When CNN Anchor Was Caught on Tape Coaching Cohen on How to Answer About Trump and Stormy Daniels

Once a bombshell leaked audio tapes came out, showing CNN anchor Chris Cuomo coaching Michael Cohen. Cuomo was basically telling former Donald Trump's attorney how to respond to questions about the whole alleged affair between Trump and Stormy Daniels, the adult film star. These tapes were obtained and aired by Tucker Carlson over at Fox News. They captured this candid conversation between Cuomo and Cohen from way back in 2018. According to Carlson, the tapes revealed Cuomo advising Cohen on how to deal with questions about that $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels right before the 2016 presidential election.

Reportedly, Cohen had expressed concern about being grilled on the topic during an interview with Cuomo. In response, the CNN host allegedly provided a meticulously crafted script for Cohen to follow, as per The Sun. "You will be asked that," Cuomo purportedly told Cohen, continuing, "and you can say, 'I did it for him, for Donald Trump. My relationship has always been for him. I've always said I don’t speak for the campaign, I speak for him as his attorney.'" The leaked audio suggested Cuomo even acted out the scripted exchange, playing both the interviewer and interviewee roles. Cuomo's alleged script for Cohen aimed to deflect accusations that the payment constituted a campaign finance violation.

As Carlson described it, Cuomo instructed Cohen to assert, "The response would have to be, you can speculate as to why you think I did it all day long, but the only answer is my answer, and I just told you why I did it. You don't get to speculate because if you can’t prove that I got paid back by Trump or the campaign, it is slander and defamation for you to say that I did." The whole thing blew up in Cuomo's face. People were pissed, accusing him of shady behavior and basically taking a huge dump on journalistic ethics. Apparently, it looked like Cuomo had gone way beyond reporting the facts by coaching his guest on what to say. "The conversation devolved into a kind of one-man play with Chris Cuomo as the performer and Michael Cohen as the audience," Carlson later stated.

In a statement, CNN defended Cuomo, asserting that the anchor was simply doing his due diligence in preparation for the interview. However, critics lambasted this explanation, arguing that providing a scripted response crossed an ethical boundary. The tapes also reignited scrutiny of CNN's coverage of the Trump presidency and allegations of bias, as per the New York Times.  Supporters of the former president had long accused the network of harboring an anti-Trump agenda, and these tapes seemed to bolster those claims in the eyes of many. While the full context and circumstances surrounding the leaked audio remained unclear, the implications were significant.