30 May 2022: Cuomo Lawyers Try to Run Out Clock on JCOPE

Cuomo ethics inquiry could die with outgoing commission

New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) has been a toothless watchdog over nearly its entire history. That was by the design of resigned-in-disgrace governor Andrew M. Cuomo and his political cronies. He was very happy with that arrangement. At least, while he was in power and could influence the state's official ethics watchdog's investigations.

That changed after Cuomo chose to quit rather than face being impeached and constitutionally removed from power over the sexual harassment incidents alleged by multiple women. Once he was out of power and his appointed cronies on the commission were replaced by non-loyalists, JCOPE started taking Cuomo's most serious ethical breaches seriously.

But that change didn't suddenly make JCOPE effective. The commission is still hampered by how Cuomo and his corrupt cronies originally structured it, which is a major weakness New York state legislators recognized. Their first step toward creating a more effective means to hold public officials accountable for their misdeeds in office was to replace the commission with a new one, which would be set up with a different structure. One that should make it more difficult for powerful public officials to control by filling its ranks with their loyal supporters through their patronage.

All this is relevant background because that new commission will be seated on 1 July 2022 as JCOPE is decommissioned. That changeover raises questions of what will happen with the lawsuits JCOPE's only recently freed-from-Cuomo's corrupt influence have pursued against Cuomo with respect to his pandemic book deal profits, which he pocketed despite having produced his book utilizing state government resources.

This report considers that JCOPE's lawsuit may go away after the old commission is disbanded, which is a situation Cuomo's lawyers are seeking to exploit to Cuomo's personal advantage. Here's an extended excerpt describing these recent legal developments:

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was supposed to face an ethics hearing last month concerning whether he'd violated the law by using state employees to assist in the production of a book that netted him millions of dollars.

But a presiding officer overseeing the hearing has postponed the date until Sept. 15, according a filing by Cuomo's legal team on Thursday — and by that time, the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics will no longer be in existence, throwing the yearlong investigation's future into question.

In July, the new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government will replace JCOPE as the result of a deal tucked into this year's budget legislation. It's unclear whether the new body will pick up management of JCOPE's legal actions against Cuomo and attempt to keep the September hearing date in place.

Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin stated in a legal filing Thursday that, because JCOPE is going out of existence, she had made an offer to discontinue Cuomo's own lawsuit — filed in April in state Supreme Court — that alleges the panel's ethics investigation was tainted by prejudicial actions. Because JCOPE is going out of business July 8, Glavin argued, there will be no legal controversy for a court to decide.

But JCOPE would only agree to ending the case if Glavin agreed to drop Cuomo's suit "with prejudice," which would prevent the former governor from refiling the same type of lawsuit against the new ethics body.

"JCOPE’s counsel conveyed to us that JCOPE commissioners were concerned that the governor could sue again if any of the current JCOPE commissioners were to be appointed to" the new ethics body, Glavin wrote on Thursday. Gov. Kathy Hochul's office, however, says the law creating the new panel bars any current JCOPE commissioners from serving on the new body.

The oversight of the ethical conduct of public officials in New York has long been a non-priority for New York's public officials. We'll see what comes of the legal maneuvers, but it's interesting that Andrew M. Cuomo's own lawyers see their best legal path for contesting the ethics charges against Cuomo involves exploiting the dysfunction Cuomo created in the state government.