WORLD’S TINIEST VIOLIN

Cuomo Ordered to Return Earnings From $5.1M Book Deal

The disgraced ex-governor has 30 days to turn over the profits to Attorney General Letitia James’ office.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has 30 days to return all profits from his 2020 pandemic memoir, a deal that had garnered him roughly $5.1 million. The resolution was passed Tuesday by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which instructed Cuomo to turn the funds over New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office. An attorney for the ex-governor said Cuomo intended to fight the “unconstitutional” Tuesday order. The lawyer, Jim McGuire, accused the board of being “driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law.” McGuire added, “Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court.”

The board moved earlier this year to rescind approval for Cuomo to write the book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic, given that permission had been based on the then-governor not using government resources to write it. James’ office is separately investigating Cuomo’s use of state resources, including his staffers, to write the book.