gracchusdixit

Less than 24 hours ago, the three-ring circus that is the presidency of Donald J. Trump stumbled into what may be its most absurd and hilarious episode thus far.  The scene was a federal courtroom in lower Manhattan, presided over Kimba Wood, a distinguished and widely respected judge, who was appointed three decades ago by the chief god in the Republican political pantheon, Ronald Reagan.  

At issue was the fate of a trove of documents swept up in a recent FBI raid on the home,  hotel room, and office of Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney and self-proclaimed “fixer”.  The feds obtained a search warrant to conduct this raid, having convinced a court that “probable cause” existed to think that Cohen is involved in a series of crimes, including bank and wire fraud as well as violations of federal election law.

Cohen’s attorneys, joined by a brand new lawyer for Trump, argued that the raid violated “attorney-client privilege”.  They asked that the documents be turned over to them, so that they could decide which do, or do not, violate attorney-client privilege.  It scarcely needs saying that Judge Wood didn’t buy this argument, since it would be tantamount to handing over the keys to your home to an admitted arsonist.

In advancing this ridiculous argument, Cohen and his lawyers stepped into a logical and legal trap.  The claim to attorney-client privilege could only be made if Cohen was indeed acting as an attorney and had the clients to prove it.  The judge accordingly demanded that he produce a list of his clients.  After much dilatory huffing and puffing, Cohen’s lawyers were forced to comply.

They revealed that, in the last two years, Michael has had only three clients.  One is Donald Trump.  Another is the former head of the Republican Party’s national fund-raising operation, who was forced to resign in disgrace, after paying $1.6 million to a woman he had impregnated during an extra-marital affair, a payment arranged by Michael Cohen.  At first, Cohen’s lawyers declined to reveal the name of his third client, on the grounds that said client is a public figure and would be embarrassed by the revelation.  Once again, Judge Wood was having none of it.  She insisted.  And that’s when the bomb went off.

Michael Cohen’s lawyers revealed his third client to be none other that Sean Hannity, the right-wing radio talk show host who became, after the forced departure of Bill O’Reilly, the reigning superstar on Fox News Channel.  He has also become Donald Trump’s most ardent and vociferous defender, leading the charge to smear the motives of Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s attack on the 2016 election and the possible complicity of the Trump campaign in that attack.  Just days ago, Hannity decried the raid on Michael Cohen as an “off the rails” conspiracy to impeach and bring down the president. 

You can imagine the reaction in the courtroom when it was revealed that Hannity and the President of the United States share the same attorney.  Those who were there say that the room, packed with journalists, exploded in a cacophony of gasps, groans, and barely suppressed laughter.  

In the hours that followed, Hannity served up a mulligan’s stew of excuses:  that Cohen was never his attorney in a “traditional” sense, that their legal discussions never involved a “third party,” that he never received or paid any bills for Cohen’s legal services, and so on.  None of this, coming as it does from a congenital liar like Hannity, has even a shred of credibility, except to the Luddites in his audience, who would believe the man if he declared that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

What is abundantly clear is that both Sean Hannity and Michael Cohen were desperate to keep their relationship a secret.  Indeed, it has been reported that Hannity wanted Cohen’s attorneys to file an immediate appeal if the judge demanded his name to be made public.  The only logical conclusion is that Hannity was afraid, and the likely reason for that fear is naked self-interest.  

On Fox News Channel, Hannity plays the part of a disinterested journalist, outraged by what he deems to be the unfair and conspiratorial persecution of a duly elected President of the United States.  Playing this fictional part has made him enormously rich and has endowed him with outsized influence.   Hannity has become Donald Trump’s favorite confidant and lap dog, and he has mined this new-found status for everything it’s worth.

There are those in the so-called “mainstream media” who proclaim themselves to be shocked and offended by Hannity’s hypocrisy, lack of transparency, and conflicts of interest. They ask why Fox News Channel isn’t doing more to hold him accountable.  

To these critics, all I can say is:  where have you been for the last 20 years?  There are, to be sure, some real journalists at Fox News Channel, but Sean Hannity is not, and never has been, one of them.  To criticize him for failing to abide by the standards of journalism therefore misses the point.  The point is that he is, and always has been, a self-interested huckster, and the same can be said for the company he works for.  Why would anyone expect Fox News Channel to demand any sort of accountability from a man who is, in the end, nothing more than a right-wing money machine? 

Now, thanks to a Reagan-appointed federal judge in the Southern District of New York, Sean Hannity, Michael Cohen, and Donald J. Trump have been revealed to be the corrupt and self-dealing hucksters they are.   Whether any of this will make a difference is anyone’s guess.  But somehow I doubt it.  As the saying goes:  you can’t make this stuff up.