Chris Cuomo Coached Michael Cohen for “Successful” CNN Interviews, Leaked Audio Suggests

You'd think fake news would at least attempt to be fair.

However, when news outlets coach anti-Trump guests so that they can have a "successful" interview, they behave more like propagandists rather than news outlets.

The Washington Examiner confirms:

Fox News host Tucker Carlson released a tape that further revealed the dynamic between CNN host Chris Cuomo and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

On Wednesday, Carlson criticized the CNN host for manufacturing "scripted drama, written for the benefit of the Democratic Party" by preparing Cohen to give a successful interview on the network regarding President Trump's alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

"I think the way this conversation goes is almost exactly the way we’re having it right now. Which is, where I say, ‘This looks shady,’ and you say, ‘It looks shady to you because you’re coming in with a specific intention,'" Carlson said, quoting Cuomo.

"He then told Cohen how to dodge questions about a shell corporation he had used to make the Daniels payments. Quote: 'I’m not being shady,' Cuomo instructed Cohen to say. 'I was being legal, and I did it my right way. You’re wrong about the LLC. I’ve used it for other things. I have tons of LLCs. I did not form it just to do this. And even if I had, my whole point would have been to keep it quiet. But that happens to just not be true.' End quote," Carlson continued.

Carlson said Cuomo advised Cohen to threaten him with a defamation lawsuit if he "speculated" that he was "paid back by Trump or the campaign" for the alleged payments, playing the part of both the interviewer and interviewee.

"And why didn’t you just let it all come out and let the people decide? 'Because it’s not a fair process. They wouldn’t have had any of the counterfacts, and they would have had her — if she was somehow convinced to do it, and people decided to believe that her denials were somehow less true than her admissions. I didn’t want to play that game. Everything was tilted against Mr. Trump.' And that’s what it is, and then, either they'll believe, or they’ll say, 'F--- that. There’s no way he didn’t know,'" Cuomo is heard in the tape.

VThe recording also included Cuomo informing Cohen he'll make "some phone calls" to make sure the questions he would ask wouldn't put him in legal trouble.

Carlson has released a series of tape-recorded conversations between Cohen and Cuomo, as well as CNN CEO Jeff Zucker. The first clip released showed Cuomo dismissing internal allegations of sexual misconduct to the disgraced lawyer, advising Cohen that the "media is not your friend." Carlson later updated viewers, saying he "heard" that Cuomo might be in "trouble" with CNN after the tape aired.

"We're not sure what that means, but we hope, and we say this with total sincerity, we hope that CNN isn't thinking of firing Chris Cuomo over the tape we aired," Carlson said.

The tape is one of many that have been "floating around" for some time but never aired publicly, Carlson said, before noting that Cuomo, who is the brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was captured on at least one of them. The conversation reportedly spans nearly two hours.

If CNN coached Michael Cohen, you have to wonder how many other guests were coached before their interview?

And if it turns out that multiple guests were coached, were they coached regardless of political views?

Or were only anti-Trump guests coached for a "successul" interview?

These are valid questions that we should be asking of our media!

The leaked audio appears to suggest that Chris Cuomo guided Cohen through a mock interview.

Cuomo asked "hypothetical" questions and even suggested the appropriate answers.

According to Fox News:

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo appeared to go above and beyond standard interview prep in 2018 when he gave former Trump attorney Michael Cohen advice about what he should say in an appearance on the network, new audio shows.

In a recorded in-person conversation obtained by "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Cohen is heard telling Cuomo that his network colleague Erin Burnett urged Cohen to appear on her show first because, according to him, she said it's "better if I do it with a woman."

Cohen was hesitant to implicate Trump and the campaign. At the time, Cohen was being scrutinized over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in the final days before the 2016 election. In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight counts, including campaign finance violations.

At that point, Cuomo appeared to coach Cohen through a hypothetical interview.

"You will be asked that and you can say, 'I did it 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,'" Cuomo told Cohen. "And to the question of motive ... 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.'"

Cuomo also told Cohen, "I think the way this conversation goes is almost exactly the way we're having it right now. Which is where I say, 'This looks shady,' and you say, 'It looks shady to you because you're coming in with a specific intention.'"

Cuomo then switched back into the role of the interviewer, asking, "Why didn't you let it all come out and let the people decide?"

"'Because it's not a fair process," Cuomo continued, this time as Cohen. "'They wouldn't have had any of the counter facts and they would have had her, you know, if she was somehow convinced to do it and people decided to believe that her denials were somehow less true than her admissions. I didn't want to play that game. Everything was tilted against Mr. Trump.' And that's what it is and then either they believe it or they'll say 'F--- that. There's no way he didn't know.'"

Cuomo offered further advice for Cohen about how he should respond to questions about a shell corporation he used to pay the women, urging Cohen to say, "I'm not being shady. I was being legal and I did it my way. You're wrong about the LLC ... I've used it for other things. I have tons of LLCs. I did not form it just to do this. And even if I had, my whole point would have been to keep it quiet. But that happens to just not be true."

The anchor even suggested Cohen attack the media, telling him to say, "Unlike the media, who is reporting on this, I don't like to say things just cause they are convenient when they are untrue."

Eventually, the two of them engage in a hypothetical interview exchange before the "Cuomo Prime Time" anchor suggests that would be willing to help Cohen if he landed in "trouble."

Can you imagine the far-left outcry if Fox News did the same sort of "prep" for a guest?

However, because Cohen is now anti-Trump, the left doesn't care that CNN appeared to coach Cohen for his appearances.

It truly appears as though news networks are more interested in pushing a narrative rather than pushing the truth.

Fortunately, the American people are increasingly aware of fake news!

And thank goodness for journalists like Tucker Carlson who are willing to expose the corruption in the fake news media!