30 August 2021: SUNY Chancellor Probed About Work on Cuomo's $5.1M Book

SUNY chancellor James Malatras questioned in probe of Cuomo’s COVID book

The New York state attorney general's investigation of whether Andrew M. Cuomo's diverted state resources to produce his pandemic "leadership" book is making progress. This report focuses on James Malatras, then an employee in the governor's executive office and member of the state's COVID task force, who was subsequently appointed to be a chancellor at the State University of New York (SUNY) following his work on the book.

SUNY Chancellor James Malatras was grilled by investigators for allegedly pitching in on disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $5.1 million COVID-19 memoir during normal work hours, The Post has learned.

Malatras told attorneys for the Assembly Judiciary Committee — whose ongoing probe into Cuomo includes whether he illegally used staff and other government resources to write his self-congratulatory tome — that he helped edit and fact-check the manuscript last summer before he was selected SUNY chancellor, according to sources.

“Malatras admitted to the investigators that he worked on the book during work hours,” said the source familiar with the investigation. “Working on a 300-page manuscript is not a 15-minute job. How can he say no? His jobs were dependent on the governor.”

The report cites Malatras' claims he took personal "time off" to work on the book during work hours.

“I tried to think of it as an extracurricular activity,” he said, insisting that he acted appropriately when it came to Cuomo’s book. “I didn’t work on the book during business hours. I took time off. I testified as such.”

The article also reports the reaction of former New York Governor David Paterson:

Cuomo’s office had insisted all staff who worked on the book did so voluntarily — during off-hours or on their own time, whether they took vacation or personal time allotted them.

But former Gov. David Paterson scoffed at the claim that members of the executive chamber were doing it on their own time.

“It’s a phony argument. If they’re working on the book, they’re working!” Paterson told The Post. “You serve at the pleasure of the governor. If he’s displeased — you’re gone.”

Paterson had passed an executive order when he was governor in 2008 barring the use of government resources for non-government purposes.

More state government employees than Malatras were tasked with production tasks for Cuomo's book, which plays a significant role within Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals.