might be just a logical extension of Hannity's on-air cheerleading for Trump, it still came as a surprise, immediately raising questions about both Hannity and Fox.

By any standards of any normal newsroom, the Cohen-Hannity relationship is a glaring conflict of interest.

Fox is not a normal newsroom. And Hannity's viewers are not typical news viewers -- people who watch almost any other show would likely feel lied to when they learned something like this had not been disclosed to them, but Hannity's want him to have this kind of relationship with Trumpworld.

Related: Michael Cohen's mystery third client is Sean Hannity

Still, Fox will still have to address these issues. A network spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the matter on Monday.

Monday's disclosure demonstrates just how tight-knit the pro-Trump media world is. Not only does Hannity advise Trump, not only does Trump promote Hannity's show, not only does Hannity attack Trump's critics -- Hannity and Trump even share the same lawyer.

Cohen is one kind of Trump protector, Hannity is another kind.

Hannity is downplaying the extent of the lawyer-client relationship between himself and Cohen. On his radio show Monday afternoon, he said he has "eight" different lawyers, and that he never paid Cohen any legal fees.

"I never retained him in the traditional sense as retaining a lawyer; I never received an invoice from Michael; I never paid legal fees to Michael, but I have, occasionally, had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective," Hannity said on the radio.

But even according to Hannity's account, he was taking free legal advice from someone on the president's payroll.

Hannity has not disclosed that fact during his on-air discussions about Cohen.

In the television news business on Monday, reporters and producers exchanged "can you believe this?" emails and texts.

Hannity's detractors pounced right away.

Simon Maloy of the anti-Fox group Media Matters tweeted: "Pause for a moment to reflect upon what one Sean Hannity might do with news that an MSNBC personality had hidden a relationship with a Clinton attorney under criminal investigation."

Even a fellow Fox host, Juan Williams, raised this issue on the network's 5 p.m. talk show "The Five" Monday evening.

"The question for me is why Sean didn't disclose this earlier," Williams said.

But Fox sometimes asserts that Hannity plays by different rules. While "News" is in the Fox name, Hannity proudly says he's not a journalist. In fact, he likes to say journalism is "dead."

Fox treats the 9 p.m. "Hannity" talk show -- and many of its other high-rated shows -- as opinion products, not newscasts.

Some of the standards that apply to Shep Smith and Bret Baier definitely do not apply to Hannity.

But Hannity, an entertainer at heart, blurs the lines all the time -- for example by calling his show "real news" and by asserting that he has anonymous sources.

Now it's even blurrier.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/16/medi...est/index.html

Why would that be a "problem"? Is there some law against using Michael Cohen for real estate advice? He's pretty knowledgeable on that subject.

Seth Abramson
(@SethAbramson)

In one fell swoop, Hannity: 1 Says Cohen lied to a federal court about being his lawyer 2 Says any docs about him the feds seized aren't privileged 3 Makes himself a witness for Mueller 4 Revealed an undisclosed on-air conflict of interest 5 Contradicts what he said on the radio twitter.com/seanhannity…
4 hours ago · Twitter


Steve Vladeck
(@steve_vladeck)

Dear @seanhannity: Until you admit that you've had a massive conflict of interest in bashing the Cohen searches and trying to discredit the warrants that gave rise to them, I don't think you get to criticize other people for having a potential conflict of interest. Ever.
6 hours ago · Twitter


Oliver Darcy
(@oliverdarcy)

I asked Fox News multiple times today whether network brass was aware Hannity was Cohen's 3rd client. Haven't received an answer. Also unclear: Whether Hannity will face disciplinary action for concealing glaring conflict of interest from his viewers. money.cnn.com/2018/04/1…
3 hours ago · Twitter


The Daily Beast
(@thedailybeast)

CNN's Anderson Cooper calls out Sean Hannity's massive conflict of interest with Michael Cohen, @mattwilstein reports thebea.st/2ERVvjA
9 mins ago · Twitter


Matthew Gertz
(@MattGertz)

1) Sean Hannity is constantly claiming that Robert Mueller et al have conflicts of interest, cannot be trusted, and should step down. 2) Sean Hannity hasn't been disclosing that Michael Cohen was his lawyer while reporting about him. 🤔🤔🤔
4 hours ago · Twitter


Rob Elgas
(@RobElgasABC7)

Remember (most) journalists are required by their employers to disclose a conflict of interest in a story they are covering. I've been pulled from a local story in the past because I told my boss. It's one of the most basic and important roles of being an unbiased reporter.
5 hours ago · Twitter


Scott Dworkin
(@funder)

Sean Hannity was using @FoxNews to attack the FBI’s raid on his personal attorney Michael Cohen. There are conflicts of interest here I’ve never even seen before. This is bad. #FireHannity twitter.com/seanhannity…
6 hours ago · Twitter


Sean Hannity has few rules, and now Fox News has a problem ...

money.cnn.com/2018/04/16/media/sean-hannity-conflicts-of-interest/index.html

4 hours ago - While his off-air relationships might be just a logical extension of Hannity's on-air cheerleading for Trump, it still came as a surprise, immediately raising questions about both Hannity and Fox. By any standards of any normal newsroom, the Cohen-Hannityrelationship is a glaring conflict of interest. Fox is ...


CNN's Anderson Cooper Calls Out Sean Hannity's Massive Conflict of ...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cnns-anderson-cooper-calls-out-sean-hannitys-massive...

23 mins ago - Fox News anchors have hesitant to criticize their colleague Sean Hannity in light of today's news that he was represented in some fashion by President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. But CNN's Anderson Cooper did not hold back in condemning Hannity's blatant conflict of interest at the ...


Hannity & Cohen: The Fox News Host and the Trump Lawyer - The ...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/04/sean-hannity-is...no.../558167/

4 hours ago - These views align with Trump's, so it's likely thatHannity would have espoused them anyway. We now know, however, that his coverage represents a huge conflict of interest. By concealing—not just by omission, but by commission, in requesting that his involvement be kept anonymous—his relationship ...


Sean Hannity Was Apoplectic Over The FBI Raid Of Michael Cohen ...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/.../sean-hannity-michael-cohen_us_5ad4fbbee4b0ed...

4 hours ago - The Fox News host never disclosed his conflict of interest when covering the raid.


Fox News host Sean Hannity revealed as Michael Cohen's mystery ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/.../trump-wants-review-some-materials-seized-cohen-fbi-rai...

13 hours ago - “Why doesn't @FoxNews have a conflict of interestpolicy requiring Hannity to disclose his personal interest in the Cohen search when commenting on it?” tweeted Walter Shaub, the former director of the independent Office of Government Ethics. A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately respond ...


Michael Cohen Has Also Been Representing … Sean Hannity! - NYMag

nymag.com/daily/.../04/michael-cohen-has-also-been-representingsean-hannity.html

6 hours ago - Hannity has been on this conspiratorial trip since President Trump took office, but now we know that he had an extra, very personal stake in the latest phase of the multiple investigations into Trump-related malfeasance. And while Hannity is not known for avoiding conflict of interest, or for ethical journalism ...


Could Sean Hannity's relationship with Michael Cohen pose a ...

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5 hours ago - As Twitchy told you, Michael Cohen's mysterious third client has been revealed as Sean Hannity. Hannity himself has confirmed the reports. But lost among the frenzy is a pretty important question: Was there a conflict of interest? So was Hannitya client of Michael Cohen last April when he was a guest?


'Can you say conflict of interest?': Colbert pieces together hilarious ...

https://www.rawstory.com/.../can-say-conflict-interest-colbert-pieces-together-hilariou...

54 mins ago - “The Late Show has acquired a sneak peek of tonight'sHannity,” the clip's teaser reads before launching into the fake intro segment regarding the day's news. “This is a Fox News alert,”Hannity said in the clip. “President Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen is my attorney and I defended him ...

LOL!! The sad thing about DemoQuack lawyers and pundits is a) they have no sense of humor b) they're perverts and peepers and c) they don't know how deep in the quicksand they have already sunk.

"A" Problem?

LOL

"Not a client"

NO "Client-Lawyer Privilege."
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In the law of the United States, attorney–client privilege or lawyer–client privilege is a "client's right privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications between the client and the attorney."

Attorney–client privilege - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attorney–client_privilege

It will be a real reveal when democrats who work and comment in the media have to disclose their relationships. Start with George Stephanopoulos, Jake Tapper.

This evening, Sean Hannity is outlining a long list of democrats and their marriage, familial, friend, causes connections.