Fox News host Sean Hannity denounced what he saw as liberal fascism in accusations made against him of sexual harassment that were later downplayed by the accuser. He said in a statement on his Fox News program Monday that he was seeking legal action against the accuser.
"I have to start tonight by addressing a well orchestrated effort by the intolerant left in this country," he began, "that is designed to silence every conservative voice and by any means necessary. Now I am speaking out tonight so that you, our audience, will understand what is really happening here, and what is really at stake when it comes to freedom of speech in this country.
"Now these tactics are right out Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals' playbook," he said. "Now I've worked in radio for 30 years. I've been right here at the Fox News channel for 21 and a half years. I'm very proud of that, and during this time, there's always been efforts and attempts to smear and slander and besmirch me and other conservatives but it has never been as intense and completely insane as it right now.
"Now I want you to understand," Hannity explained, "every single minute, every single second I am on the air, radio, TV, there's somebody, likely being paid, recording and monitoring every single word that comes out of my mouth, on the hopes that I may say something they can twist, and distort and use against me and try to destroy my reputation, get my conservative voice off the air."
Hannity said that the rancor from the left had gotten worse under President Donald Trump and he had been targeted because he was such a supporter of the president's policies.
"Quite simply, these liberal fascists," he said, "they can't stand conservative voices.
"If there's any person, any group, any organization," Hannity continued, "any media outlet that slanders lies about me, besmirches my, my character, I'm gonna be calling them out. Because at this point, enough is enough. I have hired a team of some of the best attorneys in this country to work with me and on my behalf.
"Now the breaking point came for me on this weekend when an individual," he explained, "who for over a decade, has made the most outrageous unfair, untrue allegations against me, has now resurfaced by making ridiculous and completely untrue claims. Now this person went on a radio show this Friday and made more unfounded accusations against me, which this person is now, interestingly, recanting after I made my statement. But it was only after I responded to these baseless and false smears.
"This is not the first time I've had to deal with this individual," Hannity said. "Now this person has repeatedly spread lies about me. I'll give you an example. Back in 2010, remember I was raising money for the Freedom Alliance, a charity that offers college scholarships to the children of killed veterans, severely injured veterans and their families, and in a blog post, the individual falsely accused me, and the charity of skimming and stealing money that was donated.
"This, of course, was easily proven false," Hannity continued. "And in spite of the fact that we proved each and every allegation to be untrue and inaccurate at the time, I was never given an apology, there was no correction that was issued. Now this person has made another slanderous accusation, and in response, I released this statement which now the press has picked up.
"Let me be clear," he explained, "the comments about me on a radio show this week by this individual are 100% false and a complete fabrication. This individual is a serial harasser who has been lying about me for well over a decade. The individual has a history of making provable false statements against me in an effort to slander, smear, and besmirch my reputation. The individual has not just slandered me over the years but many people who this individual disagrees with. This individual desperately seeks attention by any means necessary, including making unfounded personal attacks and using indefensible and outrageous political rhetoric. My patience with this individual is over.
"I have retained a team of some of the finest and toughest lawyers in the country who are now in the process of laying out the legal course of action we will be taking against this individual," he continued. "In this fiercely divided and vindictive political climate, I will no longer allow slander and lies about me to go unchallenged, as I see a coordinated effort afoot to now silence those with conservative views. I will fight every single lie about me by all legal means available to me as an American."
Hannity is referring to accusations made by Debbie Schlussel, a right-wing lawyer blogger who appeared on the Pat Campbell radio show Friday and said Hannity invited her to his hotel and grew angry when she rejected him.
Among the allegations, Schlussel claims that while at an appearance in Detroit which they both attended, Hannity invited her back to his hotel.Schlussel says that after she turned down his advances, she was not invited back on his program.
“This kind of stuff is all over the place at Fox News and anything that has to do with Sean Hannity,” Schlussel said.
Later, she denied that these were accusations of sexual harassment, saying that it was merely "creepy" on his part.
“I never thought I was sexually harassed by Sean Hannity, I thought he was weird and creepy, not someone I liked,” she told LawNewz.
Hannity referred to Schlussel as a "serial harasser" over accusations she made against him and his involvement with the charity Freedom Alliance in 2010, which they denied vehemently.
