Last week, Fox News host Sean Hannity was revealed to be a client of embattled attorney Michael Cohen, also known as President Donald Trump's "fixer." On Sunday, we learned that Hannity has millions of dollars in real estate holdings that he acquired with the assistance of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to reporting by The Guardian, Hannity's $90 million real estate portfolio was never disclosed; Hannity has admitted he spoke to Cohen about buying real estate, but the breadth of his investments were not publicly known until Sunday. The holdings are spread across dozens of shell companies in several states.
Documents obtained by The Guardian also showed that HUD, run by Secretary Ben Carson (who has some other ethics scandals following him around), granted loans to Hannity that allow him to convert his rentals into condos.
"Late last month, Hannity's mortgages were replaced with loans for $22.9m that were rewritten with Carson's Hud and a new bank. There was no indication that Carson was personally involved in the process. Carson does, however, have the authority to allow Hannity from 2019 to convert the rental complexes into condominiums for sale, which could be lucrative for the television host."
"The entire portfolio connected to Hannity comprises at least 877 residential units, which were bought for a total of just under $89m. Another seven properties bought by the companies over recent years have subsequently been sold on for more than $4m, according to public records."
Hannity's LLCs purchased many of the properties in foreclosure. The hypocrisy, however, lies in Hannity's 2013 criticism of the U.S foreclosure rate, for which he railed against President Obama, only to then use it to his own financial advantage..
The holdings are evidence that neither Hannity nor Cohen have been truthful in the nature of their relationship pertaining to real estate, something which Twitter noticed, and for which Hannity needs to account.
