MEMOIR MADNESS

Appeals Court Muzzles Hochul’s Ethics Watchdog After It Tried to Bite Cuomo

A panel of judges found that the commission, “though well intentioned in its actions, violated the bedrock principles of separation of powers.”

An appeals court upheld a ruling in favor of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday against an ethics watchdog pushing him to cough up $5 million in earnings from his memoir, according to the Associated Press. The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government demanded that Cuomo return the profits from his book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic, arguing that he’d used state resources to promote the book. The commission was formed by current Gov. Kathy Hochul, who said the group would be an “independent, fair-minded ethics agency that provides greater transparency and accountability for New Yorkers and will help restore trust in government.” The appeals court determined that the commission had been established unconstitutionally. A panel of judges wrote that the creation of the watchdog, “though well intentioned in its actions, violated the bedrock principles of separation of powers.” The decision, which confirms a ruling from September, could lead to the commission losing its enforcement power.