19 March 2022: JCOPE Orders Cuomo to Repay Pandemic "Leadership" Book Deal Millions to Publisher

Ethics commission orders Cuomo to repay $5.1M from book deal

New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has opened a new legal front in its battle to force Andrew M. Cuomo to give up the millions he received to write his pandemic "leadership" book deal, after confirming he lied to the commission about using state resources to produce the book. The following excerpt describes what is different in the commission's new attempt from its previous effort:

New York's ethics commission passed a motion late Friday again ordering former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to repay $5.1 million in book royalties. And this time, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics is taking a near-certain legal battle with Cuomo into its own hands.

The motion was proposed by Commissioner David McNamara at the beginning of the specially called meeting on Friday afternoon. McNamara detailed the motion, then they went into executive session, where it's possible there were minor amendments during the confidential portion of the meeting that have not yet become public.

Cuomo is already stating that he will contest JCOPE's order in court, and will not comply....

As described by McNamara at the beginning of the meeting, JCOPE is ordering the former governor to repay the millions in book proceeds to the publisher, Penguin Random House, within one month. The publisher struck the lucrative 2020 deal with Cuomo to publish "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic."

Instead of state Attorney General Letitia James' office enforcing the order and deciding how to handle the directive to recoup the proceeds, as the commissioners prescribed in an original Dec. 14 motion, they have now authorized JCOPE itself to hire outside counsel to enforce the repayment. While the attorney general's office has traditionally been charged with enforcing such orders, JCOPE commissioners contend they, too, have that authority.

McNamara's motion left the door open for James to enforce the original December order, should her office decide to do so.

JCOPE's previous effort was hampered in part by the demand the money Cuomo received be potentially distributed to New York's state treasury, which stretched the commission's defined powers. By directing the funds Cuomo received be returned to the publisher, the commission is on much firmer legal ground in its new disgorgement order.

Less certain is the commission's ability to prevail in court. Under the political influence of Andrew M. Cuomo over the first 10+ years of its history, JCOPE has been an especially weak agency for rectifying ethical wrongdoing among the state government's power elite. As such, the commission is breaking new ground now that it is out from under Cuomo's influence, which contributes to the uncertainty for success in its actions.