The state attorney general’s office on Thursday released videos of Chris Cuomo’s testimony from its probe into sexual harassment allegations against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, showing a somber TV news anchor as he acknowledged aiding his brother’s defense.
“When asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anyone coming out,” Chris Cuomo said, describing his efforts to uncover incoming allegations against the three-term governor.
Chris Cuomo, 51, lost his high-wattage job at CNN in December, less than a week after transcripts from his testimony were published.
Chris Cuomo wore a dark gray pinstripe suit as lawyers working on the attorney general’s probe lobbed questions at him in lower Manhattan on July 15.
The footage from the meeting ran more than five hours and revealed him serious, sometimes sipping from a plastic water bottle, as he described his close-knit relationship with his brother, and his contact with reporters during the hail of harassment claims.
“As the situation started to accelerate, my brother asked me to be in the loop,” Chris Cuomo said of his interactions with members of the governor’s inner circle.
He said he had “many” phone calls with his brother in December 2020, when the first sexual harassment allegation against the governor emerged publicly.
Chris Cuomo said his brother told him that he needed his help and was “sorry” about dragging the newsman into the maelstrom.
A final report from the office of state Attorney General Letitia James was published in August and found that Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
The governor resigned in disgrace a week after its publication. A drip of transcripts and video footage has been released by the attorney general’s office in the months since.
In his testimony, Chris Cuomo acknowledged conferring with Andrew Cuomo about the substance of a statement the governor issued in response to a harassment allegation from Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to the governor.
“He’s my brother, and I love him to death no matter what,” Chris Cuomo said. “I only got one.”
He said he did not attempt to influence news coverage around his brother. “You would have read about it,” he added.
But his intimate role in his brother’s attempts at damage control led to intense criticism in media circles long before CNN fired him.
Shortly after his firing, a harassment allegation against Chris Cuomo came to light. The accuser remained anonymous.
As he left CNN, Chris Cuomo said in a statement: “This is not how I want my time at CNN to end, but I have already told you why and how I helped my brother.”
A spokesman for Chris Cuomo, Steven Goldberg, declined to comment on Thursday on the release of the videos.
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