New York AG Releases 6 Hours of Video Testimony From Fired CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo

The New York Attorney General’s office has released roughly six hours of video of former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo testifying about the extent to which he advised his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, while he faced numerous sexual harassment allegations last year.

Cuomo sat down for a deposition on July 15, 2021, in which he spoke at length about his interactions with his brother, his brother’s staff, and his role as a journalist during the scandal.

In one exchange, the former CNN personality spoke about reaching out to his brother’s staffers, and was asked if he used them as sources for his reporting, to which he answered, “No.”

A transcript of the moment reads:

Q. And just to make sure I understand this, you’re communicating with Benton in more of, like, an organizational role, are you going to be here, are you going to be there, this is happening with the family, are you coming, kind of thing?

A. Can you talk to your brother.

Q. Okay. And then you said passing along information from the administration. The example you gave was information about the the bridge, for example. Are they acting on a source on that occasion in those circumstances, or are they passing information to you as a source for you?

A. I don’t understand.

Q. You’re a journalist, right?

A. Yes.

Q. When they’re passing information to you about the administration, are they doing so as a source of information so you can use it in your reporting?

A. No.

Q. Okay. Then why are they doing it, to your understanding?

A. Because he’s my brother, the governor.

Cuomo also admitted during his testimony that his brother asked him to stay “in the loop.”

The Attorney General’s office released the videos six weeks after Cuomo was fired by CNN over ethical concerns about his role as a journalist while acting as a sort of fixer for his brother.

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense,” CNN said in a Dec. 5 statement. “We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately. While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.”

Cuomo also issued 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. So let me now say as disappointing as this is, I could not be more proud of the team at Cuomo Prime Time and the work we did as CNN’s #1 show in the most competitive time slot. I owe them all and will miss that group of special people who did really important work.

You can watch Cuomo’s testimony in its entirety here.

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