The husband of Fox News anchor Julie Banderas has been cleared of criminal charges after she accused him of putting a steak knife to her throat during an argument over mashed potatoes, DailyMail.com can reveal.

A town judge in Southampton, New York, found Andrew Sansone not guilty after hearing evidence in a non-jury trial, after he claimed he only grabbed the knife in jest and never actually menaced her after she ate potatoes he’d prepared for the children’s dinner.

Sansone, 55, however, said his wife cooked up the story during their messy divorce battle.

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‘This malicious accusation against my client was a blatant misuse of the criminal justice system, using it as a sword and not a shield, purely to gain leverage in divorce court,’ his attorney Edward Burke told DailyMail.com Monday.

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A judge found Julie Banderas’ husband not guilty of criminal charges after she accused him of putting a knife to her throat, DailyMail.com can reveal

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In February the Fox News anchor announced live on Greg Gutfeld that she was getting a divorce , saying ‘F**k Valentine’s Day’. Banderas posted a selfie teasing her divorce announcement on Gutfeld

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But her lawyer Frank Blangiardo countered.

‘Spousal abuse is not a joking matter,’ he said.

‘Control and jealousy in divorce are abundant. After a year of divorce litigation an estranged spouse should not point a knife at his wife, period.’

Julie’s last word

After DailyMail.com initially published this article, Julie Banderas issued a statement on the result of her case:

‘I am deeply disappointed in the Judge’s decision but I have profound respect for our justice system and understand how extraordinarily high the burden of proof is in criminal matters.

‘I chose not to present compelling evidence during the hearing in order to protect my family’s privacy.

‘I encourage every woman in toxic and controlling relationships who are victimized with threats and abuse, to continue to have faith in the system and not be dissuaded by what happened to me.’

Sansone was arrested and charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon for the alleged incident at their home in the Hamptons the night of December 14.

The Fox host, 49, accused him of flying into a rage, pointing the blade at her neck, causing her to fear for her life. Their children, ages 6, 10 and 12, were reportedly elsewhere in the house at the time.

She took five days before she called police on December 19 and her husband of 14 years was led out of the home in handcuffs. A judge later granted a restraining order prohibiting him from having further contact with his wife.

According to the police report, the couple were arguing earlier in the day about money – a common flashpoint as they battled over their pending divorce and child custody issues.

The criminal charges were hashed out during a June trial, where the warring spouses presented their competing versions of the mashed potatoes incident.

Judge Gary Weber, in his ruling on July 25, recapped the arguments, noting that Sansone had prepared a new recipe and Banderas was sampling it by taking several spoonfuls from the mixing bowl.

According to Banderas’s testimony, it was the third scoop that set him off. She maintained that her husband grabbed the knife from the counter and held it ‘right up against my throat but not touching my skin’ after he warned, ‘Stop, don’t touch the potatoes no more.’

Julie Banderas announces on live TV that she’s getting divorced

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‘F**k Valentine’s Day,’ Banderas said on Gutfeld in February. ‘Yeah, it’s stupid. Even when I was married, I didn’t get s**t for Valentine’s Day… well, I’m getting a divorce, I’m going to go ahead and say it right here for the first time.’

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Banderas, who joined the Fox News Channel in 2005, serves as a substitute weekday anchor on Outnumbered. She was awarded the ‘Outstanding Single Newscast’ Emmy for her coverage of the Republican National Convention in 2004

‘What the f**k are you doing?’ Banderas said she shouted, to which he replied, ‘I thought you had a sense of humor. I was just kidding.’

Sansone told the court that his wife rubbed up against him, and that he told her in a ‘playful, sarcastic way’ to wait for dinner, gesturing with the knife from arm’s length.

The judge pointed out that Sansone also presented a contemporaneous text message to the friend who gave him the recipe, with a photo of the dish, while declaring the spicing was a hit.

Sansone testified that his wife sat down for dinner with the family afterwards, and later went out with friends to drink in a local bar until 2 in the morning. He claimed she twisted the innocent interaction into a criminal complaint.

Banderas testified that she did not eat with the family that night and went up to her bedroom alone before heading out.

During cross examination, Banderas admitted that she’d previously threatened to plant a ‘really juicy story’ about her husband in the media to leverage her position in the divorce, according to the judge’s recap.

‘These candid admissions might be viewed as bearing upon the complainant’s credibility,’ Judge Weber wrote in his July 25 ruling.

The judge also wrote that there were no other witnesses to substantiate Banderas’s claims, and that ‘there has been no evidence of a history of violence or threats of violence that tends to impeach the defendant’s testimony.’

‘For all of these reasons,’ the judge ruled, ‘the court finds that the People have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant possessed the steak knife with the intent to use the same unlawfully against another or to place another in reasonable fear of physical injury or death.’

Banderas, who joined the Fox News Channel in 2005, serves as a substitute weekday anchor on Outnumbered. She was awarded the ‘Outstanding Single Newscast’ Emmy for her coverage of the Republican National Convention in 2004.

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She married Andrew Sansone in 2009 and the pair share three children together. Banderas’s social media posts are often filled with photos of her children, but little of Sansone

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Sansone, 55, said his wife cooked up the story during their messy divorce and custody battle over their three kids

She filled in for Harris Faulkner on The Faulkner Focus on Monday when she defended Donald Trump in his legal battle with special counsel Jack Smith.

‘It’s not a crime to tell lies,’ she pointed out. ‘Being a narcissist isn’t a crime. Hatching schemes to stay in office is not a crime. Claiming you won an election you know you lost is not a crime.’

Banderas issued a statement in which she said she was disappointed in the result but said she did not present some evidence ‘to protect my family’s privacy’ (see sidebar).

Sansone, a financial advisor, filed for divorce in March 2022.

Banderas announced their split on her Twitter account on December 9, saying her husband was her ‘soon to be ex,’ in response to a fan telling her the couple had left them in ‘stitches.’

It was five days later that Sansone allegedly threatened her with the knife.

Then in February, the Fox anchor sensationally announced live on Gutfeld that she was getting a divorce.

The mother-of-three was seen laughing when host Greg Gutfeld asked if she was going to get anything for Valentine’s Day.

‘F**k Valentine’s Day,’ she replied, as she sat coolly with her arm propped up on the back of the chair. ‘Yeah, it’s stupid. Even when I was married, I didn’t get s**t for Valentine’s Day… well, I’m getting a divorce, I’m going to go ahead and say it right here for the first time.

‘Congratulations are in order, if you know me, you’d clap… That was breaking news right there,’ joked the 18-year Fox veteran, who married Sansone in 2009.