- Chris Cuomo appeared to use media sources to dig up info on women who accused his brother of sexual harassment, docs show.
- A new report by the NY AG's office included texts that Chris Cuomo sent to former aide Melissa DeRosa.
- "I have a lead on the wedding girl," Cuomo told DeRosa, according to the report.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo used media sources in an attempt to get more info about a woman who accused his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, of sexual harassment, according to new transcripts by the New York Attorney General's Office.
The documents included text message exchanges between Chris Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa, the governor's former top aide, where the CNN host appeared more involved in his brother's defense than previously reported.
Andrew Cuomo resigned as Governor of New York in August, after multiple women came forward with accusations of sexual harassment, and the New York AG's office published a report saying the office found that the former governor had engaged in sexual misconduct and created a hostile work environment.
In May, Chris Cuomo apologized, following a Washington Post report that he was advising his embattled brother on how to respond to the allegations. New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed that Chris Cuomo was advising his brother on how to respond to the allegations in an August investigation.
Since then, Chris has not covered any of his brother's scandals and the fallout, effectively recusing himself from one of the year's biggest political stories on his primetime show.
The paper trail from the investigation has ensnared other high profile figures, leading to the firing of Alphonso David as head of the Human Rights Campaign and the resignation of Roberta Kaplan as chairwoman of Time's Up, an anti-sexual harassment group formed during the height of the #MeToo era.
More Chris Cuomo revelations
"Please let me help with the prep," Chris Cuomo told DeRosa in a text message sent in early March, a reference to responding to the allegations, according to AG documents released on Monday.
In March of 2021, The New York Times published an exposé about the former governor's unwanted attempt to kiss Anna Ruch at a wedding.
Days later, Chris Cuomo texted DeRosa, "I have a lead on the wedding girl," according to the transcript published on Monday.
Monday's documents added that on March 12, Cuomo was sending prepared statements to DeRosa in hopes that his brother would use them.
"I will not resign, I cannot resign," Chris Cuomo wrote in a drafted statement for his brother, sent to DeRosa on March 12. "I understand the political pressure, I understand the stakes of political warfare, and that's what this is… And I understand the conformity that can be forced by cancel culture," it added.
Chris Cuomo also told New York investigators that he reached out to sources in the media world to learn more information about the accusers, and to try to get ahead of any potential future accusations.
"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, according to investigators, adding that he sought information about Ruch because an unnamed source suggested that "maybe she had been put up to it."
"The claim that Chris dictated his brother's statements is false," a representative for Warner Media told Insider in a statement. "There is no evidence of this in the exhibits or transcript. If you carefully read through the text messages in the exhibit, any mention of a statement was in response to it being made public."
In his own deposition, Chris Cuomo insisted that the statement he shared "were thoughts from my brother given to me that he wanted to make sure that the team had." The statement was not previously released.
The latest transcripts have brought renewed pressure on CNN to sanction their star anchor, who will have the opportunity to address his involvement on air tonight at 9 p.m. EST.
