Judge lets Andrew Cuomo keep $5 million he got to write book during pandemic, at least for now

Albany, N.Y. — A judge sided with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday in his dispute with a now-defunct state ethics commission that ordered him to give up $5 million he was paid to write a book about his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics initially approved Cuomo's request to write the book, titled "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," in 2020. But the panel withdrew that approval the following year after alleging Cuomo hadn't kept a promise not to use any state resources on the book.

Cuomo acknowledged that state employees helped with tasks including editing the manuscript. But he's said those employees did that work voluntarily during their personal time.