Lawyer For CNN And NYT Is Responsible For The Unmasking Of Sean Hannity’s Name

Well well well. Isn’t this interesting?

The other day, Sean Hannity was revealed as Michael Cohen’s mysterious third client. The judge forced Cohen to disclose his name.

Long story short, Hannity said he’s known Cohen for years and would casually throw him $10 and ask for advice about real estate.

“Let me set the record straight,” Hannity said on his show. “Here’s the truth. Michael Cohen never represented me represented me in any legal manner. I never retained his services. I never received an invoice. I never paid Michael Cohen for legal fees. I did have occasional brief conversations with Michael Cohen. He is a great attorney, about legal questions I had. Or I was looking for input and perspective. My discussions with Michael Cohen never rose to any level that I needed to tell anyone that I was asking him questions. To be absolutely clear, they never involved any matter with a third party.”

In addition, Fox News is standing by him:

While FOX News was unaware of Sean Hannity’s informal relationship with Michael Cohen and was surprised by the announcement in court yesterday, we have reviewed the matter and spoken to Sean and he continues to have our full support.

It looks like this is pretty much blowing over, but there’s an interesting detail that recently emerged. Hannity’s name would’ve remained sealed if not for the plea of a CNN/NYT attorney.

Before the name was revealed, Mr. Ryan argued that the mystery client was a “prominent person” who wanted to keep his identity a secret because he would be “embarrassed” to be identified as having sought Mr. Cohen’s counsel.

Robert D. Balin, a lawyer for various media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN and others, interrupted the hearing to argue that embarrassment was not a sufficient cause to withhold a client’s name, and Judge Wood agreed.

After Mr. Hannity was named, there were audible gasps from the spectators.

A note about this: Judge Wood was prepared to let Ryan give her the name of Cohen’s third client under seal. At that point, an attorney for the NYT and CNN approached the podium and convinced her that the press (&public) should know. She agreed. He played pivotal role here. https://t.co/nbJUaAw4Ys

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 17, 2018

Robert Balin is the attorney’s name. Thanks everyone who commented with it!

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 17, 2018

I was in court yesterday and if it wasn’t for the attorney representing the press, Sean Hannity’s name would have been filed under seal. Judge Kimba Wood was ready to accept the name under seal, when the attorney representing the press stood up and argued successfully against it

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) April 17, 2018

MSM man. I’m tellin’ ya…

h/t Twitchy