CNN announced Tuesday that Chris Cuomo has been suspended indefinitely one day after New York Attorney General Letitia James publicly released several transcripts and corresponding exhibits from the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“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.”
According to text messages between Chris Cuomo and Andrew Cuomo’s former top aide, Melissa DeRosa, the CNN anchor agreed to check his sources regarding information on his brother’s accusers and potential articles about his brother from colleagues at other media outlets. In Chris Cuomo’s testimony, he confirmed to investigators that he attempted to learn more about a story by journalist Ronan Farrow concerning his brother while routinely deleting text messages from his sources.
In one text message to DeRosa, Chris Cuomo wrote, “I have a lead on the wedding girl.” The CNN anchor was referring to Anna Ruch, who told The New York Times that Andrew Cuomo had made an unwanted advance toward her at a wedding in New York City.
At least six women have testified against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo for allegedly sexually harassing them. Currently under criminal investigation, Gov. Cuomo resigned from office in August as reports from at least eleven women accused him of sexually harassing them while he was serving as governor.
CNN announced that Anderson Cooper has been scheduled to replace Chris Cuomo, who remains under investigation by the network.
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