White House ties exposed

Fox News’ biggest star Sean Hannity has long been one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders on cable TV, and now it turns out that they also share a lawyer.

Lawyers for Michael Cohen revealed the association with Hannity in a New York City courtroom Monday, saying the host is one of Cohen’s three recent clients.

Cohen, who is under criminal investigation by US prosecutors for possible bank and wire fraud, is Trump’s longtime lawyer. Cohen said he paid $130,000 (Dh477,425) to adult-film star Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, for her silence on an alleged affair with Trump.

Cohen’s other client is Elliott Broidy, a fund-raiser who resigned from the Republican National Committee after it was disclosed that he and Cohen paid $1.6 million to a Playboy Playmate with whom he had an extramarital affair.

The Hannity revelation illustrates how close the ties are between the White House and Fox News. Former star anchor Bill O’Reilly, for example, also shared a lawyer with Trump, Marc E. Kasowitz. The president is also an avid viewer of Fox News and his tweets often appear to be prompted in part by segments on shows like Fox and

Friends. Hannity said he had known Cohen for a long time. He said they had brief discussions about legal questions, that he never paid legal fees and that his work with Cohen never involved a third party.

‘I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective,’ Hannity said in a statement sent by Fox News. ‘I assumed those conversations were confidential, but to be absolutely clear, they never involved any matter between me and a third party.’