Chris Cuomo says he's 'embarrassed' after being suspended indefinitely by CNN and apologizes for helping brother Andrew
CHRIS Cuomo said he's "embarrassed" after being suspended indefinitely by CNN and apologizes for helping his brother Andrew.
The CNN anchor broke his silence after NYS Attorney General Letitia James released documents that include texts showing Cuomo agreed to contact news industry “sources” for information on reports regarding his older brother.
Speaking on his SiriusXM radio program on Wednesday, Cuomo said: "You know this already. It hurts to even say it, it's embarrassing, but I understand it.
"I understand why some people feel the way they do about what I did."
Cuomo continued: "I've apologized in the past and I mean it, 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 and I respect that process, so I'm not going to talk about this any more than that."
According to new documents released this week, Cuomo was in contact with one of Andrew's top aides Melissa DeRosa and offered to help craft his defense against the shock claims.
A spokesperson for CNN said on Tuesday: "When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother's staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly."
"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 had previously debunked claims of his involvement in the efforts by Andrew's aides to stave off the growing scandal.
The CNN host said: “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. I never influenced or attempted to control CNN’s coverage of my family.”
At the time, he also stated that he had no plans to comment further. “This will be my final word on it,” the host said before cutting to a commercial.
“Let’s take a break. We’ll be right back.”
ANDREW STEPS DOWN
Cuomo's suspension comes less than four months after Andrew resigned in disgrace after an August 3 report released by James found he sexually harassed 11 women, including nine current or former state employees.
On October 28, the former New York governor was charged with a misdemeanor sex crime for groping a former aide in Albany’s Executive Mansion.
The complaint charges Cuomo with forcible touching, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
If convicted of the misdemeanor forcible touching, the 63-year-old civilian would not have to register as a sex offender.
According to the New York Times, the reason is that for him to have to register, the victim would have to be younger than 18-years-old and the victim in question.
The alleged victim in question is an adult.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS
Source: Read Full Article