CNN on Saturday announced the sack of its prime time anchor, Chris Cuomo. who had earlier been suspended on Tuesday.
CNN had suspended Cuomo was indefinitely on Tuesday following revelations in documents released by New York Attorney General Letitia James that he was extensively involved in helping to defend his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, against allegations of sexual misconduct.
The 348-page interview transcript and communications showed that Cuomo used his journalistic sources to get information about forthcoming articles that could negatively impact his brother and his futile fight to keep the governorship.
“When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” he told investigators, referring to the potential for additional women to accuse his brother of misconduct.
In particular, Cuomo called around to find out about the timing for an article published by New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow, though he didn’t call Farrow directly. When asked by investigators whether he had informed CNN management about his outreach regarding the Farrow article, he replied, “No, not specifically.”
He argued that it was “business-as-usual” for a journalist to call peers regarding the timing of impending articles.
In one message released as part of the investigation, Cuomo messaged a top aide to the then-governor, Melissa DeRosa, to inform her that he had a “lead” about a woman who had accused his brother of improper behavior at a wedding.
“The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions,” the network said on Tuesday.
“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. However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew.”
In a statement on Saturday evening, the network said: “Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”
But Cuomo had told listeners on his radio show on Tuesday afternoon that he was “embarrassed” by the network’s decision to suspend him, which he said “hurts.”
“I know they have a process that they think is important,” he said. “I respect that process. So, I’m not going to talk about this anymore than that.”
Credit Washington Post