6 August 2021: How Far Does Andrew M. Cuomo's Influence Reach Within CNN?

This Chris Cuomo story isn’t going to go away for CNN

CNN is continuing to lose its journalistic credibility involving its coverage, or rather, its lack of coverage, of Andrew M. Cuomo's multiple scandals. Nowhere is that more apparent than its managers and editors decision to allow Chris Cuomo, the younger brother of the scandal-prone New York Governor, to remain employed despite his role in advising the Governor's team how to handle the media during its scandals.

Only hours after the attorney general’s report was announced, Cuomo hosted his “Cuomo Primetime” show and never mentioned his brother. Despite saying back in May that he wasn’t going to address his brother and sticking to that edict Tuesday and Wednesday night, it still felt awkward to not even acknowledge it one more time in light of the attorney general’s report.

On Wednesday, The New York Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum reported that, earlier this year, CNN executives floated an idea to Chris: if he wanted to formally advise his brother, he could take a temporary leave from the network. Grynbaum wrote, “The idea was informal and strictly optional — not a request — and intended as an acknowledgment of Mr. Cuomo’s unique position as both a prime-time network anchor and the brother of a prominent politician facing a scandal, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.”

According to Grynbaum, this idea was brought up after the Post broke the story that Chris was helping advise his brother.

But even by then, the damage was done.

In a column for MSNBC, Laura Bassett writes that not only should Andrew Cuomo resign but … “His brother, too, should resign from covering politics or be fired. It’s extremely inappropriate and unethical for a journalist to advise and craft the statements of a politician, regardless of family relation.”

This report sets up the next report, in which we discover Andrew M. Cuomo's political reach within CNN extends beyond his brother into the news network's executive suite.

Allison Gollust, CNN exec tied to Gov. Cuomo, accused of being reason Chris gets a pass

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo doesn’t just have his brother Chris at CNN, he also has ties to one of its top executives — sparking accusations that it’s why the network has turned a blind eye to its star host’s involvement in his sibling’s sexual harassment scandal.

Allison Gollust was Cuomo’s communications director before becoming executive vice president at CNN — where she was even recently tapped to replace Jeff Zucker as Worldwide President, Fox News has noted.

“CNN has a real ethical problem on its hands,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told Fox News on Wednesday.

We've featured two other stories in which former Cuomo administration officials have continued their work promoting the political interests of Andrew M. Cuomo while on others payrolls after leaving the Cuomo administration. While Gollust isn't mentioned in the New York Attorney General's blockbuster 168 page report documenting Andrew M. Cuomo's sexual harassment incidents, it's not hard for speculation that Gollust is similarly seeking to benefit Andrew M. Cuomo by protecting Chris Cuomo to take hold.