Chris Cuomo may have crossed a line in the efforts he has made to help his brother Andrew Cuomo fight off a cascade of sexual harassment allegations, a new statement revealed.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, CNN, where Cuomo works as a presenter, is investigating his testimony with the New York attorney general to see if the younger Cuomo has shown inappropriate behavior.
“The thousands of pages of additional transcripts and exhibits released today by the New York Attorney General deserve thorough review and consideration,” a CNN spokesman told CNBC. “We will have talks in the next few days and seek additional clarity on its meaning in relation to CNN.”
Cuomo reportedly used his media connections to learn more about the women who accused his brother of sexual harassment. Although he had already admitted to helping his brother and his team deal with the scandal, the documentary shows that Chris advised his brother in more significant ways than previously thought.
Cuomo spoke regularly to the ex-governor’s senior advisor, Melissa DeRosa, about media coverage of his brother’s scandal and helped him write statements. “Please let me help with the preparation,” Cuomo wrote in an SMS to DeRosa in early March. Although Cuomo said he was not an official advisor to his brother, he said he was advising Andrew and telling him to resign.
The CNN host told investigators that he was in contact with his “sources” to find out the allegations made against his brother and to find out which stories were in the pipeline. “I would – if I was asked, turn to sources, other journalists, to see if they heard from anyone else,” Cuomo told investigators.
The documentary shows Cuomo texting DeRose in March, “I have a lead on the wedding girl,” referring to Anna Ruch, the woman the former governor allegedly tried to kiss at a wedding without consent. Cuomo later gave investigators the name of the source, although the name was blacked out in his testimony.
That same month, DeRosa and Cuomo discussed an upcoming Ronan Farrow story to be published in The New Yorker. DeRosa asked Cuomo to ask his sources about the Farrow story. He told investigators that he spoke to “another journalist” about the Farrow article before it was published, but never contacted Farrow directly. Cuomo said the demand for the story was “business-as-usual”. The piece ran later on March 18th.
Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor in August after Attorney General Letitia James shared her report on his alleged wrongdoing. In October he was charged with a sex crime for allegedly groping a woman at his villa in Albany, New York.
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