ALBANY, NY – Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state’s ethics commission, the latest move in an ongoing dispute over his earnings from a book about efforts him during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the lawsuit, filed in the Albany State Supreme Court, Cuomo accuses the Joint Commission on Public Ethics of violating his constitutional rights and showing “unusual favoritism against him.”
A JCOPE spokesman said it had no comment.
In December, JCOPE ordered Cuomo to transfer funds from his book “The American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Cuomo’s camp rejected the order and promised a legal battle.
Soon after, however, the state attorney general’s office issued a letter saying the commission had more steps to take before the office could get involved in trying to claim the money.
The Commission has regulatory oversight powers over lobbyists and government officials. Its employees approved Cuomo’s book deal in July 2020, after it was announced that Cuomo would not use state personnel or resources.
A state Congressional investigation found that was not the case, that state resources and personnel involved in the book were about to come to fruition.
But a Cuomo representative said any public employees involved with the book were using personal time, not work time.
