16 August 2022: Judge Rules Against JCOPE in Cuomo's Book Deal Case

Judge rules against state ethics panel in Cuomo's book deal case

Resigned-in-disgrace former NY governor Andrew M. Cuomo will be allowed to keep the proceeds of his $5.2 million pandemic "leadership" book deal following the decision of a state judge. Here's ann excerpt of this report, which describes the legal reasoning:

A state Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ruled against the former state ethics commission in its court battle seeking to force ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to repay $5.1 million he received for writing a book about his administration's early response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Denise A. Hartman's 17-page ruling upholding Cuomo's petition to scuttle the actions of the former Joint Commission on Public Ethics — which was disbanded last month — also found the commission had violated due process when it sought to undo an earlier approval of the book deal by a staff attorney.

"Here JCOPE issued the approval for the outside activity, then unilaterally determined wrongdoing, then withdrew the approval, and finally imposed the disgorgement penalty — all without the opportunity for a due process hearing explicitly provided for under the procedures set forth in Executive Law," the judge wrote. "To allow JCOPE to bypass the administrative procedures set forth in the statute would implicate due process protections."

The legal battle between the former ethics commission and Cuomo, who resigned a year ago after the state attorney general's office issued a report concluding he had engaged in workplace misconduct and sexual harassment involving multiple women, has centered on whether his alleged use of state employees to assist him in writing the book had violated state ethics rules.

The decision does not address any aspect of whether Cuomo's use of state government employees and resources to produce the book from which he personally profited violated state law. As such, Cuomo could still face criminal charges should the state attorney general's probe proceed.

The matter does however close the book, so to speak, on the failed institution of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), which Cuomo created and which, under his control, greenlighted the book deal in the first place. The commission's attempts to recover the book deal funds took place after Cuomo's corrupting influence had been lifted after his resignation.