Newly unsealed Manafort documents show thousands of his messages with Sean Hannity.
At one point, Hannity tells Manafort: “I’ll be in the cell next to u.” pic.twitter.com/aRC93IwEVX
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) June 21, 2019
Earlier today new documents were unsealed from the Manafort case. They are chat logs from 2017 and include text messages between Hannity and Manafort during the investigation into and prosecution of Manafort. They can be found at this link or below.
? Chat logs from 2017 between Paul Manafort and a Trump ally named SEAN, who appears to present an evening television show, were just unsealed in Manafort's case in D.C.
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) June 21, 2019
Among other interesting, not so interesting, and explosive information in them, it appears that Manafort was using Hannity and his Fox News show to launder information into his legal filings with the court. This was done through Sara Carter, who claims to be a national security specialist (she isn’t), but who is a protege of the execrable John Solomon who has been laundering right wing conspiracy theories since the late 1980s/early 1990s.
Fox News is a nutshell:
Manafort's representative briefed @SaraCarterDC on his arguments. @seanhannity was aware of this and featured her so she could make those arguments. Then Manafort's attorney used her statements in his legal filing to help his case. https://t.co/060XT8Ev7u
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) June 21, 2019
Here’s the specific section that was tweeted by Brad Heath and that Mariotti is referring to:
Here’s another one tweeted by Heath where Manafort is complaining about former Attorney General Jeff Sessions with an empathetic Hannity.
I haven’t had a chance to read through all 56 pages yet, but it is very interesting that Hannity is Client 3, in touch with Julian Assange in an attempt to get information to broadcast, and is in touch with Manafort in an attempt to get information to broadcast that is then laundered back into Manafort’s court filings.
Just one more bit of evidence about how Fox News coordinates the information that it broadcasts with Republican and conservative movement elites and notables. Makes you wonder who else Hannity regularly texts with and what about?
Open thread!
japa21
Of all the despicable, deplorable people at Fox, and there are plenty, Hannity may well be the worst of the lot.
trollhattan
For the love of God, if you will but grant us a single time Hannity is correct, let it be this.
germy
Has hannity responded publicly to this latest news? Or is he keeping silent?
EDIT:
Okay, here he is:
Another Scott
About the 27th least surprising thing today.
It’s almost as if Fox News was set up to be a mouthpiece of the GOP and its operatives:
Sorry for the potential side-track.
Thanks for digging into the weeds on this.
Cheers,
Scott.
trollhattan
Suppose there’s a first time for everything.
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
Trying to imagine a Nixon-era Fox News.
News anchor Joey Heatherton and political commentary by Phyllis Schlafly.
germy
@trollhattan:
Shannity is incapable of keeping silent, unless his own interests are threatened.
Then he’ll be quiet as a mouse.
TenguPhule
People are routinely convicted with less evidence then this.
debbie
@Another Scott:
Hmm, I checked and nothing from @real_dick_nixon on this yet.
Another Scott
DDale8:
Just another day ending in “y”. :-/
Every woman in the USA, and every man who has ever loved a woman, should (if the[y] can) read the excerpt of her upcoming book. And get (more) outraged.
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
A year or two ago — honestly, I have no sense of time in this timeline — it was disclosed that Sean Hannity was one of a very few “legal clients” of Michael Cohen. He later claimed, I think on his TV program that evening, that Cohen was an acquaintance and he (SH) had chatted briefly with him (MC) once or twice, just in general, about real estate. Anybody remember more details than I do? Would the Hannity-Cohen relationship be part of this business, or is it mostly unrelated?
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
That was a very tough read. She’s a good writer.
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hannity is “client number three.”
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: LawAndCrime:
Right? Who knows…
FWIW.
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
germy
@trollhattan: I thought her name sounded familiar, and then I remembered: I bought one of her books a few decades ago, a biography of Hunter S. Thompson.
germy
SiubhanDuinne
@trollhattan: @Another Scott:
Thanks to you both for the links. I guess what I’m really wondering is whether any part of the Hannity-Cohen relationship intersects with any part of the Hannity-Manafort relationship. And I realize I’m asking for speculation.
I guess we’ll know, sooner or later.
germy
Dave Sirota claims he lost his sight for a few hours, and then regained it, so he couldn’t have written the tweet from Bernie. Although he could see well enough to retweet it.
trollhattan
@germy:
Which goes a long way in explaining the hot tub story. She researched HST like HST researched the Hell’s Angels.
debbie
@trollhattan:
It was stomach-turningly familiar.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Once again, Elizabeth Warren was right not to go on Fox
debbie
@germy:
He used that line for a couple of accusers during the campaign, I believe.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@germy: what was the tweet?
debbie
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Heh. Biden should be a regular, what with all his reaching out and willingness to work with those who disagree with him.
MattF
Color me unsurprised. Long-term contact with Manafort or Cohen is a strong indication of criminality.
germy
@debbie:
I think you’re right, and as I recall there was also photographic evidence with some of the women.
“I’ve never met that woman I was photographed with!” He’s a world-class bullshitter. I’ve bought used cars from men like him.
SiubhanDuinne
@trollhattan:
Not for the first time, my puzzled initial reaction betrays my age: To me, “HST” will always be “Harry S Truman.”
germy
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: The one that was perceived as an attack on Warren. Betty Cracker front paged it a few days ago.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Me too. And I read that part of the article! Hard to imagine Harry in a hot tub.
germy
germy
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@germy:
It gets
betterworsegoogle search: “Sanders: Warren Is Surging Because She’s Got Ovaries”
chopper
dear sean,
you are a toilet seat that smokes a cigar
forever that is what you are
a toilet seat that smokes a cigar
chris
@SiubhanDuinne: Harmonised Sales Tax standing right here!
Renie
Please just tell me this means Hannity is going to jail or at least off air. I despise him
japa21
@germy: That is an insult to used car salespeople. I never met a one with the banal evilness, dishonesty and overall amorality that Trump exhibits. Not saying they are the paragon of the opposite of those characteristics, but they don’t come close to Trump.
debbie
@germy:
FWIW, getting dilated for an eye exam usually means waiting about 6 hours before your pupils go back to being normal-sized, at least in my experience.
Chyron HR
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Imagine what it’s like to be Bernie Sanders–a man who chose to destroy America (and quite possibly human civilization entirely) just to ensure that there would be a Democratic primary in 2020. And now he’s in third place.
SiubhanDuinne
@chris:
I’ll see your Harmonized Sales Tax and raise you a Hubble Space Telescope!
germy
@debbie: During the time he claims he was vision-impaired, he retweeted Bernie’s tweet (the one we suspect he wrote himself).
Later, he deleted the vision tweet.
He’s a fundamentally dishonest person.
Raven
@trollhattan: I wonder if she was the lady in the fur coat?
Roger Moore
@germy:
And look at who hired him as a speechwriter.
joel hanes
Remember also that Cohen had exactly three clients :
Trump — to quash stories of his louche behavior
Eliot Broidy — to provide an alibi for Trump supra by pretending to be the perp
Sean Hannity — for what, exactly ?
Hannity claims to have “talked with him”, but denies that money changed hands.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Have not yet watched any of it (although reviews seem to rate it okay) however thought you might possibly be passingly interested in this unusual Prime find: Gogol.
Immanentize
@Roger Moore:
Has anyone asked Bernie about chief employee’s vision issues?
I hate Sirota.
joel hanes
@debbie:
My ophthalmologist has this camera machine that makes a hires image of the retina, without dilation. He says that he very seldom has to use drops at all any more.
But I remember atropine and dark-camera-film disposable sunglasses.
Things had auras.
A Ghost To Most
Anybody who tries to tell me that repealing the Fairness Doctrine didn’t play a central role in the ascendance of these fascists just might get cut.
joel hanes
@A Ghost To Most:
Rise of cable, to which the Fairness Doctrine never applied IIRC.
Of course, Reagan made sure that it didn’t apply to _anything_ ….
debbie
@joel hanes:
The drive home is always fun. ?
debbie
@germy:
Yes, very dishonest.
@joel hanes:
My insurance doesn’t cover that camera, at least as of last year.
Quinerly
From the article:
“Hunter S. Thompson … now, there’s a good candidate. I know. I wrote his biography. Does Hunter, the greatest degenerate of his generation, who kept yelling, “Off with your pants!” as he sliced the leggings from my body with a long knife in his hot tub, make the list? Naw.
And if having my pants hacked off by a man lit to the eyebrows with acid, Chivas Regal, Champagne, grass, Chartreuse, Dunhills, cocaine, and Dove Bars does not make the list — because to me there is a big difference between an “adventure” and an “attack” — who, in God’s name, doesmake my Hideous List?”
chris
@SiubhanDuinne: Haha! Forgot that one.
Suzanne
@japa21:
The ex-Mr. Suzanne sold used cars for a while after we broke up. I can’t decide how he stacks up next to Trump. His politics are better, but that doesn’t make him not a lying liar.
Wapiti
@Roger Moore: Personnel is Policy. If we elect Sanders, we get Sirota in some function or fashion. Therefore, let’s all work for and donate to candidates who haven’t hired David Sirota.
Duane
@MattF: Hanrattity was all over the wikileaks stuff during the presidential election. He carried water for Putin. The sooner that rat bastard goes to jail the better for us all.
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
Oh, Gawd, looks awful. But I’ll have to watch it.
plato
The next brit pm
zhena gogolia
@NotMax:
They’re making Gogol an epileptic. A mashup with Dostoevsky, I guess.
Adam L Silverman
I have finished dinner. I am a damn good cook. You all do not know what you’re missing. That is all.
chris
Seems like today we have seen the four horsemen and rape AND Sean Hannity. This is too much, time for a Kitty. Those feet!
Adam L Silverman
@chopper: Toilet seats actually have a use.
debbie
@Quinerly:
The Dove bars must have pushed him over the edge. //
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Yeah, taking a number of liberties, shall we say. I liken Russian TV series like this one to snacking on Dour Patch Kids.
;)
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
PersianFreedom melon for dessert?:)
Sab
@chris: Is that a lynx or a bobcat?
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
And yet, we never seem to hear anything from the “survivors.” If there are/were any.
SFAW
@chris:
Them are Bob-Lanier-class feet.
SiubhanDuinne
@chris:
Yikes! What the exactly fuck kind of cat is that? Reminds me of an illustration in George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin, a book I adored as a child but whose illustrations freaked me the fuck out and still do.
Edited: to edit
Quinerly
@debbie: you and I have the same take on this. Nothing really surprised/shocked me except the Dove Bar reference. I did a double take, paused, and re read.
SFAW
@Quinerly:
Yeah, I thought that description of Hunter, along with the explanation of why he was not on the Most Hideous list, was excellent. Also seemed to be written in a style not unlike Thompson’s own.
chris
@Sab: @SiubhanDuinne: I think it’s a lynx but I may be wrong and the original didn’t say.
ETA going with lynx, google “lynx Kitten”
Geeno
@chris: baby bobcat!
very cute
Jeffro
I wonder when it will dawn on America that all we have basically done for almost three years now is to continue to unearth criminal activity after criminal activity by Trumpov & co. Non stop, multiple times a day.
I mean seriously that’s it
NotMax
@chris
Obligatory?
;)
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro: pretty sure the people who watch fox are not seeing those stories
Sab
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh yes. I remember Lena.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman: Pics(and recipes) or it didn’t happen.
Karen
I’ll admit my denseness, but what is happening that wasn’t already happening?
A Ghost To Most
@joel hanes: Allowing cable news to live free of broadcast standards was part of their evil plan. I fail to see why the way you receive news content (wire vs radio) imposes (or eliminates) the standard. DirecTV is radio based, but is treated like a wired provider.
chris
@SiubhanDuinne: The Princess and the Goblin. Dawg, that takes me back more than 50 years. My mother read it to us and I read it again. It’s a free ebook on Google books and I’m going to refresh my very hazy memory. Thanks, SD.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: Have you spoken to Dave Anderson?
chris
@NotMax: I like it!
Adam L Silverman
@SFAW: It’s just me and the dogs. Occasionally I’ll cook for my mom.
lurker dean
@SFAW: wow, that’s a classic reference i haven’t heard in decades. a goofy friend used to claim that lanier couldn’t shoot a corner three pointer because his feet wouldn’t fit between the three-point and out-of-bounds lines, lol.
Quinerly
@SFAW: @debbie: on second thought, maybe a woman wearing leggings in a hot tub pushed him over the edge. ?
Gin & Tonic
@lurker dean: I’ll have you know that on March 5, 1980, Bob Lanier made a 3-point shot.
Sm*t Cl*de
@Sab:
Canadian Lynx.
I continue with my campaign to convince people that the plural is “lynges”.
J R in WV
@chris:
Hungry little bobkitty. Big feet. V cute.
Makes me remember the guy who rescued a trapped kitty caught between his fence and a shed in the back yard not long ago. He wasn’t from here, and didn’t know there were wild cats as small as a bob cat. Had a dozen photos of the cat in his apartment, while he tried to find kitty’s owner. Didn’t get hurt, amazingly. Some people are just good folks, will rescue a wild bobcat, just because they’re good folks.
Then there are Trumpetts.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
Naw. It’s a trade-off. The discounts for lenses and frames are pretty awesome.
chris
@J R in WV: I was going with lynxkitty but maybe.
I saw those pictures and was amazed. He must have picked up the bobcat. And it let him! I would have freed it from the fence with my welding gloves but he carried it home! Imma try to pick up the next one I see, if I can catch it ;-)
lurker dean
@Gin & Tonic: that’s some good knowledge! but now we have a mystery, we need to confirm it was from the corner. i think even lanier’s feet fit between the top of the key and half-court lol.
PaulWartenberg
This type of behavior out of Hannity – most likely encouraged and abetted by Fox Not-News – violates every journalistic ethic out there (and yes, there ARE supposed to be ethics, I got a B in Journalism school on that topic). There is no difference between this and some 20-something fabricating news stories like that one guy, Stephen Glass.
I swear to fcking GOD someone better have standing to sue the whole network for Journalistic Malpractice. https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2012/how-to-protect-against-journalism-malpractice/