14 August 2021: Cuomo-Appointed Chair of JCOPE Resigns

Cuomo-appointed ethics chair resigns

New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has come under fire for continually refusing to pursue ethics investigations of Andrew M. Cuomo and members of his administration. On 13 August 2021, as Camille Joseph Varlack announced her resignation, just three days after Andrew M. Cuomo announced his resignation from office.

The chair of New York's ethics oversight commission, Camille Joseph Varlack, informed other commissioners Friday she is resigning.

Varlack sent an email to other commissioners on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics at 3 p.m., stating her resignation was effective Sunday, Aug. 15.

While the timing might suggest Varlack's departure is tied to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation announcement on Tuesday — Varlack was appointed as chair by Cuomo in February — the resignation had apparently been in the works for some time.

The resignation comes at a time of tumult for JCOPE and state government generally, and with one commissioner trying to void JCOPE's prior approval of Cuomo's $5.1 million book deal last year.

Varlack's email staid she had submitted a resignation letter to Cuomo on June 24, giving about seven weeks of notice. Varlack, who had stated at that time that she'd be resigning Aug. 15, attached a copy of the June resignation letter to the email on Friday to other commissioners. In the June letter, Varlack had stated that from the outset, she had committed to serving as JCOPE chair for only six months.

Under Varlack, JCOPE either blocked or dropped several probes that might have inconvenienced Andrew M. Cuomo and senior members of his administration, with the ethics agency being described as a "waste of time and resources" given how much control and influence Cuomo was able to exercise over its decisions.

Andrew M. Cuomo will remain in office until 24 August 2021.