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Chris Cuomo has been by CNN.
But the former anchor may soon have a lot more to worry about than where his next paycheck comes from.
In a statement released Sunday, attorney Debra Katz said she contacted the network last Wednesday to report allegations of sexual misconduct made against Cuomo by an unnamed client.
Cuomo was let go late last week after it came out that he used his contacts as a journalist to assist his brother — disgraced ex-Mayor Andrew Cuomo — fight back against his own set of sexual harassment allegations.
According to Katz, meanwhile, her client was prepared to speak with CNN’s legal counsel and to go public with her accusations against Cuomo when his firing occurred.
“My client came forward at this time because she felt in sharing her story and related documentation, she could help protect other women,” Katz said.
She added that woman “will continue to cooperate with CNN’s investigation into her allegations” and continued as follows:
“In the wake of public sexual harassment allegations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Chris Cuomo looked directly into the camera and told viewers of Cuomo Prime Time, ‘I have always cared very deeply about these issues and profoundly so.
“‘I just wanted to tell you that.’
“Subsequently, the Attorney General released jaw-dropping documentary evidence demonstrating that Chris Cuomo played an active role in attempting to smear women whom the Attorney General concluded had made serious allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct against the Governor.
“Hearing the hypocrisy of Chris Cuomo’s on-air words and disgusted by his efforts to try to discredit these women, my client retained counsel to report his serious sexual misconduct against her to CNN.”
No details of the alleged harassment have been made public.
On Saturday, Cuomo’s spokesman, Steven Goldberg, told The New York Times and The Washington Post on Saturday that the allegations against Chris Cuomo were not true.
The new misconduct claim comes after a veteran TV executive, Shelley Ross, wrote a column for The New York Times in September saying Cuomo had groped her at a party 16 years ago … when they both worked for ABC News.
Cuomo told the publication this fall that “I apologized to her then, and I meant it.”
Also over the weekend, CNN tweeted about Cuomo’s termination, posting a message that reads as follows:
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.
We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review and have terminated him.
Cuomo, meanwhile, responded to his ousting on Twitter shortly after the news went viral.
“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,” he wrote.
“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.”
Based on numerous transcripts, video interviews and text messages released Monday by the New York Attorney General’s Office:
Chris Cuomo used his media “sources” and “other journalists” to look into the women who accused his brother, who then was the governor of New York, of sexual harassment.
Attorneys subsequently recommended to CNN that it terminate Chris Cuomo.
He was informed of this decision on Saturday.
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