New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
A New York ethics panel has ordered former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to return some $5 million in compensation he received for his COVID memoir,American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Bloomberg reports the Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted 11-2 on Tuesday in favor of a resolution requiring the former governor torepay all the compensation he earnedfrom sales of the book within 30 days. The money will be repaid to the state.
“Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court,” his statement added.
Though the book capitalized on his pandemic-era profile, Cuomo said it was an opportunity for reflection and not a victory lap: “Let’s adjust for the re-entry on to the field, because this is not going away,” he told NPR.
The report continued: “Another senior state official complained in a text message to a colleague that work on the book was compromising the official’s ability to work on COVID-related matters.”
A spokesperson for Crown Publishing Group at Penguin Random HousetoldThe New York Timesback in March there were “no plans” to reprint Cuomo’s book or publish a paperback edition citing an “ongoing investigation into N.Y.S. reporting of COVID-related fatalities in nursing homes.”
Cuomoresignedas governor of New York in August inthe wake of an investigationthat found he “sexually harassed multiple women,” New York State Letitia James said in a report of the investigation she led.
Cuomo has denied allegations that he acted inappropriately, and has said he “never inappropriately touched anybody” but apologized for what he insisted was inadvertent behavior.
In October, Cuomo was charged with forcible touching, a misdemeanor sex crime, in Albany, N.Y., stemming from an alleged incident at the Governor’s Executive Mansion on Dec. 7, 2020.
Forcible touching is Class A misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to one year in prison,The New York Timesreports.
source: people.com
