The Point: Targeted JCOPE throws the book at Cuomo
Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Credit: Kendall Rodriguez
Nearly 20 years ago, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik agreed with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board to pay a $2,500 fine for using three police officers to do research for his autobiography. Kerik admitted that while in office he used the officers to help him discover and describe how his mother died in Ohio.
That old outcome against a public official who later went to prison on other charges may be forgotten. But it shows just how proportionally massive the new attempted punishment by the state’s ethics commission JCOPE is against ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over his book "American Crisis," which staffers played a key role in preparing while on the public payroll.
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics, now under new management, is pressured by criticism it has been too lenient on the former administration. Now it is seeking to seize the ex-governor's $5.1 million advance. The vote to do so on Tuesday was 12-1. The commission’s future is in doubt anyway after the upcoming budget, with lawmakers still unsure on a plan to replace or revamp it.
Jim McGuire, a lawyer whom Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi says represents the former governor on issues related to the book, issued a statement saying "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. Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court."
All sides in the controversy expect that to be the case.
The COVID-19 book has been a focus of procedural chaos. Back in October, after Gov. Kathy Hochul declared her intent to reform JCOPE, the panel failed to revoke its earlier authorization for Cuomo to publish the book. In November it did so, and now, the ethics panel is popping eyes with an action the likes of which wasn’t foreseen when Cuomo and the State Legislature first created it as a reform measure.
Last month, the Assembly report on Cuomo stated: "The evidence obtained demonstrates that senior officials, and the former Governor, worked on the Book during the course of normal work routines. One senior state official referred to work on the Book as no different from any other assignment he received from the Executive Chamber during COVID."
And all this puts Attorney General Letitia James back in the spotlight, at least as it involves JCOPE and Cuomo. Her office has officially had the book deal under scrutiny for months and issued at least one subpoena as early as September. It was unclear Tuesday exactly what she will do with regard to the new JCOPE action against Cuomo.
At least this week, compared with last, nobody can credibly accuse James of shaping her official action around succeeding Cuomo, or Hochul, as governor.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
