What to Know
- CNN suspended anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely, saying transcripts showed he had a bigger role than previously known in helping defend his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from sexual harassment allegations that forced him out of office
- The text messages and transcripts, which were made public on Monday, showed that the host of "Cuomo Prime Time" offered to reach out to “sources,” including other reporters, to find out whether more women were going to come forward and relayed what he was hearing
- Cuomo offered to help try and find out through his “sources” whether more women were going to come forward, including possibly learning their identities; he has defended himself by saying he never reported on Cuomo’s situation for CNN and never tried to influence coverage
CNN suspended anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely on Tuesday, as the network stated that transcripts showed he had a bigger role than previously known in helping defend his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from sexual harassment allegations that forced him out of office.
"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 were were not privy to before their public releaser, raise serious questions," the network said in a press release.
"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 press release continued. "However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother's efforts than we previously knew. As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation."
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The text messages and transcripts, which were made public on Monday, showed that the host of "Cuomo Prime Time" offered to reach out to “sources,” including other reporters, to find out whether more women were going to come forward and relayed what he was hearing to his brother’s advisers.
He also sparred with the former governor’s aides over strategy, urging an apologetic tone and critiquing an early statement that he saw as downplaying the allegations. He accused a top aide of hiding information from his brother.
At the same time, Cuomo told investigators he spoke regularly with his brother, coaching him on his response and admonishing him for “bad judgment.”
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Cuomo previously acknowledged it was a “mistake” to act as his brother’s unofficial adviser, but the full extent of his involvement — including using journalistic contacts to scope out accusers — only became clear with Monday’s release of his July interview with investigators and 169 pages of text messages, emails and other communications.
"Please let me help prep," Chris Cuomo said in a message to Melissa DeRosa, then-secretary to the governor, in early March. In the wake of a New York Times report detailing an alleged kiss by the governor, he text DeRosa: "I have a lead on the wedding girl."
“I would – when asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” Chris Cuomo told investigators.
“I was worried that this wasn’t being handled the right way, and it’s not my job to handle it, okay?” Chris Cuomo told investigators, according to the transcript. “I don’t work for the governor.”
Andrew Cuomo resigned in August to avoid a likely impeachment trial, in the wake of an independent investigation that found he sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Chris Cuomo said he never reported on his brother’s situation for the network and never tried to influence coverage. On-air in August, he said: “I tried to do the right thing,” adding he “wasn’t in control of anything.”
The suspension came after one of the governor's accusers, Charlotte Bennett, demanded that the network fire Chris Cuomo.
"Yesterday, we learned just how far Chris Cuomo was willing to go to discredit, silence and smear women, like me, who came forward to report Governor Cuomo’s sexual misconduct. In addition to scouring the internet for personal information about me, he reached out to his professional network with the hope of intercepting additional allegations against his brother, Governor Cuomo," Bennett said. "Just like his older brother, Chris Cuomo used his time, network and resources to help smear victims, dug up opposition research, and belittle our credible allegations. His behavior is reprehensible, unprofessional and inexcusable."
Monday’s releases show Chris Cuomo growing frustrated with his brother’s advisers as they scrambled to respond as more women came forward with harassment allegations.
The anchor pressed for greater involvement in crafting his brother’s message and offered up his journalistic sleuthing to find out what other allegations might be looming.
On March 4, Chris Cuomo texted the governor’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, saying “I have a lead on the wedding girl,” referring to a woman who accused his brother of unwanted touching at a wedding reception.
On March 7, as rumors swirled that more women were about to come forward, DeRosa texted Chris Cuomo: “Can u check your sources.” He replied, “On it.”
“When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” Chris Cuomo said in the July deposition.
In one instance, Chris Cuomo said he called a journalist who regularly worked with reporter Ronan Farrow to get information about Farrow’s upcoming article, and didn’t tell anyone at CNN what he was doing. He let DeRosa know the article wasn’t ready for publication yet.
In a March 10 text message, Chris Cuomo lashed out at DeRosa, accusing her of keeping information from his brother after the Albany Times-Union published an interview with an accuser.
“Stop hiding s--- ,” Chris Cuomo wrote. “We are making mistakes we can’t afford.”
Asked in his deposition about that text, Chris Cuomo explained he was telling her: “Don’t not tell Andrew things.”
“There were conversations that he wasn’t a part of that I thought it was important for him to stay very locked in on these,” Chris Cuomo testified.
Among this latest batch of investigative materials released by James’ office is a video of Andrew Cuomo’s deposition from July — a transcript was made public about three weeks ago — and transcripts or videos of interviews with several Cuomo aides and advisers.
James’ office said it didn’t initially release these because local prosecutors were reviewing them for potential criminal conduct. After a criminal complaint was filed against Cuomo last month, giving him access to the materials through discovery, James’ office said it would make them public “in an effort to provide full transparency.”
The releases were being done on a rolling basis — first with transcripts of the former governor and accusers on Nov. 10 and Monday with his brother, aides and other figures — to allow time for redactions to protect individual privacy, James’ office said.
DeRosa, in her interview released Monday, recalled confronting Andrew Cuomo during a car ride about the allegations. She told investigators that after one accuser came forward, they decided Cuomo would no longer be left alone with junior staff.
Asked about her exchanges with Chris Cuomo, DeRosa testified: “I talked to Chris pretty regularly. He was on some calls that we did, and he advised us on how to respond.”
