Cuomo ordered to return $5.1M in book deal earnings

New York’s state ethics panel has ordered former Gov. Cuomo to return more than $5 million he made off his book about pandemic leadership.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced their decision Tuesday.

The same organization initially gave its blessing to Cuomo to write the book. It later revoked it in a 12-1 vote, claiming Cuomo misrepresented what his book would be about.

Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, says JCOPE’s ruling is an overreach.

"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," Azzopardi said in a statement. "Should they seek to enforce this action, we’ll see them in court."

A state Assembly investigation released last month found that Cuomo used his staff to help work on the book.