N.Y. Ethics Board Orders Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo To Return Book Money

The order came a month after the commission voted to rescind the ethics approval it had given Cuomo as he entered into the $5.1 million book deal.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was ordered by New York's ethics commission Tuesday to give up millions of dollars a publisher paid him to write a book about his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

An attorney for Cuomo immediately called the action unconstitutional and promised a fight.

Cuomo was directed to turn over proceeds earned from "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic" within 30 days under a resolution approved 12-1 by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.