After it was revealed that Sean Hannity was Michael Cohen’s mysterious third client who allegedly advised him on real estate matters, The Guardian discovered that the Fox News host has financial ties to a coalition of shell companies focused on buying up foreclosed or other under-valued homes.

With help from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the entity tied to Hannity spent $90 million buying 870 homes in the US. Their aid from HUD came by way of the National Housing Act loan initutive, which allows for the federal department to assist private entities in real estate ventures.

While that specific HUD program was first introduced under Barack Obama’s administration, current HUD Scretary Ben Carson’s department raised the Hannity-tied shell company’s max mortgage by $5 million, making their total limit nearly $23 million.

In their report, The Guardian also noted that while Hannity had Carson on his program last summer, he did not disclose financial ties to HUD to the show’s audience. He did, however, praise Carson, saying he’s “done a good job.”

The Fox News host, who currently has the number one rated show on cable news, also slammed public housing in America and falsely asserted that home ownership rates are the lowest they’ve been in over five decades, which led him to say that he likes “the idea of them owning the place.”

“Well, that’s the real ideal,” replied the HUD secretary.

As for Hannity’s connection to Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, he has defensively claimed he and Cohen just had rare “brief discussions” on “legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective.”

“I’ve said many times on my radio show: I hate the stock market, I prefer real estate. Michael knows real estate,” added Hannity.

UPDATE 04/23/18: Hannity responded to the report on his website, stating, “It is ironic that I am being attacked for investing my personal money in communities that badly need such investment and in which, I am sure, those attacking me have not invested their money…”

[images via screengrab]

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