FACT CHECK: Did Jeffrey Toobin Comment On Andrew Cuomoâs Sexual Harassment Allegations On CNN?
An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin commenting on New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesâ report on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomoâs sexual harassment allegations.
Verdict: False
The image shows CNN political director David Chalian, not Toobin. Toobin does not appear to have gone on CNN to discuss the allegations against Cuomo so far.
Fact Check:
James released a 165-page report that found Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and fostered a âtoxicâ work environment, according to the Washington Post. Cuomo strongly denied the claims in a video released after Jamesâ Aug. 3 press conference detailing the reportâs findings, NBC New York reported.
Now, a Facebook image shows what appears to be a still frame from a segment aired on CNN featuring two men and two women on the left side, and a picture of Cuomo on the right. Text accompanying the image reads, âWow CNN a has Jeffrey Toobin analyzing Gov. Cuomoâs sexual harassment scandal. I canât make this up.â
Toobin exposed himself on a Zoom call in October 2020, resulting in him being fired from his job as a staff writer for The New Yorker and taking a leave of absence from his job with CNN, according to The New York Times. Toobin returned to CNN in June, the outlet reported.
The image, does not however, show Toobin on CNN commenting on Cuomoâs sexual assault allegations. Check Your Fact found the segment shown in the Facebook image published on CNNâs website. The clip shows the man in the lower-left corner commenting on the allegations, and he is identified in a chyron as Chalian. The man in the upper-right corner is CNN legal analyst Paul Callan.
Toobin does not appear to have made comments on Cuomoâs allegations on CNN to date. A search of his CNN profile did not yield any results for segments on such a topic. Nor did a search of video clip editing service Grabien turn up any segments of Toobin commenting on Cuomo.
âThatâs David Chalian in the screengrab, not Jeffrey Toobin,â CNN spokesperson Bridget Leininger told Check Your Fact in an email.
âGuys, itâs CNN political director David Chalian whoâs been on all day talking about Andrew Cuomo, NOT Jeffrey Toobin,â the tweet reads.
Journalist Megyn Kelly and radio host Clay Travis both sent tweets on Aug. 3 mistaking Chailan for Toobin. Both later corrected themselves in subsequent tweets.