Cuomo Is Ordered to Forfeit Earnings From $5.1 Million Book Deal

[Jose Garcia]

Source: New York Times

ALBANY, N.Y. — Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was ordered to turn over roughly $5.1 million in proceeds from his 2020 pandemic memoir within 30 days, after a state ethics board found that he had run afoul of state ethics laws.

The board, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, directed Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday to relinquish the money to the state attorney general’s office, and authorized the office to enforce the collection.

Mr. Cuomo has vowed to fight the resolution, which owing to its unique circumstance would seem to have little precedent, in court. “JCOPE’s actions today are unconstitutional, exceed its own authority and appear to be driven by political interests rather than the facts and the law,” said Jim McGuire, a lawyer for Mr. Cuomo. “Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court.”

The order, which is sure to set up a protracted legal fight, could be complicated by the fact that Mr. Cuomo already donated $500,000 of the book’s proceeds to charity, and placed another $1 million in a trust for his daughters.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/12/14/nyregion/andrew-cuomo-book.amp.html

[Slammer]

1. biography

You're not allowed to write your own biography under state ethics law?

That seems a little...counter-intuitive.

[zaj]

3. He could have blogged it legally. It's the large $$ contract

[Slammer]

5. 2

So you can't make money off of your own biography under state ethics law?

That seems a little...counter-intuitive.

[zaj]

7. He seems to have lied in his application for approval...

"WHEREAS, the Approval Request Letter represented that “the Governor will abide by all nine
of the established requirements” for receiving compensation for writing a book and, in particular,
represented to the Commission that Governor Cuomo “will write the (B)ook entirely on his own
time, without the use of State resources or personnel”; and


WHEREAS, by letter dated July 17, 2020, the Commission’s staff issued an informal advisory
opinion conveying conditional approval of the outside activity described in the Approval Request
Letter (the “Conditional Approval Letter”); and


WHEREAS, among the other conditions to approval stated therein, the Conditional Approval
Letter imposed, without qualification or exception, the condition that “No state property,
personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book”; and


WHEREAS, contrary to the representations made on behalf of Governor Cuomo, and not
disclosed to the Commission, State property, resources and personnel, including staff volunteers,
were used in connection with the preparation, writing, editing and publication of the Book; and


WHEREAS, the Approval Request Letter further represented that the Book would be a
continuation of Governor Cuomo’s first book, a memoir published in 2012, and that consistent
with item three of the nine established requirements “the subject matter was sufficiently
unrelated to his job responsibilities so that authorship or the advice or material provided in the
(B)ook could not be viewed as part of his job,” and


WHEREAS, the Conditional Approval Letter expressly conveys conditional approval of outside
activity comprised solely of authoring “a continuation of [the Governors] last book, All Things
Possible: Setbacks and Successes in Politics and Life.”

WHEREAS, contrary to the representations made in the Approval Request Letter, the Book is
not in compliance with item three of the Commission’s nine established conditions to approval as
stated in the Conditional Approval Letter, in that it is a work that was developed as part of
Governor Cuomo’s job responsibilities and is substantially related to his job responsibilities;
"

[Slammer]

9. memories

Thank you, that clarified things immensely.

If he wanted to write that kind of book, he needed to wait until after he was out of office or to have gotten permission from the state.

But lying about it to the state in order to get permission is what is getting him into trouble.

[OnlinePoker]

2. And what happens if he already paid income tax on the earnings?

Does the IRS give the money back?

[Slammer]

11. taxable earning

Yeah, the IRS would give it back if he forfeited it back to the publisher.

He would have stated his earnings on his income tax statement and they'd have calculated the money he owed based on that.

So Cuomo would file an amended tax return stating the amount of money he made less the amount he was required to return.


But if he forfeited the money to the state, that's another matter entirely.

Fines and punitive and penal damages are not tax deductible.

So if he earned the money then had to pay that same amount as a fine, he still earned the money and would owe taxes on it.

But he'd be better off seeing a tax attorney who could carefully read any judgment against him and figure out if the court left him with any loopholes.

[global1]

4. What Blows My Mind Is How Fast The Cuomo's Went Down.....

almost like this was a targeted hit on them by somebody that held something against them.

When I say 'how fast they went down' - I mean that in comparison to Tr**p and his partners in crime. Tr**p and Company keep eluding any kind of accountability for their actions which are way more serious than the Cuomo's.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not excusing the Cuomo's. I'm just fascinated by how fast things have proceeded against them in comparison to Tr**pCo.

TFG in particular. How many women accused him of sexual harassment - all the way up to rape and he paid off a porn star to booth.

[not fooled]

10. Excellent point

yeah, no one should be corrupt but man, red don pays no consequences, unlike the Cuomos.

[Crepuscular]

6. ...

How the hell is a state appointed board empowered to confiscate the proceeds of a legal, private contract without any sort of Judicial involvement?

[Tomconroy]

12. Yes. Makes no sense.

[BadGimp]

8. Some people really want this guy DE STROYED and Buried.

eom