Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

Andrew Cuomo ordered to return $5.1M pandemic book profits to state

Andrew Cuomo ordered to return $5.1M pandemic book profits to state

New York’s top ethics panel on Tuesday ordered disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pay the state $5.1 million in book profits he made on the backs of taxpayers amid the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extraordinary resolution was approved by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics Tuesday in a 12 to 1 vote.
The extraordinary resolution was approved by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics in a 12-1 vote — a month after the ethics agency voted to revoke its prior approval allowing Cuomo to earn outside income from his book “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” while he was still governor and New York was in the throes of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The lone dissenter was William Fisher, a Cuomo appointee.

JCOPE rescinded its approval after concluding that Cuomo violated pledges not to use state resources or government staffers to prepare the book. He must pay the money to the state by next month.

The resolution, drafted by commissioner David McNamara, a Senate Republican appointee, said Cuomo now “lacked the legal authority to engage in outside activity and receive compensation in regard to the book” since JCOPE rescinded its approval.

“Gov. Cuomo is not legally entitled to retain compensation … for any form of outside activity related to the book,” McNamara said.

The panel found Cuomo’s book proceeds should be turned over to state Attorney General Letitia James — whose office’s investigative report forced the three-term Democrat’s resignation after substantiating a slew of accusations of mistreatment and harassment leveled against the disgraced ex-governor by current and former staffers.

“It is ordered that by no later than 30 days from the date of this resolution, Gov. Cuomo pay over to the attorney general of the State of New York an amount equal to the compensation paid to him for his outside activities related to the book,” the resolution says.

James would determine to whom the profits would be distributed.

Whether the state can claw back the profits from Cuomo’s self congratulatory pandemic memoir remains to be seen, with some ethics experts questioning the legality, along with the ex-governor.James issued a statement saying, ““We are currently reviewing JCOPE’s vote and determining how best to move forward.”

Cuomo’s office said earlier that he netted about $1.5 million after taxes and expenses for the book last year, with one-third donated to the United Way of New York State and the rest plowed into an irrevocable trust for his three grown daughters.

“JCOPE has exactly zero authority to issue an order such as this,” said David Grandeau, a former executive director of the state’s ethics agency. “All it [the law] says is JCOPE has the right to issue opinions and opinions are like a–holes, and in JCOPE’s case, there’s 13 of them. There’s just no authority to issue it. “

Grandeau said JCOPE is trying to compensate for having “rubber stamped” the book deal a year and a half, deferring the decision to legal counsel Martin Lavine.“When you have bad people running your ethics agency you end up with a governor that can get 5 million dollars by using state resources,” he said.

Fisher, the Cuomo appointee and dissenter, said during a brief debate at Tuesday’s meeting that JCOPE “lacked the authority” to order the former governor to pay back the book proceeds and it had “no basis” to name the AG as the recipient and arbiter of the funds.

But other commissioners, including James Yates, an appointee of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), said it would be counterintuitive and wrong for JCOPE to revoke its approval of the book deal only to let Cuomo off the hook by letting him pocket the profits.

Cuomo’s book deal also is being investigated by James, the FBI, and the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office. The state Assembly Judiciary Committee’s impeachment report found that Cuomo used staffers extensively to help prepare the book — though he insisted the work was done voluntarily and legally.

Cuomo’s team was also accused of low-balling coronavirus-related nursing home deaths while he negotiated the book deal, leading to accusations he was trying to look better to make a quick buck off the tragedy.

Nursing home families and advocates who lost loved ones during the worst days of the pandemic applauded JCOPE for belatedly throwing the book at Cuomo.

“I’m super happy. It was a blood money book of lies written off the graves of 15,000 people,” said Tracey Alvino, whose dad, Daniel, died after contracting COVID-19 in a Long Island nursing home.

“I’m shocked JCOPE threw the book at him. JCOPE did the right thing. We’re used to seeing the little guy trampled and the elite being shielded and protected.”

Alvino continued, “Cuomo has no more political cover. No more friends in Albany. Score one for the team of morals and ethics and everything that is just and right.”

Haydee Pabey, whose mother, Elba died of COVID at the Isabella Geriatric Center in Washington Heights in April, 2020, said, “It’s a happy day for us.”

“Cuomo tried to make a profit off the deaths of our loved ones. He wrote a self-congratulatory book in the middle of a pandemic. He didn’t fix the problem. He made it worse with his policies. He killed people.”

Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) called JCOPE’s action a “small measure of justice for the families whose loved ones’ memories were trampled on by the former governor.”

“This book deal establishes the criminal misconduct behind his suppression of nursing home data. While our families were experiencing complete panic and despair, this disgraced former governor was carefully crafting his public image in order to maximize his personal profit. Every dollar must be clawed back and given to the nursing home victims’ families for their pain and suffering,” said Kim, chairman of the Assembly Aging Committee, whose uncle died of suspected COVID-19 in a nursing home.

Cuomo’s lawyer claimed JCOPE’s action was illegal and would challenge it in court.

“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.

“Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×