CNN suspends Chris Cuomo indefinitely

“The New York Attorney General’s office released transcripts and exhibits Monday that shed new light on Chris Cuomo’s involvement in his brother’s defense,” a CNN spokesperson said Tuesday evening. “The documents, which we were not privy to before their public release, raise serious questions.”

“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly,” the spokesperson continued. “But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second.”

“However, these documents point to a greater level of involvement in his brother’s efforts than we previously knew,” the spokesperson added. “As a result, we have suspended Chris indefinitely, pending further evaluation.”

The “Cuomo Prime Time” team had been planning for Tuesday’s broadcast up until the announcement of Chris Cuomo’s suspension, a person familiar with the matter said. Cooper’s team was also blindsided by the news and left scrambling to fill the extra hour.

After the news was made public, an emotional Chris Cuomo met with the show’s staff.

The documents released by New York Attorney General Letitia James included text messages and transcripts of interviews with investigators who led the probe into allegations against the governor.

The cache of documents included text messages between Chris Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa, a then-top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, that suggested he was instrumental in working to craft a defense against a flood of sexual misconduct allegations.

The text messages also revealed that Chris Cuomo sought to use his connections in the press to help prepare the then-governor’s team as accusers started to make their stories public.

Chris Cuomo also acknowledged to investigators that he did attempt to learn more about a story by journalist Ronan Farrow. The anchor defended the practice as conventional.

“The idea of one reporter calling another to find out about what’s coming down the pipe is completely business-as-usual,” he said.

When Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor in August, Chris Cuomo told CNN viewers that he was “not an advisor,” but “a brother.” He acknowledged that he talked with his brother’s aides and gave his “take” until CNN told him to stop doing so in May.

The “Cuomo Prime Time” anchor also said on the air in August, “I never attacked nor encouraged anyone to attack any woman who came forward. I never made calls to the press about my brother’s situation.”

Monday’s revelations cast some doubt on his statement about his interactions with the press.

“I would — when asked, I would reach out to sources, other journalists, to see if they had heard of anybody else coming out,” Chris Cuomo said during testimony.

Chris Cuomo also said under oath what he told CNN viewers earlier this year: That he “never influenced or attempted to control CNN’s coverage of my family.”

During the questioning, he reiterated that sentiment, saying, “If I had tried to influence any of the reporting at CNN or anywhere else, I guarantee you people would know, and so would a lot of others.”

The anchor at the time also took to his show to say that he is “family first and job second” and apologized for how he helped his brother.

“It will not happen again. It was a mistake, because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot,” he said. “I never intended for that I would never intend for that and I am sorry for that.”

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Andrew Cuomo, called the latest release of transcripts, documents and videos a “manipulated release.”

“New Yorkers are no one’s fool and James and her colleagues’ obvious misuse of government resources to damage political opponents is as obvious and repugnant as it is unethical and illegal,” Azzopardi said in a statement.

CNN’s Sonia Moghe contributed to this report.