He’s already been run out of office — now ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo could lose his $5.1 million book deal, too.
New York state’s ethics watchdog voted Tuesday to revoke its approval of Cuomo’s pandemic book deal because state government staffers and resources were improperly used in preparing it.
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics approved a resolution 12-1 to rescind its decision allowing Cuomo to write “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” while he was governor and while New York was still battling the pandemic.
The resolution said Cuomo’s submission to JCOPE pledged that no state resources or government staffers would be used to prepare the book, the deal for which Cuomo negotiated while promoting himself near daily in press briefings about the deadly virus.
“Contrary to the representations made on behalf of Gov. Cuomo and not disclosed to the commission, state property, resources and personnel — including staff volunteers — were used in connection with the preparation, writing, editing and publication of the book,” states the resolution, read by Commissioner David McNamara, a Senate Republican appointee to JCOPE.
The book “contained “serial omissions and misrepresentations …constituting grounds for revocation,” the new JCOPE resolution said.
The resolution also said Cuomo’s proposal claimed the COVID-19 book “would be a continuation” of a memoir he published in 2014 and mostly “unrelated to his job responsibilities so that authorship or the advice or material provided to the [book] could not be viewed as part of his job.”
The ethics commissioners said the proposal flunked that test because the pandemic-related book was mostly tied to his actions as governor.
“It is a work that was developed as part of Governor Cuomo’s job responsibilities and is substantially related to his job responsibilities,” the resolution said.
William Fisher, a Cuomo holdover appointee from the Syracuse region, was the only commissioner who dissented, objecting to the provision about the book being too closely related to his ex-governor’s official duties.
“It’s not a series of speeches he gave to the state legislature. It’s not a transcript of his daily press conferences,” Fisher said. “I don’t think it’s a fair reading of the book.”
He asked McNamara, author of the resolution, would strike that particular provision before the vote.
McNamara refused and the vote was then taken and the resolution passed with Fisher voting no.
JCOPE commissioners also complained they did not have an opportunity to review or vote on Cuomo’s book proposal. The deal had simply been rubber-stamped by a JCOPE staffer.
The ethics panel is now investigating the prior staff approval of the book deal.
One amusing fact in the controversy is that Cuomo lawyer Judith Mogul revealed in an August 19, 2020 memo released on Tuesday that the then-governor recorded an audio version of the book for sale.
Cuomo’s book deal is being investigated by state Attorney General Letitia James, the FBI, the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office and the state Assembly Judiciary Committee. A public official’s use of state resources for personal gain is considered a violation of the state Public Officers Law.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s four new appointees — including chairman Jose Nieves — all voted to cancel JCOPE’s approval of the book deal.
Cuomo now has to reapply for JCOPE’s approval, calling his profits from the book into question. JCOPE can move to order Cuomo to return the profits to the publisher, if it’s not reapproved, JCOPE sources said.
Here’s a rundown on what could happen next on the Cuomo book deal, according to a JCOPE insider.
Cuomo has to decide whether to reapply to JCOPE for book approval or sue the commission.
Months of litigation is likely. Cuomo claimed JCOPE’s action taken Tuesday was illegal and his lawyer said they will sue to overturn it.
If Cuomo were to reapply for book deal approval, the full JCOPE board — not staff — will rule on the matter. Last year, JCOPE’s legal staff gave approval without input or a vote from the JCOPE board.
If JCOPE denies the book deal on resubmission, it can open an investigation into whether Cuomo violated the state Public Officers Law for using state resources to produce the book and levy fines.
Also, JCOPE could move to “disgorge” the book profits, forcing Cuomo to return royalties back to the publisher, Crown Publishing.
Tuesday’s action is a case of third time’s the charm: Two previous attempts to cancel the book deal did not garner enough support from JCOPE commissioners.
Cuomo’s response to JCOPE: See you in court!
A rep for Cuomo slammed JCOPE’s action as politically motivated and illegal — and his lawyer said he will sue the ethics watchdog for reversing its book deal approval.
“Today’s action by JCOPE — following two prior failed attempts — is transparently political on its face. We look forward to vigorously contesting in court any efforts JCOPE makes to enforce this baseless and improper decision,” said Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire, who once served as top legal adviser to former three-term Republican Gov. George Pataki.
“These JCOPE members are acting outside the scope of their authority and are carrying the water of the politicians who appointed them,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.
“It is the height of hypocrisy for Hochul and the legislature’s appointees to take this position, given that these elected officials routinely use their own staff for political and personal assistance on their own time.”
“This is the 3rd time JCOPE has attempted to rescind their own approval, and this amounts to nothing more than Albany political corruption at its worst.”
The Cuomo spokesman insisted that no government resources were used and that staffers volunteering on the book does not constitute a violation.
He added, “the Governor cannot be held responsible for internal decisions over recusals and approvals made by JCOPE. They truly are a J-JOKE.”
One ethics expert said JCOPE could take action, believing Cuomo did violate the law barring the use of government resources in preparing the book.
But David Grandeau, former head of the state ethics agency that was the predecessor of JCOPE, also said it’s possible that nothing will happen because Cuomo will tie the case up for months in court.
“JCOPE will take probably six months to figure out what they want to do. If they determine he never should have written the book, it’s a violation of the public officers law,” Grandeau said.
“If you work at a state agency and you use the pens, paper, office space etc. then that’s a violation. The penalty is a fortiori of the profit and theoretically they could fine him $10 million or $15 million dollars — that is theoretically.
“But here’s what’s really going to happen — nothing. He has 18 million bucks [in his campaign account] and he will litigate this and that’s assuming JCOPE will still be around within the next couple months,” Grandeau said.