Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s little brother, Chris Cuomo, has been suspended indefinitely from CNN.
CNN decided to indefinitely suspend Chris Cuomo on Tuesday as his role in trying to defend Andrew Cuomo from the sexual harassment allegations and for using his journalistic resources in that effort.
The decision to suspend the younger Cuomo came after Attorney General Letitia James released subpoenaed records that showed Chris agreeing to contact his sources for advance information on any damaging reports regarding Andrew. The released documents included text messages between Chris Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa, a then-top aide to disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo, that suggested he was instrumental in helping develop a defense against the sexual misconduct allegations from 11 different women.
A statement from CNN came out on Tuesday, “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,” a CNN spokesperson said Tuesday evening. “The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions.”
“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly,” the spokesperson continued. “But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second. “However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew,” the spokesperson added. “As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”
To add more egg to the face of CNN is Brian Stelter.
He appeared on “The Late Show” when Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation preaching how Chris Cuomo knew where to draw the line for boundaries.
But does he though?
“In a small way, your network is involved in this story because, of course, the governor’s brother Chris Cuomo has his show,” CBS host Stephen Colbert began the August exchange before pointing to the New York Times’ recent reporting about the CNN star advising the governor to resign. “How does that create any conflict over at CNN behind closed doors? Are people mad at him? Or is he in trouble?”
“Some people are mad at him,” Stelter admitted. “By the way, I can confirm the New York Times report… I also have a source that says Chris was on the phone with his brother this week-“
“Is your source Chris Cuomo?” Colbert jokingly asked.
“He is not, he is not,” Stelter quickly responded. “You’ve gotta have boundaries. You’ve gotta draw lines.”
“Why? He doesn’t,” Colbert knocked the “Cuomo Prime Time” anchor.
“I think he does, actually,” Stelter pushed back. “I think Chris does, I don’t know about the governor.”
“What are the boundaries?”
Yes, what are his boundaries? Obviously, it’s not stopping at using his sources to get advance notice of damaging reports on his brother.
He spoke up about his suspension. I guess giving some kind of an apology?
“Hey everybody, it’s Chris Cuomo, let’s get after it, quick note, the obvious, I’ve been suspended from CNN,” Cuomo said during his SiriusXM radio show, Fox News said.
Cuomo continued: “You know this already. It hurts to even say it; it’s embarrassing, but I understand it, and I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did. I’ve apologized in the past, and I mean it; […] the last thing I ever wanted to do was compromise any of my colleagues and do anything but help.”
He concluded, “I know they have a process that they think is important, and I respect that process, so I’m not going to talk about this anymore than that,” Fox News reported.
