Disgraced alleged sex harasser, abuser and former New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to pay back all money, totaling about $5 million, that he made from the writing and sale of 'American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.'
Judging from the self-righteous objections of Cuomo's lawyer and spokesman, he plans to fight this tooth and nail.
Cuomo's profoundly tone-deaf, self-gratifying book extolled his supposed leadership in the early days of the pandemic, as the chief executive of the Empire State.
The wildly profitable New York Times bestseller stuck in the caw of many as Cuomo is also accused of rampant sexual harassment and worse as governor, as well as, supposedly covering up the full scope of pandemic-related nursing home deaths on his watch.
In October, he was charged with groping a female aide's breast 'for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires,' according to a criminal complaint.
The gov resigned in the face of the exploding sex misconduct and abuse scandal in August.
Now, though it may come as little consolation to Cuomo's critics, it looks to me like he will also be forced to kiss his allegedly his ill-begotten millions goodbye.
In order to write his book, Cuomo, as any governor would, had to make a case for it before a state ethics panel, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), which has jurisdiction over all New York state employees.
Cuomo's profoundly tone-deaf, self-gratifying book extolled his supposed leadership in the early days of the pandemic, as the chief executive of the Empire State.
The wildly profitable New York Times bestseller stuck in the caw of many as Cuomo is also accused of rampant sexual harassment and worse as governor, as well as, supposedly covering up the full scope of pandemic-related nursing home deaths on his watch. (Left) Protesters rallied outside of the then-governor's office in Manhattan, New York on March 02, 2021, amid an exploding sexual misconduct scandal. (Right) Families of elderly people who died from COVID-19 in New York nursing homes protested on March 21, 2021.
Federal employees are held to similar review and standards, especially when it comes to writing books.
The JCOPE was founded in 2011 as part of the Public Integrity Reform Act, which comprehensively reformed the oversight and regulation of ethics and lobbying in New York State.
The Commission is charged with investigating and 'promoting compliance' of all state employees, through audits, investigations and enforcement proceedings.'
Under this auspice, it's clear that the Commission has the legal authority to investigate Cuomo and his actions relating to the book.
The 'enforcement proceedings' language provides teeth to the Commission's work, giving it the power to enforce penalties.
In that review process, Cuomo promised the commission that he would not be utilizing state funds or resources to write the book.
But after an internal inquiry, the commission concluded that Cuomo did in fact use state resources extensively in writing the ego-stroking tome.
'Contrary to the representations made on behalf of Governor Cuomo, and not disclosed to the Commission,' the panel concluded in its November 16th report, 'State property, resources and personnel, including staff volunteers, were used in connection with the preparation, writing, editing and publication of the Book.'
Additionally, Cuomo was not candid with the Commission about how far along he was in the writing process at the time of the application.
"The Approval Request Letter submitted on behalf of Governor Cuomo stated, 'Specifically, Governor Cuomo is seeking to author a book in the very near future…', when, in fact, the Book was completed or substantially completed prior to the issuance of the Conditional Approval Letter," the commission noted.
Now don't be fooled by a new ruling on Thursday from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which is stalling the process.
This is procedural.
According to the New York Attorney General, the Commission needs to follow its own internal procedures and issue a full report outlining the governor's offenses related to the book, and its remedy.
The Commission must also try to claw back the funds through its enforcement mechanisms, rather than turning to the attorney general's office for collection.
But sooner or later, Cuomo will have to cough it up.
As a result of his violations, the Commission has given the former governor 30 days to pay back all his book proceeds.
Unsurprisingly, Cuomo – through his lawyers – threw a fit.
Disgraced alleged sex harasser, abuser and former New York State governor Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to pay back all money, totaling about $5 million, that he made from the writing and sale of 'American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.'
'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,' said Cuomo attorney Jim McGuire.
Cuomo claims that the Commission has overreached, and is punishing him for political reasons. We've heard this excuse before – he used something similar to push back against sex misconduct allegations
'Obviously, in a highly political matter like this, there are many agendas and there are many motivations at play. If anyone thought otherwise, they would be naive, and New Yorkers are not naive,' he said in an August news conference announcing his resignation amid the exploding scandal.
Cuomo also says that the staffers working on the book were 'volunteers', and that their work was not in the course of their state employment.
In applying to the Commission for permission to write the book, the former governor's lawyer vowed that 'no state property, personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book.'
Here, the Commission found a breach of ethics, and the clearest remedy is to 'claw back' proceeds gained under false pretenses. A 'claw back' punishes the perpetrator and attempts to make the State of New York whole.
According to the Commission's report, the former Governor used staffers extensively in the researching and writing of his book.
One staffer reportedly received 1,000 emails relating to work on the book, another staffer received in excess of 300 similar emails.
Cuomo's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, attended video meeting with publishers, and helped Cuomo edit early drafts of the book.
Another top aide, Stephanie Benton, twice asked assistants to print portions of the book and deliver them to Cuomo at the Executive Mansion in Albany.
Cuomo, right, is followed by his daughter Michaela Kennedy Cuomo, from left, Office Director Stephanie Benton and former Executive Secretary Melissa DeRosa as they prepare to board a helicopter after announcing Cuomo's resignation, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in New York
One aide to the governor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that she and others were asked to assist in the typing and transferring of notes for Cuomo's book, which he was partially composing by dictating into his cellphone.
Cuomo's claim that the aides were 'volunteers', and not on state time when they helped him with the book, defies practice and common sense.
He says that their time cards prove they were acting on a 'volunteer' basis. But the staffers worked for the Governor.
It's highly unlikely that they would turn down a request from their boss to work on the book assignment. And, because of the power inequity between boss and staffers, most staffers would likely feel pressure to enter the time spent on the book in accordance to whatever their boss instructed them to do.
Also troubling is the timing of a separate report filed by the Health Department.
That report threatened to disclose a far higher rate of death in New York state nursing homes due to the pandemic than the Cuomo administration had previously admitted.
After Ms. DeRosa and others on the Cuomo staff intervened, the higher number of deaths was removed from the final version of the Health Department report.
If this intervention was done to make Cuomo look like more of a hero to potential book publishers, then that intervention should be an aggravating factor before the Commission.
Clearly, the fewer nursing home deaths on his watch, the better Cuomo looked to publishers.
Cuomo has not yet been convicted of any criminality relating to his tenure, but he is presently facing criminal charges for 'forcible touching' alleging that he groped a former executive assistant in 2020, and he has been accused of sexual harassment by at least 11 women. (Above) Image of then-governor Andrew Cuomo giving a deposition to during the New York attorney general's office investigation into sexual misconduct claims.
Sadly, had New York legislators been alerted to the actual, higher number of nursing home deaths reported earlier, they may have acted on the true nature of the tragedies facing nursing homes, and potentially saved lives.
New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) recently told the New York Post, 'This book deal establishes the criminal conduct behind his suppression of nursing home data.'
'While our families were experiencing complete pain and despair, this disgraced former governor was carefully crafting his public image in order to maximize his personal profit.'
The spirit of the law is clear: nobody should benefit monetarily from their ethical misdeeds, or criminal activity.
Take the 'Son of Sam' laws, for example, which were instituted when the notorious serial killer looked poised to sell his story based on the crimes for which he had been convicted.
New York has a modified 'Son of Sam' law that applies to any economic benefits derived from criminal activities, not just proceeds from book publications.
Cuomo has not yet been convicted of any criminality relating to his tenure, but he is presently facing criminal charges for 'forcible touching' alleging that he groped a former executive assistant in 2020. (Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by at least 11 women.)
The ethics commission does face some obstacles in trying to claw back the roughly $3.12 paid to Cuomo by his publisher, Crown, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House.
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ShareAfter taxes and expenses, Cuomo netted $1.5 million. He has given $500,000 to charity, and put the remaining $1 million in trusts for his daughters.
The $500,000 given to charity will be tough to claw back because the money did not stay with Cuomo but instead went back to the people of New York.
If I were representing the former governor, I would try to get a 'claw back' exception on that $500k.
The trusts are a different matter. Through some legal maneuvering, the trusts can be dissolved or nullified based on the Commission's order.
An individual should not escape a legitimate claw back by shielding ill gained money in trusts or offshore accounts, for example.
It's unclear whether Crown will pay the additional $2 million owed on its contract with Cuomo. If Crown does pay, that money would also be subject to a 'claw back'.
The former governor and his team are poised to fight the ruling in court. They have bluster and political finger pointing on their side. But they don't have the law.
The ethics Commission is a legitimate and binding entity tasked with ferreting out possible ethical breaches by state employees. The absolute condition for its allowing Cuomo to write his book was that he would not use state resources or personnel to complete his work.
Multiple sources show he violated that condition. Paying the money back to the people of New York is the obvious, sensible and legal solution.
Lis Wiehl is a former federal prosecutor and author of the upcoming book, A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen-America’s Most Damaging Russian Spy?
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