An investigation by the Guardian revealed Sunday that Fox News host Sean Hannity spent at least $90 million on more than 870 properties in seven states — including Vermont.
The story was sparked by the revelation in federal court last week that Hannity was a client of President Donald Trump’s attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, whose home and office were raided the week before by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Speaking on Fox News after the court hearing, Hannity said his work with Cohen focused almost exclusively on real estate.
“I hate the stock market,” he said. “I prefer real estate. Michael knows real estate.”
Hannity loves real estate so much that he bought dozens of properties out of foreclosure over the past decade, according to the Guardian. Some of those were purchased with support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — a fact that Hannity failed to disclose during an interview last June with HUD Secretary Ben Carson.
So where, exactly, are the Fox News host’s Vermont holdings?
According to the Guardian, Hannity purchased the properties through more than 20 Georgia-based shell companies using various permutations of his children’s initials. A statewide search of Vermont municipal grand lists for each combination yielded just one result: a three-unit condominium at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow.
The nearly 3,000-square-foot slope-side pad is owned by “SPMK III VT LLC,” according to Ludlow town records. That entity is registered to a Kennesaw, Ga., address shared by Hannity’s real estate attorney, Christopher Reeves. The LLC’s registered agent, according to Georgia records, is Jeremy Lantz, who is Reeves’ business partner.
Attempts to reach Hannity, Reeves and Lantz were unsuccessful, though Hannity released a statement on his website Monday rebutting what he called the “latest fake news attack.” In it, he defended his real estate investments, arguing that he never discussed them with HUD officials and that he was simply “putting my money to work in communities that otherwise struggle to receive support.”
The Fox News host’s Okemo ownership wasn’t exactly a state secret.
“It isn’t the one Hannity owns, is it?” Ludlow town lister Terry Thayne said Monday when asked about the property. “I always heard that Hannity had a unit up there. I never paid attention [to Hannity] until we got this clown in the White House.”
According to Thayne, SPMK bought the four-bedroom, four-bathroom property in the Bixby House condominium complex in December 2007, shortly after it was built in Okemo’s Jackson Gore Village. The LLC paid nearly $2.2 million for the condo, according to Thayne. These days, it’s worth just $906,900, he said.
Given the property’s depreciation, Thayne sounded unimpressed with Hannity’s real estate savvy.
“I hope he’s smarter than this,” the Ludlow lister said.
Andrea Suozzo contributed reporting.
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Wow I will have to send him a description of my property and asking price. Cannot thing of anything I would like more than to get out of this place.
@ NorthOldEnder
Righty? Uh uh. I voted for Obama. Twice.
And apparently you didnt actually read my comment, in which I called Hannity the lying, right wing piece of excrement that he is.
Please read thoroughly.
Thanks, and have a great day.
-knowyourassumptions.
I will rephrase for the easily offended and emotionally traumatized knowyerassyupmtiuons and other Righties ( who made an art form of throwing invective and insults during the Obama years).
As follows:
“Mr. Hannity is a plain brown paper container filled with unclean soil.”
I will try to be more sensitive in the future.
What law did Hannity break….. So big deal he invests in Real Estate he is a capitalist. We are a capitalist society. I know its not always the best system but show me an example of a better model that works.
If you have an issue with Real Estate investors take a look at our former GOVERNOR Shummy who tried to take advantage of his elderly neighbor for his property. That deal was not done with mutual respect. Shummy screwed him and he only corrected it once the story got out.
Don’t be surprised if a Russian national buys the condo for $4 million next year. Trump and Co. always seem to get lucky like that when they overpay for property. Funny how nobody else does….
I’m struggling to decipher why this is news. While not a fan of Mr Hannity (nor Ms Maddow for that matter) one of 870 properties, even though it’s in VT should really be nothing more than a footnote, shouldn’t it?
It would be irresponsible to conclude that Hannity bought this condo with laundered Russian mob money in order to deal fentanyl-laced heroin to sex-trafficked teenagers. But he did do it through a shell corporation not listed in his own name. I wonder WHY?