Chris "Fredo" Cuomo is one of the pampered princes at CNN, whose usefulness to the network was pretty much nil after his bigger brother, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, went down in disgrace.

Now it comes to light that he was engaged in some despicable conflict-of-interest behavior that, as Rolling Stone noted, "would get any other journalist fired."

R.S.'s unexpectedly good report is here:

Chris Cuomo hosts a primetime CNN show on which he discusses national political issues. He's also the brother of Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor of New York who resigned in August in the wake of a damning report detailing several allegations of sexual misconduct. It was a pretty big conflict of interest, especially considering Cuomo the younger was advising his brother on how to weather the scandal. Documents released on Monday by the New York attorney general's office reveal that Chris was involved more intimately than previously believed.

In an interview with state investigators, Chris said he talked to other journalists about what they were hearing about allegations coming down the pike, and then fed information to Melissa DeRosa, Andrew's top aide. "I have a lead on the wedding girl," Chris texted DeRosa days after The New York Times reported that Andrew attempted to kiss a woman at a wedding. The "lead," which turned out to be false, was that the girl, Anna Rauch, was lying about the encounter.

"Rumor going around from politico 1-2 more ppl coming out tomorrow. Can u check your sources?" DeRosa texted Chris the same month. "On it," Chris responded. Chris worked his sources to gather "intel" on Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Ronan Farrow's then-forthcoming story on Andrew's accusers, as well, at the request of DeRosa.

The documents released Monday also provide more details about how Cuomo offered his help with Andrew's crisis management effort. It read less like an offer and more like a demand, as Chris expressed concern over how the governor's team was handling the situation and implored DeRosa to let him help with the prep and "trust" his advice. "We're making mistakes we can't afford," Cuomo wrote to DeRosa.

Wow.  And this is far from all he did as Gov. Sonny's personal public relations handler on the sly.  Rolling Stone also reports that he helped craft statements, advised his brother to dig in instead of get out, and couldn't stop repeatedly lying about it, both to his CNN listeners and, apparently, to his CNN bosses, although that's kind of uncertain.  Note that Fredo-like plea in the passage above to the big guys to "trust" him. 

What we do see now is that CNN, or at least some people there, are trying to pitch him over the side.

Here's CNN rival host Brian Stelter and his cohorts' story, which, via his Twitter, he wants to make sure you read:

CNN said Monday that it will evaluate new information that sheds light on how anchor Chris Cuomo sought to help his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid a flurry of sexual misconduct allegations earlier this year.

The new information, which included a cache of new documents and transcripts of interviews with investigators, was released Monday by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which led the investigation into allegations against the governor.

The documents indicated that the scope of how the anchor aimed to help his brother was more considerable and that he was more intimately involved than previously known, prompting CNN to initiate a review of the material.

"The thousands of pages of additional transcripts and exhibits that were released today by the NY Attorney General deserve a thorough review and consideration," CNN said in a statement. "We will be having conversations and seeking additional clarity about their significance as they relate to CNN over the next several days."

Oh, barf.  So now they are concerned when they had no such concerns back in May, when Cuomo was still in place as "Governor Gropes"?

Sounds a little hypocritical, to suddenly be outraged about what Fredo has been doing all along when earlier they weren't.  But that's probably not the only thing that's going on with this report.

Turns out CNN is way down in the ratings, rock-bottom, so far down that it's being bested by "Shark Week."  They are also involved in some merger activity with WarnerMedia and have a new overlord coming onboard who says he wants to see a return to straight news reporting.

As a result, they're planning for some major layoffs, including reports of big names who are going to go.  Who they are is anyone's guess.

All of the CNN reporters know that the bell is tolling, so what we are seeing now is a belated effort to do straight-news reporting to impress or divert the new boss's attention, which necessarily means negative stories about Democrats because bad stuff is all they do.  One typical example, which I wrote about, is here. 

Scoop: CNN is going back to a 100% news channel. A "good number" of the "talent/staff" will be let go to align to that new mission. 👉David Zaslav Vows To Be “Very Hands-On” And LA-Based In Running Warner Bros Discovery. https://t.co/q2F2u8Y4Hr

— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) November 11, 2021

If CNN's ratings are in the toilet, Chris Cuomo's are near the rim of the operation, while Stelter's are down at the bottom of the bowl.  Stelter's ratings hit an all-time low on Nov. 23, drawing fewer than 600,000 viewers, while his audience has been subpar for every week since late summer.  Stelter is a known suck-up and would probably do a lot to get on his new boss's good side, given that he can't justify his fat CNN salary based on his performance.  What better, then, than to pretend to be a real journalist, do a hit job on Chris, and at the same time ensure that his bitter rival, who's lost half his audience, but still managed to break the 1 million mark on Oct. 23 after a 1.2 million–viewers Joe Biden town hall, rather than himself, is the one who gets the axe?  The famous toady may have even been acting on their instructions as he wrote the Fredo-rubout piece.

In any case, draw your own conclusions.  With Stelter singing for his supper now, odds look pretty good that Fredo is going to get whacked at CNN.  What a rat's nest that place must be right now.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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