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Fox News host and presidential adviser Sean Hannity published an op-ed last week setting forth exactly how he thought Donald Trump should handle negotiations with Congress on border security.

In the opinion piece Hannity wrote:

“Step one: The president signs the deal, and uses the $1.375 billion as a downpayment for the wall. Step two: President Trump has identified some $900 million for additional construction that is already available for the administration’s discretion. That would bring the pot to about $2.3 billion. Step three: This needs to happen simultaneously, and it has the president declaring a national emergency. This is the time.”

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So on Friday the leader of the free world obediently followed Hannity’s instructions. He did everything that the TV personality told him to do.

It does make you wonder who actually is the most powerful person on earth.

Increasingly Sean Hannity’s influence over the White House — and Donald Trump’s actions — appears not only improper, but downright scary.

In case you have doubts about that, consider what some of Hannity’s other new demands are for the president. His latest directions to Trump are much more terrifying than simply a bogus national emergency declaration (which will probably fail anyway).

Media Matters for America (MMFA) published a report setting forth Hannity’s major priorities for newly confirmed Attorney General, William Barr.

What Hannity now wants Trump to do, working with Barr, is to prosecute Trump’s enemies.

“Now Sean Hannity wants new Attorney General William Barr to prioritize investigating Trump’s enemies”

Now Sean Hannity wants new Attorney General William Barr to prioritize investigating Trump's enemies https://t.co/gUGsqWE6iY — (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) February 16, 2019

MMFA reported:

“On Thursday night, just hours after the Senate confirmed Barr, Hannity crowed, “My sources telling me tonight things are happening as we speak.” The Fox host went on to detail numerous purported crimes he said had been committed by 10 “deep state actors,” including former FBI Director James Comey, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.”

“Over the next year with a brand new attorney general, William Barr, this country — we’ve got to decide,” Hannity concluded. “You want to save the United States? You want to be a constitutional republic? You want equal justice under the law? Do you want a dual justice system, or do you want America to be handed off to your kids and grandkids as a banana republic?”

“Later in the program, Gregg Jarrett, the Fox legal analyst whose role at the network is to explain why the president and his team did not break the law but all of his critics did, claimed that “more than a dozen” Obama-era officials had committed crimes and that Barr “should haul them all in front of a federal grand jury.”

“What about Hillary? Does she get held accountable?” Hannity asked. “They should reopen the investigation; it was a fraud,” Jarrett responded.”

For months Hannity has been urging Barr to investigate Trump’s enemies. He als predicted that he would do so ever since Barr was nominated in December.

William Barr is generally well-respected in legal circles even though he took some controversial actions previously when he was attorney general.

He is not likely to follow Trump and Hannity’s wild and frightening agenda of investigating and prosecuting the president’s political enemies.

Still, many people do have doubts about Barr’s integrity. He chose to become attorney general under Trump, knowing what that might mean. And he published a document setting forth the issues he had with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, showing a willingness to give in to Donald Trump’s wishes.

And in his confirmation hearing, Barr also suggested he may agree with several right-wing conspiracy theories, perhaps showing his lack of judgment.

So there remain many reasons to worry about the new attorney general. Not only do we need to worry that he will stifle public release of the Mueller report, we also now need to worry that soon he will be taking his marching orders from Sean Hannity.

A terrifying prospect indeed.