NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 CNN indefinitely suspended anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday after details emerged about how he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to face charges of sexual ha\u2026<\/b>
\nBy DAVID BAUDER NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 CNN indefinitely suspended anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday after details emerged about how he helped his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to face charges of sexual harassment earlier this year. The network said documents released by New York\u2019s attorney general Monday indicated Cuomo took a greater level of involvement in his brother\u2019s efforts than CNN executives previously knew. \u201cAs a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation,\u201d the network said. The CNN anchor pressed sources for information on his brother\u2019s accusers and reported back to the governor\u2019s staff, and was active in helping craft their response to the charges, according to emails and a transcript of his testimony to investigators working for state Attorney General Letitia James. Her office found Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women. Chris Cuomo previously acknowledged talking to his brother and offering advice when the governor faced harassment charges. But the information released Monday revealed far more details about what exactly Chris Cuomo did. Andrew Cuomo resigned in August to avoid a likely impeachment trial. Cuomo\u2019s program, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time on weeknights, averaged 1.3 million viewers, narrowly outpacing Anderson Cooper as CNN\u2019s most popular show, according to the Nielsen company. Like many cable newscasts, viewership is down significantly after being swollen during the election year. Cuomo appeared on his program on Monday night, talking about COVID-19 and politics without mentioning his own issues. There was no immediate response to a request for comment sent to Cuomo and the lawyer who represented him during this summer\u2019s testimony. During the first two months of the pandemic, Cuomo interviewed his brother on the air a number of times. It was a hit with viewers, although it violated CNN\u2019s policy of not having Cuomo report on his brother, and was a programming choice that has grown worse with time and additional revelations. Chris Cuomo frequently consulted with his brother\u2019s aides when Andrew was fighting the charges last May, sometimes disagreeing with their advice. \u201cThis is my brother, and I\u2019m trying to help my brother through a situation where he told me he did nothing wrong,\u201d Cuomo testified last July to investigators at the attorney general\u2019s office. He has said he did nothing to influence his own network\u2019s coverage of the story. Cuomo also said he reached out to other journalists to find out whether they were writing stories about his brother, most notably seeking information on what Ronan Farrow of the New Yorker was writing. He acknowledged he didn\u2019t tell CNN he was doing this, and characterized his actions as nothing out of the ordinary for a journalist. Critics have called on CNN to take action following the attorney general\u2019s release, with David A. Graham of The Atlantic saying Cuomo should resign \u2014 or be fired by CNN if he doesn\u2019t. After it was first revealed last May by The Washington Post that Cuomo had consulted with his brother\u2019s aides, CNN released a statement saying that his actions were inappropriate, but it did not discipline him. Cuomo, a lawyer, is 13 years younger than Andrew Cuomo, who he has described as his best friend. They are the sons of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, who was in office from 1982 to 1996. He worked for several years at ABC News, joining CNN in 2013 as co-host of the network\u2019s morning show. A veteran TV executive, Shelley Ross, wrote a column for The New York Times in September saying Cuomo had groped her at a party 16 years ago. Cuomo told the newspaper that \u201cI apologized to her then, and I meant it.\u201d<\/p>\n