Former N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Sues State For Forcing Him To Give Up $5 Million In Book Income

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has filed a lawsuit against the state’s ethics commission at the New York State’s Supreme Court in Albany.

Cuomo accused the joint Commission on Public Ethics of Violating his constitutional rights and showing as the ex governor puts it “extreme bias against him.” The commission had no comment on the lawsuit.

In December, the commission ordered Cuomo to turn over $5.1 million from his book American Crisis Leadership: Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic after New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a letter saying that the former governor had violated the agreement he had signed.

But the staff of the commission granted approval for Cuomo’s book deal in July 2020 after being told by Cuomo that he wouldn’t use state personnel or resources. A state assembly investigation found that state resources and personnel were involved in the book’s creation.

Cuomo’s representative said any state employee involved with the production of the book was using personal time and not working on state time.