The Washington Post's Robert Costa, Sarah Ellison and Josh Dawsey published an excellent story today, outlining just how embedded Fox News personality Sean Hannity is with Donald Trump's White House.
Thanks to Hannity and Trump, Fox News is out and out state-sponsored propaganda..
The entanglement of other lawyers that represent Trump who also represent Hannity is just another example of how close-knit their relationship is. This rises to a level much above being a friend or TV show viewer.
Fox News's media critic Howard Kurtz came out today and criticized Hannity for not being transparent about his relationship with embattled Trump attorney Michael Cohen.
Did Fox News know about this? The prime-time host said his relationship with Cohen never rose to the level that he felt he had to inform his bosses. Here’s the problem: Hannity needed to inform his viewers. Even if his relationship with Cohen was merely that of a friend who informally provided some legal guidance, Michael Cohen has been very much in the news.
---But his viewers didn't know he was talking about a friend who has given him legal advice. That was a mistake.
It was more than a mistake. It was an intentional action by Hannity to mislead the public, Fox News and his viewers. Hannity should have been at least suspended for this action by Fox News executives. Instead, they doubled down on their support for him.
And lest we forget, it was during criminal court proceedings where Michael Cohen's lawyers tried to hide Sean's name from the public (at Hannity's request!), that the nature of their relationship was revealed.
And in the new Washington Post piece, Hannity’s role with Trump is shown to be much deeper than we thought. "Hannity's rising role in Trump’s world: ‘He basically has a desk in the place’
Trump and Hannity usually speak several times a week, according to people familiar with their relationship. The Fox News host, whose show averages more than 3 million viewers daily, is one of the few people who gets patched immediately to Trump. The two men review news stories and aspects of Hannity’s show, and occasionally debate specifics about whatever the president is considering typing out on Twitter. There have also been times when Trump has assessed the merits of various White House aides with Hannity.
The frequency of Hannity’s contact with Trump means that “he basically has a desk in the place,” one presidential adviser said.
Hannity is much more than a friend: in fact, he acts more like Kellyanne Conway than she does since he's on-air five times a week on his radio program and his Fox News program.
The two coordinate together in more than just discussing the many attacks on Robert Mueller's character, but also what the president tweets and who he should hire and fire.
No television news network executive would ever allow one of their hosts to work as a presidential advisor and then as a opinion/news personality.
It is unethical.
If Donald Trump wants to collude with Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity, he should hire them as part of the White House staff.
Fox News' Rupert Murdoch and the entire management staff have a lot to answer for.
And Hannity should be immediately fired.
