After new evidence points to a greater involvement of Chris Cuomo in the strategy of his brother Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York, to react to allegations of sexual harassment, the CNN anchor was suspended by the American broadcaster this Tuesday (30th). according to The New York Times.
The unpublished materials, which include copies of text messages and emails, as well as transcribed testimonies from the Democrat’s closest advisers and from the former governor, on video, surfaced this Monday (29). They based the report released in August by state attorney general Letitia James, which shows that the Democrat sexually harassed 11 women. A week later, Cuomo resigned.
According to a statement from the broadcaster released by the New York Times, “the documents, which we were not aware of prior to their release to the public, raise serious questions.”
“When Chris admitted to us that he advised his brother’s team, he broke our black women and we acknowledged that publicly,” the text continues. “But we also assessed the unique position he found himself in and understood his need to put family first and work second.”
CNN also claims that, as the documents indicate a greater degree of involvement than was known, it decided to suspend its anchor indefinitely.
According to the released material, the CNN anchor insisted that he never manipulated coverage or made suggestions to other journalists to benefit his brother in testimony to investigators. He told viewers that he acted only as a brother to “listen and give advice,” urging the Democrat to tell the truth, whatever it was, and eventually to step down.
The exchanges of messages contained in the material, however, point to a greater role.
Due to the access he has to various sources inside and outside the American press, the journalist was sued by former aide Melissa DeRosa — who left office two days before Cuomo — as she tried to control, in early March, the journalists who investigated the harassment stories. “Never mind,” was Chris Cuomo’s response, according to the American newspaper.
Days later, she wrote to him again after learning that a reporter for The New Yorker magazine was preparing to run a story, asking the CNN anchor to check the information.
Also in March, the journalist also approached DeRosa via text message, saying he was “panic” over the way his brother’s team was handling the allegations and asked to help prepare Andrew Cuomo before writing proposed statements for the then governor to read.
He also asked the advisor to trust him and insisted that they stop hiding details. “We are making mistakes that we cannot [cometer]”, he wrote at one point, according to the newspaper.
Chris Cuomo even sought out the former aide after a New York Times report about a harassment committed at a wedding. The journalist wrote to DeRosa saying he had a clue that the woman was acting to hurt the former governor’s image — which was not true, as he himself admitted to investigators.
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