CNN host and anti-Italian discrimination advocate Chris Cuomo has already denied advising his brother Andrew Cuomo on how to defend against allegations of sexual misconduct, but on Monday it was revealed just how involved he was.
“Please let me help with the prep,” he wrote to the governor’s top aide Melissa DeRosa in March, according to newly released interview transcripts from the investigation authorized by Attorney General Letitia James’s office. The investigation’s bombshell report last summer showed Chris advising Andrew not to resign. In March, he also texted DeRosa with written statements for his brother describing “the conformity that can be forced by cancel culture,” in addition to trying to dig up intel on reports from Politico and the New Yorker on new allegations before they were published.
That month, Chris Cuomo also tried to advise on the strategy regarding an unwanted advance at a wedding reported by the New York Times. “I have a lead on the wedding girl,” he texted DeRosa, referring to a woman who was forcibly kissed by Cuomo. Speaking with investigators, Chris said he talked with his “sources” about the reports. “I would – when asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” he told investigators, regarding who he would ask for information. The name of his source for the Times report was redacted in the transcripts. Chris, who has recused himself from his network’s coverage of the scandal, described reaching out to other reporters as “business-as-usual.” CNN, however, released a statement on Monday saying the network “will be having conversations and seeking additional clarity” on the matter.
