And now the camera slowly pans and zooms in on the next Cuomo brother who stands accused of sexual harassment.

Yes, one must ask what the Cuomo household was like, in those growing up years, to have both ex-governor Andrew Cuomo and now CNN’s Chris Cuomo thinking that grabbing and fondling women of their acquaintance is an okay thing to do.

Now, ordinarily, the report about Chris Cuomo being accused of sexual harassment from one person would not be news. Except… it is, and here’s why.

First, Chris Cuomo – whom we like to call “Fredo” for obvious reasons – is a leftist in good standing who always parrots the expected lines about “respecting women” and so on. Hypocrisy, in a media figure prominent enough to have his own TV show, should be called out.

Second, little brother Chris was awfully busy burnishing his big brother Andrew’s media presence until the point that the “Luv Guv” became politically radioactive as multiple accusers began to stack up. But as we learned, FAMILY loyalty was more important than Fredo’s job as a “journalist,” as he was revealed to have been actively helping Sonny Andrew strategize on how to discredit and dodge his accusers. Helping out Andrew Cuomo has now claimed the careers of multiple people, but strangely, CNN let Chris apologize and then swept his massive ethical failure under the rug. As we know, CNN only holds people “accountable” when they don’t like their politics. And again, Fredo is a good little leftist mouthpiece.

Finally, Chris Cuomo ADMITTED IN WRITING that he groped his former boss, Shelley Ross, in a 2005 email. Ross then helpfully included that email in her guest essay in the New York Times. The crux of her piece is as follows:

So here’s another moment involving Mr. Cuomo, the one that stands out most in my experience with him.”

“Now that I think of it … I am ashamed,” read the subject line of a 2005 email Mr. Cuomo wrote me, one hour after he sexually harassed me at a going-away party for an ABC colleague. At the time, I was the executive producer of an ABC entertainment special, but I was Mr. Cuomo’s executive producer at “Primetime Live” just before that. I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends. When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.”

“I can do this now that you’re no longer my boss,” he said to me with a kind of cocky arrogance. “No you can’t,” I said, pushing him off me at the chest while stepping back, revealing my husband, who had seen the entire episode at close range. We quickly left.”

Soon after, I received the email from Mr. Cuomo about being “ashamed.” He should have been. But my question today is the same as it was then: Was he ashamed of what he did, or was he embarrassed because my husband saw it? (He apologized first in his email to my “very good and noble husband” and then to me for “even putting you in such a position.”) Mr. Cuomo may say this is a sincere apology. I’ve always seen it as an attempt to provide himself with legal and moral coverage to evade accountability.”

Here is the complete email, as provided to the New York Times and published in the body of the essay.

Total Fredo move putting the confession in writing right after the crime occurred https://t.co/AAQoEMzcCV pic.twitter.com/czw9ekH7o4

— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) September 24, 2021

The Times did get a comment from Chris Cuomo, which they included in the essay with parentheses.

I never thought that Mr. Cuomo’s behavior was sexual in nature. Whether he understood it at the time or not, his form of sexual harassment was a hostile act meant to diminish and belittle his female former boss in front of the staff.”

(Asked for comment, Mr. Cuomo said on Thursday night, “As Shelley acknowledges, our interaction was not sexual in nature. It happened 16 years ago in a public setting when she was a top executive at ABC. I apologized to her then, and I meant it.”)

Why come forward now, then, years after a crappy pseudo-apology? Ross saw what he did for big brother Andrew, and this is her version of payback.

Now, given Mr. Cuomo’s role as a supporter of and counselor to his brother, I am left again wondering about his relationship with truth and accountability. Has this man always cared “deeply” and “profoundly” about sexual harassment issues? Does he believe enough in accountability to step up and take some meaningful actions?”

Ross herself parrots all the right phrases about “accountability” and “Me Too,” but it’s hard to tell if she really wants Fredo to self-flagellate on his own show in order to show his repentance, or if she just wants her pound of flesh because she’s got the goods on him. Motives may matter, but the end result either way is the same. Chris Cuomo is now on the hot seat for his own behavior.

Ross claims that she doesn’t want Chris Cuomo to lose his job, she just wants “accountability” – but she’s vague on what that looks like. And what will Fredo do now? Honestly, there are a few options he might take. He could ignore it outright, and when asked, say that he already apologized. Or he could go on air and tearfully stare into the camera, vowing to “do better” and blah blah blah.

I honestly don’t care what Chris Cuomo does. He showed us all what he is when he went all-in on defending his scumbag brother – who should have resigned over the thousands of dead seniors from COVID-19 in the nursing homes, instead of being forced out over multiple sexual harassment charges – and advising him on how to beat the rap. What I do think is more important is what CNN does at this point. The allegation of sexual harassment against Don Lemon was ignored by CNN, but Fredo, genius that he is, admitted to his act in writing. What will CNN make of that? Will they simply shrug and hide behind that emailed “apology,” or will they do something more performative to show that they “take things seriously”?

We shall see, but in the meantime, Chris Cuomo deserves every single moment of heartburn and angst that this revelation brings him.

Featured image: Chris Cuomo at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, cropped, public domain