Fox News host Sean Hannity revealed as Michael Cohen's mystery client

It is not known why Cohen was representing Hannity.

Hannity addressed the news on his AM radio show, claiming that while he never retained Cohen in the "traditional" sense, they still had attorney-client privilege.

"Michael never represented me in any matter, I never retained him in the traditional sense as retaining a lawyer, I never received an invoice from Michael, I never paid legal fees to Michael," Hannity said, before adding, "We definitely had attorney client privilege because I asked him for that but, you know, he never sent me a bill or an invoice or did I actually officially retain him."

Hannity later said that he "might have handed him 10 bucks."

Michael Cohen has never represented me in any matter. I never retained him, received an invoice, or paid legal fees. I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective. — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) April 16, 2018

The TV host has been a consistent backer of Trump, both on-air and off, and has repeatedly blasted Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He has also frequently defended Cohen in the days since the FBI raided Cohen's home and office.

"As I have been warning, Mueller is out to get the president and it appears at any cost," Hannity said last Monday on his Fox News program, hours after news of the raid broke.

“Now keep in mind, Cohen was never part of the Trump administration, or the Trump campaign,” he said then. "This is now officially an all-hand-on-deck effort to malign, and if possible, impeach the president of the United States."

On the next evening's show, he slammed the FBI's raid as "an unprecedented abuse of power." The next day, he called it "highly questionable."

Until now, Hannity had not disclosed that he had a relationship with Cohen during his radio show or television program.

The @MichaelCohen212, executive VP to @realDonaldTrump joined me in studio today to discuss the #TrumpPhenomenon pic.twitter.com/reEaksFaX4 — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 10, 2015

Ethics experts immediately questioned why he, or Fox News, hadn’t previously revealed the tie.

“Why doesn’t @FoxNews have a conflict of interest policy requiring Hannity to disclose his personal interest in the Cohen search when commenting on it?” tweeted Walter Shaub, the former director of the independent Office of Government Ethics.

A spokesperson for Fox News did not immediately respond to questions from NBC News about the relationship between Hannity and Cohen.

Monday's legal proceedings stemmed from a motion for a temporary restraining order under which Cohen had sought to stop federal investigators from reviewing materials seized in a search warrant last week.

New court filings Monday indicated thatTrump wants to review some materials seized from Cohen during the FBI raid last week so he can determine which are protected by attorney-client privilege, according to a filing in federal court.

One of Trump's attorneys is asking a federal judge to give copies of all of Cohen's seized materials to Cohen to let him identify any materials that involve Trump, and then to allow Trump and his attorneys to see those materials to determine which the president asserts his privilege over and which he believes are OK for investigators to see, according to the filing on Sunday.

A letter that Cohen's lawyers sent to the court on Monday morning states that more than a dozen electronic devices and other items were seized.

The letter states also that the raid on Cohen was conducted in a climate of "growing public debate about whether criminal and congressional Investigations by the government are being undertaken impartially, free of any political bias or partisan motivation."

Federal prosecutors were slated to form a "privilege team," also known as a "taint team,” which will review which of the seized materials are considered to be privileged through attorney-client privilege and which materials can be turned over to the potential trial prosecutors and federal agents. That team is known as the investigative team.

Trump's attorney, Joanna Hendon, who was hired last week, says she wants to prohibit the taint team "from providing the Investigative Team with (a) any materials over which the President asserts a privilege without objection from the taint team, and (b) any materials that the Court rules are privileged over the taint team's objection."

Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump in 2006, attended the court proceedings.

In court filings, Cohen says that documents pertaining to himself and the Trump Organization have already been turned over to Mueller's office.

The specific focus of the investigation and possible federal crimes have not been disclosed by the U.S. attorney’s office, but in a filing on Friday they do confirm Cohen is under federal criminal investigation. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday the investigation that led them to raid Cohen's offices "largely centers on his personal business dealings" and has been going on for months.

Federal agents have already reviewed multiple email accounts maintained by Cohen as part of an ongoing grand jury investigation, according to the filing. That review has found that "Cohen is in fact performing little to no legal work, and that zero emails were exchanged with President Trump," prosecutors said in the filing.

FBI agents seized documents and devices in raids last week on Cohen's office and hotel room, seeking information about payments made to Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

Daniels alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. The White House and Cohen have denied that claim.

Cohen, 51, has denied wrongdoing. Trump has blasted the raid, calling it "an attack on our country" while reiterating his view that Mueller's investigation is a "witch hunt" and a "disgrace."

Trump last week broke his silence on the Daniels case, saying he was not aware of the payment made by Cohen to the porn actress just days before he was elected. The president also said he did not know where the $130,000 came from. Cohen has said it came out of his own pocket.