NEW YORK—Saying that any past interactions he’d had with the attorney were completely informal, Fox News television host Sean Hannity told reporters Tuesday that his relationship with Michael Cohen never went beyond paying him for legal advice and discussing criminal defense strategies. “Mr. Cohen is no more than an acquaintance of mine who has, on occasion, helped me plan the best course of action in legal disputes and received monetary compensation for his efforts,” said Hannity, adding that claims he was Cohen’s client are completely unfounded and that he had simply received the lawyer’s help drawing up documents to create legally binding contracts, later reimbursing him for his time. “I hardly knew the guy except for a couple of paid, friendly pointers he gave me on making lawsuits go away or destroying a potential witness’s credibility—things like that. A casual conversation about plea bargain negotiations between friends in exchange for a nominal fee is being completely blown out of proportion by the mainstream media.” Hannity went on to state that if any evidence that might incriminate him were found in Cohen’s seized files, it would constitute a huge breach of attorney-client privilege.

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