Chris Cuomo: Why His Suspension from CNN Matters

 Chris Cuomo has been suspended indefinitely. from his anchor duties at CNN. Adding to his long list of transgressions and embarrassing incidents, this activist masquerading as a journalist has brought even more embarrassment to CNN. This week it was revealed that Chris had been using his journalistic contacts and resources to try and dig up dirt on women who had accused his brother, Andrew, then-governor of New York, of sexual harassment. 

What sets this apart from past incidents, as with his beer garden tirade against some guy who called him Fredo is that he used his professional resources and contacts for personal purposes-to help his brother, who was under fire for alleged improprieties with women. That indicates that he dragged his employer (CNN) into the mud with him.

To use an analogy, suppose that during my career with DEA, I had used the resources available to me as a law enforcement agent to dig up dirt on people who were not involved in any criminal activity, but were at odds-for any reason- with someone in my family. Let's say I had a brother who was being accused of the same improprieties that Andrew Cuomo has been accused of. Let's also say that I had used my position as a DEA agent to access arrest records, divorce records, raw intelligence, etc, against the women making the allegations. All for the purpose of discrediting them. That is an abuse of power and an abuse of my position in law enforcement. If I were caught doing something like that, I would be fired and possibly prosecuted as well.

Of course, Chris Cuomo is not a law enforcement agent. He is in the journalism business. I am not suggesting that he violated any law. I am no expert on the subject of journalistic ethics, but having dealt with enough of them in my life, I have formed opinions on journalistic ethics, and in my opinion, Cuomo violated his professional ethics. To what extent CNN resources were used to find dirt on Andrew Cuomo's accusers is something CNN should want to find out if they consider themselves a reputable news organization.