Sean Hannity, the Fox News host who has been waging war on the air against special counsel Robert Mueller and is an outspoken advocate for President Donald Trump, was revealed Monday as one of only three clients that Michael Cohen, the president's personal attorney, had during 2017 and 2018.
In a court filing earlier in the day, Cohen had sought to shield Hannity's name from becoming public. Cohen said he had three clients: Trump; Elliott Broidy, the former deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, who impregnated and then paid a woman with whom he had an affair; and a third party that Cohen said did not want to be identified.
During Monday’s proceedings, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ordered Cohen’s attorney to disclose the client's identity. The client is Hannity, Cohen's lawyer said.
It is not known why Cohen was representing Hannity.
Hannity confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that he'd received legal advice from Cohen.
"We have been friends a long time. I have sought legal advice from Michael," Hannity said.
Monday's proceedings stemmed from a motion for a temporary restraining order under which Cohen had sought to stop federal investigators from reviewing materials seized in a search warrant last week.
New court filings Monday indicated thatTrump wants to review some materials seized from Cohen during an FBI raid last week so he can determine which are protected by attorney-client privilege, according to a filing in federal court.
One of Trump's attorneys is asking a federal judge to give copies of all of Cohen's seized materials to Cohen to let him identify any materials that involve Trump, and then to allow Trump and his attorneys to see those materials to determine which the president asserts his privilege over and which he believes are OK for investigators to see, according to the filing on Sunday.
A letter that Cohen's lawyers sent to the court on Monday morning states that more than a dozen electronic devices and other items were seized.
The letter states also that the raid on Cohen was conducted in a climate of "growing public debate about whether criminal and congressional Investigations by the government are being undertaken impartially, free of any political bias or partisan motivation."
Federal prosecutors were slated to form a "privilege team," also known as a "taint team,” which will review which of the seized materials are considered to be privileged through attorney-client privilege and which materials can be turned over to the potential trial prosecutors and federal agents. That team is known as the investigative team.
Trump's attorney, Joanna Hendon, who was hired last week, says she wants to prohibit the taint team "from providing the Investigative Team with (a) any materials over which the President asserts a privilege without objection from the taint team, and (b) any materials that the Court rules are privileged over the taint team's objection."
Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006, attended the court proceedings.
In court filings, Cohen says that documents pertaining to himself and the Trump Organization have already been turned over to Mueller's office.
The specific focus of the investigation and possible federal crimes have not been disclosed by the U.S. attorney’s office, but in a filing on Friday they do confirm Cohen is under federal criminal investigation. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday the investigation that led them to raid Cohen's offices "largely centers on his personal business dealings" and has been going on for months.
Federal agents have already reviewed multiple email accounts maintained by Cohen as part of an ongoing grand jury investigation, according to the filing. That review has found that "Cohen is in fact performing little to no legal work, and that zero emails were exchanged with President Trump," prosecutors said in the filing.
FBI agents seized documents and devices in raids last week on Cohen's office and hotel room, seeking information about payments made to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. The White House and Cohen have denied that claim.
Cohen, 51, has denied wrongdoing. Trump has blasted the raid, calling it "an attack on our country" while reiterating his view that Mueller's investigation is a "witch hunt" and a "disgrace."
Trump last week broke his silence on the Daniels case, saying he was not aware of the payment made by Cohen to the porn actress just days before he was elected. The president also said he did not know where the $130,000 came from. Cohen has said it came out of his own pocket.
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