Chris Cuomo has been accused of advising his NY Governor brother Andrew to resign despite being banned from family strategizing by his bosses at CNN.
The 51 year-old host of Cuomo Prime Time was spotted in Sag Harbor on Tuesday as The New York Times and CNN's Brian Stelter reported that Chris was in 'regular' contact with Andrew, and had 'advised him to resign.'
CNN previously banned Chris from helping his brother plot how to respond to allegations he sexually harassed 11 women, and it is unclear if him telling Andrew to resign could be considered a breach of that prohibition.
The network said it had not stopped Chris from chatting with his brother, with the Times sharing its story hours after Andrew announced he was stepping down as Governor of New York.
Chris' colleague at CNN, media reporter Brian Stelter, told The Late Show's Stephen Colbert on Tuesday that 'some people' at the network are mad at the Prime Time Cuomo host for trying to help his brother beat the harassment allegations.
Chris was approached by a Fox News.com reporter and hit with a flurry of questions as he disembarked his boat and prepared to head home.
After docking the boat at the slip, the CNN host walked toward his pickup truck. A Fox News reporter waited nearby and asked him if he spoke to his brother.
CNN star Chris Cuomo (left) on Tuesday refused to answer questions about whether he advised his brother to resign even though a report claimed he did, in fact, defy his network’ ban and encouraged the scandal-plagued Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) to quit
The embattled host of Cuomo Prime Time, who is on vacation this week, was spotted by a Fox News.com reporter at Sag Harbor Yacht Yard on the eastern end of Long Island on the same day that the governor announced his resignation
In Sag Harbor on Tuesday, Chris Cuomo, who was seen wearing a visor hat and sunglasses while looking relaxed in a blue t-shirt and shorts, stepped off his speedboat, Heartstrong
Chris Cuomo got into his pickup truck and drove off. He reportedly spent up to five hours on his boat
‘Of course I have,’ Chris replied.
‘Did you advise him to step down?’ Fox News asked the CNN host. Chris did not reply.
In response to another question, Chris told the reporter that his brother would be at the Sag Harbor Yacht Yard in ‘five minutes, if you wait around.’
Off camera, Chris is reported to have told the Fox News reporter that he could have him arrested.
‘I think you have a job, and I’m gonna let you do it,’ Chris said as he walked toward his truck.
The reporter continued to ask Chris several questions, including whether he was continuing to advise Andrew, and whether that constituted an ethical conflict.
Chris's role in helping his brother attempt to weather the political storm created by the sex harassment allegations has prompted calls for CNN to fire the host and remove him from his prime time slot.
In February, the network banned Chris from interviewing his brother on the air after Andrew's administration was accused of covering up the true number of deaths in nursing homes caused by COVID-19.
The network is said to have offered Chris temporary leave to help advise his brother on the crisis that has now destroyed Andrew's career, although he turned down their suggestion, the Times reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo walks with his daughter Michaela, 23, to a helicopter at the heliport in Lower Manhattan shortly after announcing his resignation on Tuesday, a week after being dubbed a serial sexual harasser by Attorney General Letitia James
Michaela placed her hand on her father's back as they made their way to the helicopter, moments after his resignation
Last year, the governor appeared on his brother’s show at least 10 times during which the CNN host heaped lavish praise on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In May, Chris apologized on the air after it was reported that he had offered his brother advice on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations.
CNN did not discipline its star host, though the network acknowledged his actions were 'inappropriate.'
Cuomo was joined by his daughters Michaela, 23, and Mariah, 26 (center). His other 26-year-old daughter Cara was not there. Melissa DeRosa, his fiercest aide who quit on Sunday, was also with him (far left)
Cuomo was joined by his two top aides, Melissa DeRosa - who resigned on Sunday - and Stephanie Benton, who was pictured inside the Executive Mansion with him earlier this week
Stephanie Benton, another of Cuomo's aides, was with him on Tuesday too. She is shown in red, with Michaela (far left), Melissa DeRosa (far right) and Mariah, one of his other daughters (center in black floral dress)
Cuomo spoke from New York City. He has been hiding out in Albany since last week, when the Attorney General's report was released
CNN said that the host is on a pre-planned vacation this week celebrating his birthday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Andrew announced his resignation over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during some of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By turns defiant and chastened, the 63-year-old Democrat emphatically denied intentionally mistreating women and called the pressure for his ouster politically motivated.
But he said that fighting back in this 'too hot' political climate would subject the state to months of turmoil.
'The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing,' Cuomo said in a televised address.
Chris Cuomo (right) was previously branded a hypocrite after he repeatedly had Andrew (left) on his show at the height of the COVID crisis, when the governor's handling of the crisis was initially praised
The third-term governor's resignation, which will take effect in two weeks, was announced as momentum built in the Legislature to remove him by impeachment and after nearly the entire Democratic establishment had turned against him, with President Joe Biden joining those calling on him to resign.
The decision came a week after New York's attorney general released the results of an investigation that found Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Investigators said he subjected women to unwanted kisses; groped their breasts or buttocks or otherwise touched them inappropriately; made insinuating remarks about their looks and their sex lives; and created a work environment 'rife with fear and intimidation.'
At the same time, Cuomo was under fire over the discovery that his administration had concealed thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a 62-year-old Democrat and former member of Congress from the Buffalo area, will become the state's 57th governor and the first woman to hold the post.
She said Cuomo's resignation was 'the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers.'
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat from the Buffalo area, will be New York's first female governor
The #MeToo-era scandal cut short not just a career but a dynasty: Cuomo's father, Mario Cuomo, was governor in the 1980s and '90s, and the younger Cuomo was often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate.
Even as the scandal mushroomed, he was planning to run for reelection in 2022.
Republicans exulted in Cuomo's departure but still urged impeachment, which could prevent him from running for office again.
'This resignation is simply an attempt to avoid real accountability,' state GOP chair Nick Langworthy said.
At the White House, Biden said: 'I respect the governor's decision.'
At the same time, he said Cuomo had 'done a helluva job' on infrastructure and voting rights, and 'that's why it's so sad.'
'From the beginning, I simply asked that the governor stop his abusive behavior,' Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo publicly of harassment, tweeted Tuesday.
'It became abundantly clear he was unable to do that, instead attacking and blaming victims until the end.'
Cuomo still faces the possibility of criminal charges, with a number of prosecutors around the state continuing to investigate him.
At least one of his accusers has filed a criminal complaint.
When asked how Cuomo had performed as Governor, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday: 'Well, he's done a hell of a job. Both on everything from access to voting to infrastructure, a whole range of things. That's why it's so sad.'
The governor prefaced his resignation with a 45-minute defense from his lawyer and his own insistence that his behavior - while sometimes insensitive, off-putting or 'too familiar' - had been used against him as a weapon in a political environment where 'rashness has replaced reasonableness.'
'I am a fighter, and my instinct is to fight through this controversy because I truly believe it is politically motivated. I believe it is unfair and it is untruthful,' he said, but added that he didn't want 'distractions' to consume the state government as it grapples with the pandemic and other problems.
The string of accusations began in news reports last December and went on for months.
Cuomo called some of the allegations fabricated and denied he touched anyone inappropriately.
But he acknowledged making some aides uncomfortable with comments he said he intended as playful, and he apologized for some of his behavior.
He portrayed some encounters as misunderstandings attributable to 'generational or cultural' differences, invoking his upbringing in an affectionate Italian American family.
The attorney general's investigation backed up the women's accounts and added lurid new ones, turning up the pressure on Cuomo.
Investigators also said that the governor's staff retaliated against Boylan by leaking confidential personnel files about her.
As governor, Cuomo proclaimed himself a 'progressive Democrat' who gets things done: Since taking office in 2011, he helped push through legislation that legalized gay marriage, began lifting the minimum wage to $15 and expanded paid family leave benefits.
Lindsey Boylan, the first to make public accusations against Cuomo, tweeted after his resignation that she was grateful to the AG
Dancing on his political grave: Cuomo enemies de Blasio, Letitia James and Cynthia Nixon - who he defeated in 2018 - were among those who celebrated his downfall on Tuesday
He also backed big infrastructure projects, including a new Hudson River bridge that he named after his father.
At the same time he was engaging in the behavior that got him into trouble, he was publicly championing the #MeToo movement and surrounding himself with women's rights activists.
He signed into law sweeping new protections against sexual harassment and lengthened the statute of limitations in rape cases.
His resignation is 'a testament to the growing power of women's voices since the beginning of the #MeToo movement,' said Debra Katz, a lawyer for one of his accusers, Charlotte Bennett.
Cuomo's national popularity soared during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York was the lethal epicenter of the nation´s coronavirus outbreak and he became President Donald Trump's chief antagonist in the minds of many Americans.
Cuomo's tough-minded but compassionate rhetoric made for riveting television well beyond New York, as he sternly warned people to stay home and wear masks while Trump often brushed off the virus.
Cuomo's briefings won an international Emmy Award, and he went on to write a book on leadership in a crisis.
But those accomplishments were soon tainted when it emerged that the state's official count of nursing home deaths had excluded many victims who had been transferred to hospitals before they succumbed.
A Cuomo aide acknowledged the administration feared the true numbers would be 'used against us' by the Trump White House.
Also, Cuomo's administration was fiercely criticized for forcing nursing homes to accept patients recovering from the virus.
The US Justice Department is investigating the state's handling of data on nursing home deaths.
In addition, the state attorney general is looking into whether Cuomo broke the law in using members of his staff to help write and promote his book, from which he stood to make more than $5million.
The governor also faced increasing criticism over his rough and sometimes vindictive treatment of fellow politicians and his own staff, with former aides telling stories of a brutal work environment.
Cuomo has been divorced since 2005 from author and activist Kerry Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy family, and was romantically involved up until 2019 with TV lifestyle personality Sandra Lee.
He has three adult daughters and appealed to them as he stepped down.
Cuomo addressed his three adult daughters, calling them his 'jewels'. 'Your dad made mistakes and he apologized and he learned from it. That's what life is all about,' he said. Cara, right, was not with him
Melissa DeRosa, one of the Governor's most loyal aides, resigned on Sunday. She was seen visiting the Governor less than 24 hours later. He thanked her in his resignation speech
Lindsey Boylan said Cuomo harassed her with inappropriate remarks then launched a smear campaign against her when she quit in 2018. Brittany Commisso says Cuomo groped her breast in his office in November 2020
Cuomo's attorney Rita Glavin spoke before him on Tuesday. She undermined some of the allegations in the AG report, saying it omits evidence
'I want them to know, from the bottom of my heart: I never did, and I never would, intentionally disrespect a woman or treat any woman differently than I would want them treated,' he said.
'Your dad made mistakes. And he apologized. And he learned from it. And that's what life is all about.'
Cuomo got his start in politics as his father's hard-nosed and often ruthless campaign manager, then was New York attorney general and US housing secretary under President Bill Clinton before getting elected governor in 2010.
New York has seen a string of high-level politicians brought down in disgrace in recent years.
Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008 in a prostitution scandal.
House Rep. Anthony Weiner went to prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stepped down in 2018 after four women accused him of abuse.
And the Legislature's top two leaders were convicted of corruption.
Post a Comment