CNN fires Chris Cuomo over role in brother’s defense
CNN has terminated its top anchor, Chris Cuomo, saying a review launched to investigate his involvement in the defense of his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, had revealed “additional information.”
Statement on Chris Cuomo’s termination from CNN. pic.twitter.com/yKPwYtMznD
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 4, 2021
The CNN host was suspended by the channel earlier this week, after texts released by New York Attorney General Letitia James shed light on his attempts to undertake damage control for his brother while the former was fighting multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
In a statement on Saturday, CNN said a law firm that had been carrying out an internal review of Cuomo’s conduct had stumbled across “additional information” in his case. While the channel did not disclose to what this apparently damning information pertained, it vowed to continue its investigation, despite Cuomo no longer being an employee.
The anchor’s departure from CNN follows the release of a trove of documents revealing that the younger of the two Cuomo brothers had been using his journalistic connections to gain early access to pending news reports on sexual misconduct allegations against the then-governor.
Responding to the news of his suspension on Tuesday, Chris Cuomo insisted he had never intended to “compromise” any of his colleagues, and described his suspension as “embarrassing.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned in August, rather than face impeachment, in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women. The scandal dominated the national headlines, eclipsing reports that his administration had undercounted thousands of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. Cuomo’s critics have blamed him for causing at least some of these deaths by directing long-term care facilities to take in recovering coronavirus patients early on in the pandemic.
