Fox News host Sean Hannity, who was named in court this week as a client of Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, has a vast real estate portfolio that includes properties bought with support from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud), according to public records reviewed by the Guardian.
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 luxury mansions to low-income rentals. Hannity is the hidden owner behind some of the shell companies, and his attorney did not dispute that he owns all of them.
Dozens of the properties were bought at a discount in 2013 after banks foreclosed on their previous owners. Before and after that, Hannity sharply criticised Barack Obama for the US foreclosure rate. In January 2016, he said there were 'millions more Americans suffering under this president' partly because of foreclosures.
Hannity also amassed part of his property collection with support from Hud, a fact he did not disclose when praising Ben Carson, the Hud secretary, on his television show last year. The Georgia purchases were funded with mortgages for $17.9m that Hannity obtained with help from Hud, which insured the loans under a program created as part of the National Housing Act.
Hannity, who is reportedly paid $36m per year for his television and radio shows, was criticised this week after it became clear he had defended Cohen and Trump on the air without disclosing that he also consulted Cohen for legal services. He also declined to note his financial interest when he hosted Carson on Fox News last June for a discussion about Hud and housing.
