Report suggests CNN’s Cuomo lied when he said he never offered advice in brother’s sex scandal
November 30, 2021
A review of thousands of pages of documents and sworn evidence show that CNN host Chris Cuomo used his position with the cable giant to “seek information on women who accused his brother Andrew Cuomo, then the governor of New York, of sexual harassment, according to documents released Monday by the New York Attorney General’s Office,” according to CNBC.
Previously, Accuracy in Media reported that the CNN TV news personality was one of a bevy of insiders who helped his brother create an environment where sexual harassment would “flourish and persist” during Andrew Cuomo’s time as governor, according to the official 168-page report issued by the state of New York.
The president of AIM, Adam Guillette, subsequently called on CNN to take action against the Cuomo Prime Time star.
“It was known that Andrew Cuomo relied on his brother for guidance during this scandal. And it’s reasonable to expect someone to turn to their family during times of crisis,” said Guillette in an action alert. “But what is unreasonable and unacceptable is that a primetime CNN host helped protect an environment where sexual harassment could ‘flourish and persist.’”
The latest revelations suggest that not only did Chris Cuomo use CNN resources in attacking his brother’s accusers, but that he also lied when he said that he never acted in the capacity of adviser for the elder Cuomo during the scandal.
Earlier Cuomo said he was only there to “listen and offer my take” for his brother according to reporting by TheCityNY’s Josefa Velásque.
Velasquez’s reporting includes a spreadsheet of text messages between Chris Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa, the top aide for brother Andrew Cuomo during the crisis regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault that eventually resulted in the resignation of the governor and criminal charges.
Chris Cuomo previously told viewers that he wasn’t an adviser to his older brother, he was there to “listen and offer my take.”
But new texts show he was advising and running interference for the former governor.
“We are making mistakes we can’t afford.” pic.twitter.com/LyVpuVb0x0
— Josefa Velásquez (@J__Velasquez) November 29, 2021
One text message from the CNN host demanded that DeRosa that trust Chris Cuomo more.
“We are making mistakes we can’t afford,” Cuomo texted, begging to be included in decision-making for his brother’s crisis response.
The texts comport with what DeRosa told investigators.
“Chris sends me a lot of things a lot of the time. Half of it I don’t engage in. He gives unsolicited advice,” DeRosa said, according to Fox News.
“Goddam I panic every f——g time I see your name. The talk is precarious. I worry about this ‘if investigation proves allegation he has to go,” Cuomo texted DeRosa in March according to the Fox report. “Please let me help with the prep.”
Accuracy in Media waged a successful campaign previously to have the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences withdraw the Emmy that they awarded for coronavirus press briefings given by Governor Andrew Cuomo after allegations surfaced that Cuomo had lied about the numbers of people who died on account of his decision to pack COVID patients into nursing homes early in the pandemic.