NY Court Rules Ethics Panel’s Probe into Andrew Cuomo’s $5 Million Book Deal ‘Unconstitutional’

A New York State court ruled in favor of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday after a judge ruled an ethics panel’s probe into his $5 million coronavirus book deal “unconstitutional.”

Cuomo filed a lawsuit in April claiming the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying In Government had no right to probe the circumstances behind his 2020 memoir American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In a 25-page ruling, Albany Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle wrote that the ethics watchdog panel was an illegal group that had no oversight from the people of New York or the governor’s office, referring to it as an  “unsanctioned fourth branch of government.”

“If the people should choose to be governed by those who are not politically accountable to them or their Governor, who swear no oath of allegiance to them, and who come as a class composed of urban academics and who are not reflective of the cross-section of the people whom they govern, the people
may do so,” Marcelle wrote.

“But it is for the people to decide and only the people,” the judge added.

Cuomo claimed in his lawsuit the commission had no authorization to seize any of the money he made off the lucrative book deal he made with Penguin Books because the panel had no sufficient government control.

Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul created the panel to replace a previous panel that had already been criticized for its relationship with Cuomo – the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOP). The new panel has members appointed from a group of 15 New York law school deans, known as the Independent Review Committee.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi praised Monday’s decision.

“As we’ve said all along, this was nothing more than an attack by those who abused their government positions unethically and — as the judge ruled today — unconstitutionally for political purposes,” Azzopardi said.

“Truth and reason won, mob rule lost today,” Azzopardi added.

In a joint statement, the commission’s executive director, Sanford Berland, said they will be reviewing all options in response to the ruling.

“New Yorkers have the right to an ethics commission that is truly independent and fully empowered to administer and enforce the state’s ethics and lobbying laws objectively, even-handedly, and without regard to the rank, position, or political affiliation of those we regulate and without interference from any branch of government,” the statement said.

Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.