Why the Attorney General Stalled a Move to Collect Cuomo’s Book Profits
The New York Times
A state ethics panel said the former governor had to turn over an estimated $5.1 million in proceeds. Not so fast, the attorney general responded.
After a succession of damaging body blows to his political career, public image and reputation, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo seemed to finally get some good news as the end of the year approached.
The state attorney general’s office indicated in a letter two weeks ago that it was unable to enforce an order by a state ethics panel to compel Mr. Cuomo to turn over the proceeds of his pandemic memoir, contending that there were “procedural steps that the commission must take” before any money could be recovered.
The decision by the attorney general, Letitia James, was seen not only as a victory for Mr. Cuomo but as a rebuke to the panel, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, a secretive and much-criticized body responsible for upholding ethics in Albany.
