CNN indefinitely suspends Chris Cuomo over damning AG documents
CNN “indefinitely” suspended host Chris Cuomo Tuesday over his secret role in trying to defend his brother, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from the sexual harassment allegations that forced him from office — and the use of his journalistic resources to aid that effort.
The move came a day after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a trove of subpoenaed records that include texts showing the “Cuomo Prime Time” host agreed to contact news industry “sources” for advance information on reports regarding his older brother.
In a prepared statement, CNN said the material “shed new light on Chris Cuomo’s involvement in his brother’s defense.”
“The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions,” the network said.
“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.”
Text messages and Cuomo’s own testimony to state AG investigators, revealed the CNN star was asked by then-Gov. Cuomo’s top aide Melissa Derosa to find out if more women were coming forward with sexual misconduct charges as the governor’s sex scandal was unfolding.
“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 stunningly said, according to the AG’s transcript.
“I remember Melissa asking me at some point that either they wanted to know if I knew or could find out if more were coming or that she had heard that one or maybe two more were coming and could I find out.”
Three days earlier, on March 4, Chris Cuomo also texted DeRosa about Anna Ruch, 33, who’d told the New York Times that then-Gov. Cuomo asked her, “Can I kiss you?” during a wedding reception in 2019.
That article also featured a photo of Cuomo, 63, with his hands holding either side of Ruch’s face as she appeared to grimace in fear.
“I have a lead on the wedding girl,” Chris Cuomo dutifully texted told DeRosa.
And during sworn testimony, Chris Cuomo told outside lawyers hired by James that he had a “source” who knew the bride’s family.
“My friend had heard that maybe she had been put up to it,” Cuomo said of Ruch’s cooperation with the Times.
CNN noted in its statement announcing Cuomo’s indefinite benching: “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.”
Employees of the left-leaning cable news channel told The Post earlier Tuesday that the network needed to finally fire Chris Cuomo.
“How does he still have a job at the network? He’s not a journalist,” one staffer said.
“‘Cuomo Prime Time’ has the lowest ratings to date. The viewers no longer trust him. His reign at CNN has to end.”
Another said, “Chris Cuomo enabled a sexual predator, the former governor of New York. He needs to immediately resign or CNN must fire him.
“Does Chris Cuomo have any journalistic integrity? No.”
And Elisa Batista of the women’s rights group UltraViolet also said Cuomo “should be fired immediately” for “using his position at CNN to seek information on the accusers.”
“This a severe breach of journalistic ethics,” Batista said in a prepared statement.
“CNN should immediately sever ties with Chris Cuomo. Anything less is unacceptable, and further harms survivors of sexual abuse.”
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