Fox News host Bret Baier solicited the Department of the Treasury for personal favors that allowed him to get preferential treatment for himself and his family, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter on the close connection between Fox News and the Trump administration.

The report, which is based on emails from the Treasury Department obtained as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit lay out how Fox News managed to get exclusive interviews with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin and also that Baier, who hosts “Special Report” and is considered to one of the “hard news” anchors at the conservative network, had a producer on his show plead for assistance from Treasury:

Baier enlisted his staff and personally intervened to help book a tour of a government building for a family friend and members of the Baier family.

A producer for Baier’s show asked the Treasury Department spokesperson for the favor Oct. 18, 2017, two days before the requested tour of the United States Mint.

“If it doesn’t work — don’t worry about it,” Baier wrote to Sayegh. “Meant to request last week. Don’t spend too much time on it. If you can point us to someone — and it’s easy — great. If not — no worries. Thanks.”

That message was quickly passed along to others in the Treasury Department:

Sayegh conveyed the request to a member of his staff, writing in an email: “Bret Baier is asking to help him get his friends and family a Mint tour tomorrow. Who can help us do that?”

The tour, of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, was quickly booked. “Thank you very much for the help,” Baier wrote to Sayegh. “All lined up for tomorrow. I appreciate it.”

Granted, it was just a tour of the U.S. Mint, but do you think someone who worked for CNN or MSNBC would have been given special consideration? And this is just a incident that we know about thanks to the emails. There may well be others that were conducted via phone that involve much weightier matters.

Fox has long been referred to as Trump TV, and these emails certainly seem to suggest that the relationship between the network and this administration is one of a “close, friendly bond” the Reporter notes.

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