WASHINGTON, Dec 4: Chris Cuomo, leading anchor at the CNN news broadcast network and brother of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has been fired for the unprofessional act of trying to bail out his brother from sexual harassment charges. Andrew resigned in August last. Investigation conducted by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that Andrew sexually harassed 11 women working for him.

The dismissal of the star anchor followed evidence released by the Attorney General showing his dabling in the political affairs of his elder brother with a view to helping him during his crisis period. A successful broadcast career he had built up is over. CNN announced on Saturday that it terminated his services with immediate effect.

Chris, 51, said in a statement that he was disappointed and it was "not how I want my time at CNN to end". Being at the top, Chris had led the coverage of the last presidential election. With the CNN since 2013, Chris had been under suspension since Tuesday. The network said in a statement that Chris' action vis-a-vis Andrew's case violated journalistic ethics.

Chris Cuomo's statement read, "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. So let me now say as disappointing as this is, 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."

The Attorney General on Monday released documents showing how Chris interfered with the Governor's staff. And the law firm engaged by the network to look into the matter submitted its report on Friday. The termination followed immediately thereafter.

The producers and other staffers who work on "Cuomo Prime Time" will remain in place. Michael Smerconish, Cuomo's regular substitute, will host the 9 pm. Eastern hour next week.

The Cuomos are a political dynasty in the US.