C-SPAN suspends Steve Scully indefinitely over Twitter hacking lie
Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts joins 'Your World' with the latest
The man at the center of one of the most controversial media scandals in recent memory is being replaced by a different scandal-plagued political pundit, as SiriusXM announced Monday the timeslot once occupied by Chris Cuomo will be filled by former CSPAN host Steve Scully.
Cuomo announced in December he would leave his SiriusXM radio show in the aftermath of his termination from CNN. He was fired from CNN over the depth of his involvement in the political machinations of his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D., as he sought to head off a sexual harassment scandal.
Scully, who was caught up in his own scandal and has been out of the spotlight for the past year, will host a new program "The Briefing with Steve Scully" during the SiriusXM P.O.T.U.S. noon-2 p.m. ET timeslot formerly occupied by Cuomo.
Scully left CSPAN in 2021 less than six months after he returned to the network following a suspension for admitting that he lied about a tweet he wrote when he was set to moderate the second presidential debate during the 2020 election cycle.
Chris Cuomo and Steve Scully
Scully was placed on administrative leave in October 2020 after he reached out to outspoken Trump foe Anthony Scaramucci on Twitter, as then-President Trump attacked the former "Washington Journal" host over his credibility to fairly moderate the second presidential debate, which was scrapped by the Commission of Presidential Debates (CPD) over concerns about Trump's coronavirus diagnosis.
After the tweet went viral, Scully initially alleged that his Twitter account was hacked, which he acknowledged days later wasn't true.
The controversy began when Scully's past came back to haunt him following the announcement that he would be moderating the second presidential debate, as critics pointed to his tenure as a former intern for then-Sen. Joe Biden and a staffer for the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. A tweet Scully made during the 2016 election that showed him sharing a New York Times op-ed titled, "No, Not Trump, Not Ever," was also resurfaced.
That sparked outrage from President Trump and his supporters, alleging that Scully could not fairly moderate a debate between the GOP incumbent and his former boss from decades ago. It wasn't until Scully tweeted to Scaramucci, a brief White House aide to Trump who quickly became an adversary, that he became the center of a political firestorm.
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"@Scaramucci should I respond to trump," Scully wrote in the now-deleted tweet many suspected was supposed to be sent privately.
Scaramucci seemed to offer him advice on how to deal with the president.
"Ignore. He is having a hard enough time. Some more bad stuff about to go down," Scarammuci replied back.
Amid the fierce backlash, both C-SPAN and CPD firmly defended Scully as they were falsely told by the debate moderator, who had been laying low amid the controversy, that his Twitter account was hacked, a claim that many skeptics didn't buy.
After it was revealed that Scully fabricated the hacking claim, Trump touted Scully's announced suspension on Twitter.
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"I was right again!" Trump exclaimed at the time. "Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the 'Commission'. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?"
Scully was suspended for several months and left C-SPAN shortly after returning.
Steve Scully left CSPAN shortly after returning from a suspension over admitting he lied about a tweet he wrote as he was set to moderate the second presidential debate in 2020.
Scully’s new SiriusXM program will "take listeners inside the stories and conversations that are shaping the day in the nation’s capital," according to SiriusXM. He will also host regular events in collaboration with the Bipartisan Policy Center, where he currently serves as senior vice president, that will air on SiriusXM.
"I look forward to not only focusing on the developing stories of the day, but also to giving listeners a deeper context of complex issues. Together, we will peel back the layers of stories to provide new information with elected officials, key policy makers and leading journalists," Scully said in a statement.
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Cuomo was found to have aided his older brother behind the scenes in combating sexual harassment allegations, texting and strategizing with top aides, investigating accusers, and snooping on other journalists writing about the claims.
CNN also reportedly learned of a new accusation of sexual misconduct against Chris Cuomo, unrelated to his brother, by a former colleague at ABC News. He'd already apologized last year after another former ABC News colleague, Shelley Ross, said he grabbed her backside without permission at a bar in 2005.
Fox News' David Rutz contributed to this report.
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