Chris Cuomo Advised Brother, Andrew, On How to Respond Sexual Harassment Allegations

The Washington Post reported that CNN's Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and the governor’s senior staff on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations from several women earlier this year. The Post said the report comes after four people familiar with the discussions revealed Chris Cuomo's involvement:

Nicholas Lemann, a professor at Columbia Journalism School and a New Yorker staff writer, took issue with the ethics behind Chris' involvement. “If you are actively advising a politician in trouble while being an on-air host on a news network, that’s not okay," Lemann says.

CNN acknowledged that Chris Cuomo took part in the strategy sessions and admitted that it was a mistake.

“Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes,” CNN said in a statement to the Washington Post. “In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother.

“However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges. He will not participate in such conversations going forward.”

CNN says Chris Cuomo will not be disciplined.

This is incredibly damning for CNN. CNN has defended the anchor over and over again, noting that Chris has a ban that prohibits him from covering his brother. Fine, but an exception was made last year when Andrew Cuomo guested on his brother's show a bevy of times. The New York governor's popularity then grew, as his TV anchor brother humanized him on TV, an advantage few politicians have. Then once the story went south, sexual harassment allegations began to surface and a deadly nursing home cover-up was exposed, CNN announced they had reinstated the ban.

Bizarrely, Chris Cuomo even opened a show in March to say he wouldn't cover his brother, but that he is aware of the growing number of sexual harassment allegations leveled against him. The CNN anchor did not disclose that he had been advising his brother on the matter. Instead, he merely said he saw the news.

What a mess.