CNN suspended Chris Cuomo Tuesday night after newly-released documents from State Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation into his brother and former Governor Andrew Cuomo revealed the star anchor used his news industry sources to get a heads up of reports about the bombshell sexual harassment allegations.
The TV news channel’s communications arm sent out a statement saying the AG’s second round of documents released Monday as part of her office’s blockbuster investigation raised “serious questions” about the host of the top-rated show “Cuomo Prime Time.”
“The New York Attorney General’s office released transcripts and exhibits Monday that shed new light on Chris Cuomo’s involvement in his brother’s defense. The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions,” the CNN statement read.
James’s office released more documents Monday, including text and email exchanges between Chris Cuomo and the former governor’s aides where he offered advice several times and tapped his industry contacts to get updates on impending articles about the former governor’s many accusations of sexual misconduct.
Chris Cuomo previously admitted helping his brother and apologized, but CNN’s statement continued to say that the new trove of documents showed a much deeper involvement in the ex-governor’s defense strategy than they had previously been aware of.
“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly. But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second,” the statement continued. “However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we perviously knew. As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely pending further evaluation.”
The move came just hours after Chris Cuomo went on a screed during his SiriusXM radio show blaming his brother’s downfall on politicians and the media rather than his alleged misconduct against 11 women.
The rant went against his own earlier commitments to steer clear of covering the former governor’s scandal, telling CNN “he could never be objective.”
