5 November 2021: JCOPE To Try Again to Claw Back Cuomo's Book Deal Millions

JCOPE commissioners want one more try at revoking Andrew Cuomo $5.1M book deal

After an unexpected hiatus, when coverage of 2021's election results briefly covered up the Cuomo scandal-related news out of New York, we're back with a report on what will be JCOPE's latest attempt to revoke the green light its staff gave Andrew M. Cuomo for his $5.12 million pandemic "leadership" book deal.

Commissioners on the state’s watchdog panel — the Joint Commission on Public Ethics — were set to meet Thursday in a virtual huddle to discuss yet another attempt at revoking the agency’s prior approval of disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $5.1 million book deal, The Post has learned.

JCOPE officials planned a private conference call Thursday afternoon to talk about whether or not they have enough votes to try and claw back the rubber stamp on Cuomo’s “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” at their next meeting set for Nov. 16.

A group of commissioners have been pressuring Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new chairman, Jose Nieves, to reconsider the move after he was the deciding ‘no’ vote at the body’s last meeting in October.

“This is not a meeting to take official action, but it’s to discuss legal matters in connection with the question of whether we can revoke Martin Levine’s opinion of the book deal,” said a source familiar with the call.

“The chairman asserts he’s trying to get a consensus on a resolution to revoke Martin Lavine’s approval of the book deal — he said it several times in the last ten days.”

The source said there are at least eight ‘yes’ votes needed to revoke the opinion — as eight votes from the 14 member panel is the threshold needed for a measure to pass.

The source added that Nieves appears “ready” to support rescinding the approval of ‘American Crisis’ granted in the summer of 2020 — but wants to make sure that at least a majority of JCOPE’s 14 commissioners are on board.

Should JCOPE revoke approval, Cuomo would have to reapply for their OK, and if denied then the body could claw back some if not all of the $5.1 million profit to be returned to Crown Publishing.

New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has largely become the punchline of a never-ending joke among New York's most corrupt politicians. We'll see if anything comes of this latest attempt to finally hold both Cuomo, and members of JCOPE's staff, accountable for their actions.