(Fwrd Axis) — CNN has suspended anchor Chris Cuomo after filings in a probe showed he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, defend himself amid sexual assault allegations while he was the governor of New York.
Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation back in August after facing the possibility of impeachment. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Documents were released Monday and showed Chris Cuomo helped his brother, the former governor, find out how many women would be accusing him of sexual harassment.
“I would — when asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” Cuomo said, according to the documents.
Cuomo, who has hosted “Cuomo Prime Time” during the 9 PM ET hour on the network since 2017, previously released a statement on the show. During the broadcast, he said that helping his brother was a family matter.
CNN released a statement on Tuesday, saying the documents released on Monday have prompted the network to start their own internal investigation.
“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly,” the statement said. “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.”
Cuomo texted the governor’s top aide with a tip that he had a “lead on the wedding girl” and later said he spoke to his brother and top aides, saying he was trying to help them understand that the complaint should be taken seriously.
Anderson Cooper will be filling in for Cuomo’s hour until the matter is resolved, CNN also confirmed.
