Just one day after being indefinitely suspended from CNN, Chris Cuomo spoke out about his embarrassment, saying “it hurts”.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo spoke out on Wednesday about his embarrassment of being suspended by the network. The suspension came following documents released in the investigation into allegations regarding his brother, former Governor Andrew Cuomo. "It hurts to even say it. It’s embarrassing. But I understand it. And I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did. I’ve apologized in the past, and I mean it," said Cuomo on Wednesday during his radio show on SiriusXM. "It’s the last thing I ever wanted to do, was compromise any of my colleagues and do anything but help. I know they have a process that they think is important. I respect that process, so I'm not going to talk about this any more than that."
Cuomo’s suspension was announced on Tuesday just hours before his nightly show. Cuomo did not acknowledge the newly released documents during his show on Monday, nor did he discuss the details of the documents on his radio show on Wednesday.
The documents released by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday showed that the longtime CNN journalist was more closely involved in his brother’s defense than previously believed.
"The New York Attorney General's office released transcripts and exhibits Monday that shed new light on Chris Cuomo's involvement in his brother's defense," a CNN spokesperson said Tuesday evening on CNN. "The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions."
“These documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother's efforts than we previously knew," the spokesperson added. "As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation."
The released documents include text messages between Chris Cuomo and the former governor’s aide, Melissa DeRosa, and suggest he was instrumental in working to craft a defense against a myriad of allegations of sexual misconduct.
The text messages also show that Chris Cuomo sought to use his connections in the media to help prepare his brother’s team as accusers started to make their allegations against the former governor.
At the time of former Governor Cuomo’s resignation, CNN officials acknowledged that Chris Cuomo had spoken to his brother and his brother’s team, but had stopped at CNN’s request in May.
Chris Cuomo said on the air in August, "I never attacked nor encouraged anyone to attack any woman who came forward. I never made calls to the press about my brother's situation.”
The documents released Monday seem to cast some level of doubt on the statements made by both CNN and Cuomo, proving again that much of mainstream media and network television is plagued by fierce, incestious loyalties. It appears the interactions with the press and Chris Cuomo were leveraged to influence, inform and even manipulate the intended outcome of the investigation of the allegations against former Governor Cuomo.
Tuesday’s suspension of Cuomo is being called indefinite, and is pending further, internal investigation by the major news outlet. CNN declined any comment to TimCast at this time regarding the focus and length of the proposed investigation.
