Sean Hannity Profiting from Housing Collapse / HUD

gerritn said:
Anyone surprised? https://www.marketwatch.com/St...

 Does the pope, I mean, does a bear ...


Reading the original Guardian article- it seems like they get the role of HUD in insuring mortgages exactly backwards. The insurance premium, paid by the borrower, protects the mortgage HOLDER. 


I don’t care about Hannity one way or the other, but what’s the problem here? Anyone using government programs legally can’t criticize the government? No one should provide capital if there’s a chance they can make money? 




Jackson_Fusion said:
I don’t care about Hannity one way or the other, but what’s the problem here? Anyone using government programs legally can’t criticize the government? No one should provide capital if there’s a chance they can make money? 

Journalists should disclose potential conflicts of interest before interviews, whether it be with Cohen or Ben Carson. In this case, I'd say it's even more important given his very close ties to the administration.


I've never watched Hannity. He should have disclosed his relationship with Cohen, if he actually had one. 

I'm not sure about Carson. HUD oversees many programs across the country and has involvement with perhaps millions of mortgages. 


It appears from the articles that Hannity has said he invests in RE. Anyone who does is going to have a "relationship" with HUD, but it's usually very remote.


LOST said:
It appears from the articles that Hannity has said he invests in RE. Anyone who does is going to have a "relationship" with HUD, but it's usually very remote.

 He invested in foreclosed properties, knows and interviews Ben Carson and has a direct line to Trump's brain. I wouldn't describe that as "very remote" from HUD.

I'm not suggesting it's illegal. The ethics are very sketchy, though.


Would that apply to other individuals using other government programs as any other citizen would?


If someone has a student loan from the government should they be barred from complaining about government student loan debt if they don’t disclose they have benefited from the program, and by how much in terms of rate vs commercial? If so there are a lot of journalists who are unethical.



Jackson_Fusion said:
Would that apply to other individuals using other government programs as any other citizen would?



If someone has a student loan from the government should they be barred from complaining about government student loan debt if they don’t disclose they have benefited from the program, and by how much in terms of rate vs commercial? If so there are a lot of journalists who are unethical.


I don't think there's a perfect formula, but perhaps it's a matter of scale. He owns more than 800 homes via 20 shell companies. It's a business for him. HUD and administration policies affect him in a scale well beyond someone who owns a house or two or owes tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.


Jackson_Fusion said:
Would that apply to other individuals using other government programs as any other citizen would?



If someone has a student loan from the government should they be barred from complaining about government student loan debt if they don’t disclose they have benefited from the program, and by how much in terms of rate vs commercial? If so there are a lot of journalists who are unethical.


 That's not exactly the same. If a TV journalist was interviewing the person in charge of the student loan program from which that journalist had a loan he or she should probably mention it.


When there's corporate cross-over it's standard practice to let the audience know, such as stories aired by CNN about other Time Warner companies. I think it's more in that area than having student loans. 


Is an interesting question. I would not have considered participation in government programs legally open to every citizen that qualifies as a conflict of interest. If there was self dealing (can’t be, not a govt employee) or influenced pedaling (show cause) that is a different story but of course would make the conflict of interest issue a side show for felony corruption.


Is that where this is going? Did anyone see any suggestion of criminal behavior?


Jackson_Fusion said:
Is that where this is going? Did anyone see any suggestion of criminal behavior?

 

dave23 said:
I'm not suggesting it's illegal. The ethics are very sketchy, though.

 


dave23 said:


Jackson_Fusion said:
Is that where this is going? Did anyone see any suggestion of criminal behavior?
 
dave23 said:
I'm not suggesting it's illegal. The ethics are very sketchy, though.
 

Well, that settles it. Thanks for your insight. 


Jackson_Fusion said:

Is that where this is going? Did anyone see any suggestion of criminal behavior?

 Since when has that ever stopped Sean Hannity himself when talking about Hillary's emails, Obama's birth certificate, etc.? Karma is a *****.


I think it's relevant where so-called journalists have their money invested.  Any investments outside of stock in their employer's company, index funds and their residences raises issues about conflicts of interest.  Wouldn't it be of interest if an MSNBC anchor had been holding millions in Ford stock while commenting on the auto industry bailout for instance?


"The Guardian" continues digging.  By this time, Hannity is wishing he'd hired an "unconnected" lawyer for the ten dollar real estate tips.  This is thrilling. Some of us could be living in Hannity Houses.  grrr 


theguardian.com:  Sean Hannity's Real Estate Venture linked to Fraudulent Property Dealer

https://www.theguardian.com/me...

"Sean Hannity’s real estate venture bought houses through a property dealer who was involved in a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently obtain foreclosed homes, according to records reviewed by the Guardian."


Normally, I'd be happy that this ilk is sliding, falling, whatever, but so many people get away with sh*t these days, I'm not feeling all that confident.


Everyone should pay subscribe to The Guardian.  Fantastic paper, and continue to report on US prison abuses.



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