Chris Cuomo is the host of his own CNN show on which he discusses national political issues. He’s also the brother of Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor of New York who resigned In August in the wake of a damning report detailing several allegations of sexual misconduct. Cuomo the younger has admitted to advising his brother as he tried to weather the scandal, but his involvement was greater than previously believed, according to documents released on Monday by the New York attorney general’s office.
In an interview with state investigators, Chris said he talked to other journalists about what they were hearing about allegations coming down the pike, and then fed information to Melissa DeRosa, Andrew’s top aide. “I have a lead on the wedding girl,” Chris texted DeRosa days after The New York Times reported that Andrew attempted to kiss a woman at a wedding.
“Rumor going around from politico 1-2 more ppl coming out tomorrow. Can u check your sources?” DeRosa texted Chris the same month. “On it,” Chris responded. Chris worked his sources to gather “intel” on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ronan Farrow’s then-forthcoming story on Andrew’s accusers, as well, at the request of DeRosa.
The documents released Monday also provide more details about how Cuomo offered his help with Andrew’s crisis management effort, and how he worked with DeRosa to fine-tune the governor’s statements responding to the wave of accusations. In one instance, Chris provided a complete written statement to DeRosa. “I will not resign, I cannot resign,” the texted statement reads, in part.
The news that Chris Cuomo was feeding DeRosa information ascertained through his media connections adds more color to a picture of his involvement in his brother’s damage control efforts that has been developing throughout the year.
The Washington Post reported in May that Chris was participating in conference calls about how his brother should deal with the scandal, and suggested pinning the outrage on cancel culture — which Andrew did indeed do during a conference call in March.
CNN acknowledged the behavior was inappropriate, but excused it in part by noting that Chris had “not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes.” Chris apologized on the air. “It will not happen again,” he said. “It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot.”
State prosecutors revealed months later that Chris had been CC’d on emails among Andrew’s team, as well as several other details of his involvement as the allegations of sexual misconduct threatened to bring down the political scion at the helm of one of the nation’s most populous states.
CNN and Cuomo may have acknowledged that participating in meetings with his brother’s team was inappropriate, but using connections developed through his job as a political commentator to aid one of the nation’s most powerful politicians as he tries to navigate a sexual misconduct scandal represents another level of unethical behavior. It’s the type of below-board, conflict-of-interest dealing that would likely get anyone not named “Cuomo” fired, and which at the very least exacerbates to the public’s waning trust in ostensibly unbiased networks like CNN.
CNN did not immediately reply to questions from Rolling Stone about whether it intends to discipline Cuomo.
Source: RollingStone
