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Just as he did with Michael Cohen, Sean Hannity is suggesting that his involvement with his own real estate empire is so minimal that there was no reason to disclose his stake in policies and people he covered.
Yesterday, The Guardian did a deep dive into Hannity’s real estate holdings (with a publishing date of today). My three takeaways: Hannity appears to be slumlord; he made money on foreclosures even as he attacked President Barack Obama over the foreclosure rate; Hannity did not disclose that he substantially benefitted from support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development during a chummy interview with HUD Secretary Ben Carson last year.
Today, Hannity painted himself as a victim in a statement, titled, "Sean Hannity Responds to Latest Fake News Attack." Yet Hannity did not dispute any of the facts in The Guardian report. Instead, he suggested his role in his own empire was too minimal to obligate him to disclose his stake in the subjects he was covering on the air:
“The fact is, these are investments that I do not individually select, control, or know the details about; except that obviously I believe in putting my money to work in communities that otherwise struggle to receive such support.
I have never discussed with anybody at HUD the original loans that were obtained in the Obama years, nor the subsequent refinance of such loans, as they are a private matter. I had no role in, or responsibility for, any HUD involvement in any of these investments. I can say that every rigorous process and strict standard of improvement requirements were followed; all were met, fulfilled and inspected.”
With all due respect to Hannity, The Guardian did not allege that Hannity or anyone else involved in his real estate holdings had engaged in any legal or regulatory hanky-panky. The reporting was about the vast extent of his real estate holdings that he has worked to keep private. The hanky-panky occurred in Hannity’s role as a cable news host.
And there’s no way he can blame what he said or, more importantly, failed to say on anyone else.
This "I don't owe anyone an explanation about my conflict of interest" echoes Hannity's attitude when it was revealed that he was a client or sort of a client of embattled Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Watch Hannity excuse his failure to disclose his relationship with Michael Cohen below, from the April 16, 2018 Hannity.
(Hannity image via screen grab)
For your information, Pie’s companies SPMK (Sean Patrick Merri Kelly) named after his children.
Coming down the pipeline:
1. The investigation
2. IRS
3. Foreign banks
4. Money laundry
5. Crooked friends
Psst! Pie won’t talk about his 2007 involvement with Prodigal House property in Port Jefferson Station on Long Island. Pie hooked them up with the property and as a bonus Merri Jill decorated it for Christmas. The Summers lost the house because the funds dried up.
NOTE TO HANNITY
A listing of your properties is coming down the pipeline. Another article about you is on its way. The suits at Fox “News” will not be happy reading it.
Clearly, he’s feeling it. And I still say that Avenatti is right, that more embarrassing information will come out about him in the Cohen documents.
How very Christian of him. Voracious right-wing Republican Christian, that is.
The reality here is that yes, Hannity is apparently a slumlord in multiple states, and he’s using shell companies to try to hide his involvement in the ventures. If he was such a generous benefactor of the common man, he wouldn’t need shell companies – he’d be talking about the good work he does and trying to play it up to score political points for himself.
From what I can see, there’s nothing illegal in Hannity’s actions here – but that doesn’t mean his behavior is ethically or morally defensible. It just goes to show his character, or lack thereof.