A CNN producer resigned and his profile has been removed from CNN’s website, weeks after he was accused of sexual misconduct in an undercover video published by investigative journalism nonprofit Project Veritas.
CNN Politics’ supervising producer Steve Brusk stepped down from his job two weeks ago, citing “the stress of the last several weeks,” reported The Wrap on Thursday.
“As I mark my 20-year anniversary at CNN this week, I have made the hard decision that this is the right time to step down.” Brusk wrote in a Nov. 26 email obtained by The Wrap. “Truth be told, I have barely had any time off or gotten much sleep the last five years—as we covered the campaign, the transition and the historic White House story. The stress of the last several weeks and being able to be home with my family for the holidays has confirmed for me this is the right decision.”
In October, Brusk was accused of making unwanted sexual advances at young female employees at the network and being “flirty and inappropriate” over email, a CNN employee was recorded in the undercover video as saying.
“He would, like, make advances if there was a social gathering and they were drunk … put his arms around them, try and touch their leg. Try and build up emails to the level where he would get flirty and inappropriate,” Rick Saleeby, senior producer on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” show, said in the footage to an undercover reporter with Project Veritas.
Later, Saleeby learned that Brusk “had already been accused of the things prior.”
Saleeby said that Brusk, who’s been with the network for about 20 years, hasn’t faced repercussions for his behavior, because “he is protected by certain people there … like other higher-ups.”
The recordings were released by Project Veritas on Oct. 22 as Part Four of its series focused on CNN. The previous releases showed employees complaining about the quality of CNN’s news coverage, particularly the cable network’s incessant focus on President Donald Trump.
Brusk has not made any new Twitter posts since two days after the Project Veritas video was published and Brusk’s profile appears to have been removed from CNN’s website.
Epoch Times reporter Petr Svab contributed to this report
