JCOPE OKs probe into itself but doesn't provide specifics

ALBANY — The state ethics board on Tuesday voted to hire an outside firm to conduct an inquiry into itself, but declined to provide specifics.

"In executive session, the commission voted to approve the retention of independent counsel to conduct an inquiry into the legal and procedural operations of the commission," said Jose Nieves, the new chairman of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, after a two-hour, closed-door session. "That was the resolution that has been passed today, and there will be further action at a future date."

The meeting was then adjourned. Neither commissioners nor staff would clarify or specify what the inquiry would involve.

The commission went into the closed-door session with one item on its agenda: a proposal by JCOPE Commissioner David McNamara to "conduct an inquiry" into the approval process by one of JCOPE’s former staffers that authorized then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to write a $5.1 million memoir on his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic "for personal profit."

After the meeting, McNamara said he couldn’t comment on the discussion during the executive session under strict rules of the ethics commission.

"In my comments in the public session at the inception, I said the meeting was being held for a single purpose and beyond that I have to defer to my fellow commissioners and chair what the concluding remarks convey," McNamara said in an interview with Newsday.

Under the commission’s code of conduct, commissioners who release confidential information could face a Class A misdemeanor.

JCOPE staff authorized Cuomo to write the book in 2020, but with conditions. The authorization prohibited Cuomo from using state staff or his official events to promote the book. Cuomo later said in a news conference that some of his top staffers in the executive chamber volunteered to help edit "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic."

The book was featured in national cable news programs in which Cuomo was interviewed about his fight against the pandemic, an effort that earned him international support.

After the book was released in the fall of 2020, Cuomo was accused of delaying the full count of more than 15,000 deaths of nursing home residents. Cuomo had said the state needed the time to sort out the number of nursing homes residents who died in hospitals or at home.

In a January 2021 report, state Attorney General Letitia James in a spot check said deaths of nursing home residents may have been undercounted by as much as 50%. The U.S. Justice Department also has been investigating the issue.

Cuomo resigned in August amid accusations of sexual harassment.

Earlier this year, JCOPE changed its practices so that the full board must consider any requests by state officials to accept book deals or other outside income.

In April, Democratic Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli asked Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat, to investigate whether Cuomo improperly used state employees to write and edit the book.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.