Posted on 11/30/21
| News Source: Washington Post
CNN has suspended Chris Cuomo, one of its biggest stars, a day after the release of documents that detailed his efforts to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fend off allegations of misconduct.
Transcripts from the New York Attorney General’s office on Monday showed that the cable host was far more involved in the governor’s crisis-management efforts than the younger Cuomo had previously acknowledged.
The network and its president, Jeff Zucker, had previously backed Cuomo for months, even as details accumulated about his role advising his brother, who eventually resigned in the wake of harassment allegations.
In May, The Post reported that Cuomo had joined conference calls to discuss how to handle the allegations. At the time, the network said it was “inappropriate” for Cuomo to engage in conversations that included members of the governor’s staff; the host acknowledged his error in doing so and pledged not to do so again.
But after the state attorney general released a cache of documents from its Cuomo investigation – including text messages between the journalist and the governor’s aides that showed he had drafted statements for his brother to issue, demanded a larger role in strategy, contacted fellow journalists to find out about potential articles about his brother and attempted to research his accusers – the network said on Tuesday that he had gone too far.
“The documents, which we were not privy to us before their public release, raise serious questions,” a spokesperson 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. 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.”
The network has not indicated whether Cuomo will regain his role at CNN upon such evaluation or how long the suspension will last.
In one message that was released on Monday, Cuomo wrote to former top gubernatorial aide Melissa DeRosa, “Please let me help with the prep.”
On another occasion, the younger Cuomo texted DeRosa that he needed “all the best facts” to offer reporters. “Who can do it?”
The messages showed that he was personally involved in trying to learn the publication date for an article by the New Yorker writer Ronan Farrow that included an extensive interview with one of the governor’s accusers, Lindsey Boylan, along with a rumored article in Politico. He was asked by DeRosa for “intel” and replied that he would ask his “sources” for information.
When asked by investigators why he had intervened with the Farrow story, Cuomo replied, “Because there was going to be an article about my brother. So I’m interested. I wasn’t going to call the person writing it. I wasn’t going to try to influence any of the stories. And we know that that’s true because you would have read about it had I. It’s not exactly a loyalty-based business.”
According to a transcript of his July interview with investigators, Cuomo acknowledged that he did not inform his superiors of his outreach. “I never did,” he said.
Cuomo argued that it was “business-as-usual” and “not something that would be out of the ordinary” for a journalist such as himself to call around about a potential story.
CNN’s decision to suspend him was a surprise to some staffers, who noted Zucker’s long-standing defense of his biggest on-air personality. Cuomo hosted his CNN show as usual on Monday night and did not discuss the burgeoning scandal.
Cuomo’s 9 p.m. show, “Cuomo Primetime,” is regularly the network’s most-watched program. During the third quarter of this year, the show led all CNN programs in total viewers with nearly 960,000 on an average night – though it has long trailed the competition on Fox News, Sean Hannity’s show, and Rachel Maddow’s show on MSNBC.
News organizations typically try to maintain clear boundaries between journalists and newsmakers, in an effort to maintain their independence. It’s considered a breach of ethics for a journalist – including those who engage primarily in giving their opinions – to support a source or public official, whether financially or in an advisory role.
Cuomo’s time slot rival at Fox News, Sean Hannity, advised Donald Trump behind the scenes as a candidate and later president and offered a similar defense as Cuomo when it was revealed. “Do I talk to my friend who I’ve known for years and speak my mind? I can’t not speak my mind,” he told the New York Times in 2016.
Fox News later offered mild criticism when Hannity and fellow host Jeanine Pirro appeared onstage at a Trump rally in 2018, saying it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events” though did not say how it had addressed the issue. Hannity at the time said that he was “not hiding the fact that I want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States” and that “I never claimed to be a journalist.”
Cuomo, meanwhile, for months has defended his behind-the-scenes work for his brother by saying that in his life, family came first and his job came second.
“I can be objective about just about any topic, but not about my family,” he said on his CNN show on May 20. He seemed to downplay his role, saying that he had made a “mistake” being “looped into calls” with the governor’s friends, advisers and staff because it put his colleagues at CNN in a “bad spot.”
While CNN had objected to his involvement in official strategy calls, the network chose not to suspend him at the time. But Monday’s revelations brought a new wave of heat and pressure on the network.
CNN had previously defended Cuomo after The Washington Post reported earlier this year that the host and his family received special coronavirus tests courtesy of a New York state doctor who drove to their Hamptons home to administer them.
With his suspension, Chris Cuomo is only the latest associate to suffer consequences from involvement in Andrew Cuomo’s scandal. The former governor’s longtime lawyer, Alphonso David, was ousted as head of the Human Rights Campaign, after it was revealed he provided a personnel file that was used to smear an accuser. Tina Tchen, the CEO of the women’s advocacy group Time’s Up, resigned after it was reported she helped the Cuomo team craft its defense. Two other longtime Cuomo advisers parted with their firm, Kivvit, after their involvement in helping him strategize his defense became clear.
CNN has not made any announcement of who will replace Chris Cuomo. On Tuesday, Anderson Cooper extended his 8 p.m. show into Cuomo’s usual 9 p.m. hour.