“The facts are that he broke campaign finance laws and that he lied to cover it up,” Fox News’ Sean Hannity said.
Hannity was not talking about former President Donald Trump, who was indicted last week for funneling $130,000 to his alleged mistress, Stormy Daniels.
The quote from Hannity, from June 3, 2011, refers to former presidential candidate and former senator John Edwards (D-NC), who was indicted that day on charges similar to those Trump now faces.
From the outset of the Edwards investigation to the indictment and throughout the trial, Hannity expressed no objection to Edwards being prosecuted for this conduct. On the contrary, Hannity regularly endorsed the prosecutors’ theory that money spent to cover up an affair during a campaign should be considered an illegal campaign contribution.
Now v. Then: Fox News and the Wall Street Journal
Numerous right-wing pundits who blasted Trump’s indictment were happy to see Edwards criminally charged for similar conduct. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly tweeted that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who is leading the prosecution of Trump, should be “ashamed of himself.”
But in numerous appearances on the O’Reilly Factor during the Edwards’ investigation and trial, Kelly did not suggest any impropriety by prosecutors. In an April 26, 2012 appearance, while the trial was ongoing, Kelly said the case was “going pretty well for the prosecution” because “it doesn’t seem like a lot of the facts are in dispute.”
Today, the Wall Street Journal editorial page is full of columns trashing the decision to charge Trump. The paper, owned by Rupert Murdoch, took a different approach with the charges against John Edwards. It ran multiple columns emphasizing the righteousness of the charges against Edwards.