The Guardian reports:
When Sean Hannity was named in court this week as a client of Donald Trump’s embattled legal fixer Michael Cohen, the Fox News host insisted their discussions had been limited to the subject of buying property.
“I’ve said many times on my radio show: I hate the stock market, I prefer real estate. Michael knows real estate,” Hannity said on television, a few hours after the dramatic hearing in Manhattan, where Cohen is under criminal investigation.
Hannity’s chosen investment strategy is confirmed by thousands of pages of public records reviewed by the Guardian, which detail a real estate portfolio of remarkable scale that has not previously been reported. The records link Hannity to a group of shell companies that spent at least $90m on more than 870 homes in seven states over the past decade.
The properties range from luxurious mansions to rentals for low-income families. Hannity is the hidden owner behind some of the shell companies and his attorney did not dispute that he owns all of them.
The Hill reports:
For some of the mortgages, Hannity reportedly obtained funding from HUD under the National Housing Act loan program, which was first guaranteed under President Obama’s administration.
Secretary Ben Carson’s department recently increased Hannity’s original $17.9 million mortgage for purchases in Georgia by an additional $5 million, records show.
Hannity did not disclose his cooperation with HUD when he had Carson on his show last June. During that segment, Hannity railed against the state of public housing and praised Carson, telling him, “you’ve done a good job.”
“I like the idea of them owning the place,” Hannity said of people who receive housing assistance from Carson’s agency.
HUD and Fox have refused to comment.