Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sued the state’s ethics commission to stop it from forcing him to hand over more than $5.1 million he made from the sale of his COVID-19 memoir.
Cuomo, who resigned in August amid sexual harassment allegations, said the Joint Commission on Public Ethics is prejudiced and can’t give him a fair hearing.
“Never in the history of New York has an agency so breathtakingly and irresponsibly prejudged a matter on which it is the final decision maker,” Cuomo said in a lawsuit filed Friday in state court in Albany.
The commission declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The commission initially approved Cuomo’s 2020 book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” But it changed its mind in November following allegations that he had enlisted aides — state employees — to help him write, edit and publish the book.
State law bars the use of public resources for personal gain. Cuomo’s suit seeks to block the commission from moving ahead with the administrative process necessary to force him to turn over his profits.
The case is Cuomo v. New York State Join Commission on Public Ethics, New York Supreme Court (Albany).
