NY Ethics Committee Requires Cuomo to Hand Over His $5.1 Million Proceeds from Book

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has 30 days to return to the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James the proceeds from American Crisis, the book he wrote, with the help of many staffers, about his “leadership lessons” from COVID, according to the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).

Returning the money, however, will be complicated, as Cuomo has not yet received the complete $5.1 million that had been part of the contract with his publisher, Crown Publishing Group, and the former governor already put $1 million from the proceeds of book into a blind trust for his daughters, according to SpectrumNews1.

In addition, Cuomo donated $500,000 to the United Way in the Capital Region.

In 2020, JCOPE granted its approval for the governor to write his book, as long as he did not use government resources to do so, however, after the Democratic-led Assembly Judiciary Committee found Cuomo did use state resources, such as government staffers, to help him write the book, the ethics committee took back its previous approval.

Cuomo and his aides have defended their work on the book by saying they did so “on a volunteer basis,” like when legislative aides work weekend and off-hours on political campaigns.

Witnesses, however told Assembly investigators that for Cuomo’s staffers, working on the book was not voluntary and done in extra time, but was a central focus for staffers who worked in the governor's office at that time.

James' office is also investigating Cuomo’s use of government resources to help him write "American Crisis."

Cuomo’s lawyer, Jim McGuire has warned that he would bring forth a legal challenge to the enforcement of JCOPE’s requirement that the former governor submit his book earnings to the office James, whose lengthy investigation into the inappropriate behavior of the former governor led to his resignation on Aug. 24.

“JCOPE’s actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law," McGuire said.

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