Sean Hannity Backs Donald Trump On Michael Cohen, Says Cohen Confessed He Was Only One Involved in Hush Money Payments

Fox News host Sean Hannity sat down with President Donald Trump on Thursday following the abrupt end to Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

As the pair discussed North Korea and the president's decision to walk away from further talks with Kim, Hannity brought up the testimony of Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to members of Congress on Wednesday.

Trump said that Cohen was a liar with "a lot of problems" and that Cohen confirmed in his testimony that there was no collusion with Russia.

"He lied about so many things and yet he could have said, he might as well lie about that one too, but he said no collusion," Trump said. "And everybody said no collusion. Richard Burr, Senator Burr, said no collusion. Senate Intelligence, the House has come up, the committee, as you know....Devin Nunes and all, they said no collusion, and yet it goes on and on."

Trump went on to call the investigation a hoax and a witch hunt that "shouldn't happen to another president" before saying he was the most successful president with two years in office.

Hannity responded by saying that he had interviewed Cohen "many times over the years" and that the lawyer was never his personal attorney. However, one of Cohen's lawyers, Stephen Ryan, identified the Fox News host as Cohen's third legal client after his home, office and safe-deposit box were raided by the FBI in April 2018.

Hannity had dismissed the allegations several times, stating that while he sought legal advice from Cohen, he never paid any fees, and Cohen never represented him in any legal matters.

"I interviewed him multiple times on radio and TV. He was never my attorney," Hannity told Trump during their interview Thursday. "I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times that he made the decision on the payments and he didn't tell you. He told me personally."

Hannity's claim sparked several reactions on Twitter, including one from Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and current legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, who retweeted Hannity's statement to Trump from Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Ballhaus.

"Right, and then Trump paid Cohen back anyway because he's such a nice guy. SDNY should subpoena Hannity. No Attorney-client priv [sic] here & he didn't learn this in his capacity as a "journalist,"" Rocah said.

National security lawyer Bradley P. Moss also weighed in on Hannity's statement, retweeting Ballhaus to add, "Hannity just made himself a witness in a congressional inquiry and the SDNY probe."

While House Democrats announced their intentions to open more investigations into Trump, including the president's finances and the Trump Organization, after hearing Cohen's testimony, many legal experts have said that the ongoing investigation by the Southern District of New York could prove more damaging to the president than Robert Mueller's ongoing probe.

Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, is expected to be called to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee. Weisselberg has already been granted immunity by the SDNY and is working with prosecutors in that investigation. Weisselberg began working with federal authorities in 2018 regarding hush money payments Cohen made to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump prior to his election to the White House.

Cohen repeatedly listed Weisselberg as a co-conspirator in alleged crimes during his testimony on Wednesday.

Trump repeatedly denied knowing that Cohen made payments, including during Thursday's interview with Hannity. However, Cohen presented two checks during his testimony—one from Trump's personal account, which was signed by the president, and one from the Trump Organization, signed by Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. and Weisselberg—stating that the checks were reimbursements for the payments Cohen made to keep the two women quiet about the alleged affairs. However, it is unclear if Trump, Donald Trump Jr. or Weisselberg were aware of what the checks were written for.

The SDNY's investigation, according to CNN, also involves Trump's inauguration committee and potential crimes of wire fraud, money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy against the U.S., among other allegations.