The Fox News host was named as a Cohen client during a court hearing in April 2018, but he denies it.
Left, Yana Paskova, right, Taylor Hill, both Getty Images
Sean Hannity’s name did not come up during a lengthy public hearing on Wednesday, when lawyer Michael Cohen talked about his most famous client, President Donald Trump. That came as a surprise to some in the media, considering the previously disclosed relationship between the two.
Back in April 2018, Cohen’s lawyer Stephen Ryan said during a court hearing that his client represented Hannity. At the time, Fox News acknowledged that Hannity and Cohen had a relationship, saying at the time, “While Fox News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.”
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But, during an appearance on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning to discuss Cohen’s public testimony (along with the president’s North Korea summit), Hannity denied being his client and said that Cohen apologized to him for naming him as such.
“He apologized for once,” Hannity said. “His attorney, in court, said I was his client. That was never true, in any capacity. He apologized to me, and I did appreciate it.”
On the day he was named as a Cohen client, Hannity claimed that Cohen never formally represented him in legal matters but acknowledged that he occasionally “had brief discussions with him about legal questions that I wanted his input and perspective on.”
On Thursday, Hannity criticized congressional Democrats for putting his friend, Cohen, “in legal jeopardy” as a result of his testimony and responses. “How anybody could put him in that jeopardy is unimaginable to me,” he said.
