Sean Hannity accused of getting his legal strategy from Saul Goodman

'I may have handed Cohen $10 once'

(Getty/AMC)

Courtrooms, corruption, and conspiracies – the curious case of high-profile lawyer Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump, and Fox news presenter Sean Hannity sounds more like a televised drama series than real life.

Monday in Manhattan, New York, saw perhaps the most surprising twist yet: Cohen’s lawyer Stephen Ryan admitted that Cohen’s previously ‘mysterious’ third client was Hannity.

The story did not stop there: the controversial political pundit immediately hit back at Cohen’s claims, saying that Trump’s attorney – who is currently at the centre of a federal investigation – had never represented him.

“I never gave him a retainer, never paid any fees,” Hannity said on his radio show.

“I may have handed him $10 once. I requested attorney-client privilege with him, and assumed our conversations would be confidential, but they have never involved any matter with him and any third party.”

Hannity was hoping to distinguish himself from Cohen’s other two clients – Trump and Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy – saying his exchanges with the lawyer were not about “any third party” whereas their’s allegedly had.

One particular line from the defence (“I may have handed him $10 once”) has caused a stir online. As noted by The Huffington Post, the idea that the exchange of money is required to invoke attorney-client privilege is not necessarily true. Yet, the idea remains a pop-culture staple, the most prominent example being in Breaking Bad.

On the show, criminal attorney Saul Goodman (played by the great Bob Odenkirk), urges the leading characters Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Walter White (Bryan Cranston) to “put a dollar in my pocket” to guarantee attorney-client privilege.

Unsurprisingly, Twitter immediately jumped on the comments, questioning whether Hannity had been taking legal advice from the fictional show.

Social media users also posted another scene in relation to the case, when Jesse tells Walt: “You don’t want a criminal lawyer, you want a *criminal* lawyer.”

Cohen remains at the centre of an FBI investigation, kick-started after it emerged he paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000.

Trump and Cohen deny that the sum was paid on the president’s behalf in 2016 to prevent Daniels from publically discussing an affair she allegedly had with Trump in 2006.

The FBI recently seized dozens of electronic devices from Cohen, hoping to investigate the case further. However, Cohen has argued they cannot do so because of attorney-client privilege and taken them to court. The case continues.