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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reacts to allegations of sexual harassment lodged versus him by three women, consisting of two of his former aides.

New York City State Group

ALBANY, N.Y.– Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s usage of state personnel and resources last year as he crafted and promoted his very popular book on the COVID-19 pandemic may put him in infraction of state ethics rules, leaving him vulnerable to a potential fine.

In July, Cuomo’s office sought and received approval from Martin Levine, an attorney for the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, prior to the guv got in into a financially rewarding, seven-figure agreement with a Penguin Random Home subsidiary to compose “American Crisis: Management Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

However the approval set out nine particular conditions Cuomo needed to follow, explaining he might not use any state residential or commercial property, resources or workers to craft or tout the book, nor might he advertise it at any main state events or compose it for an organization or audience that completes for state agreements.

An USA TODAY Network New York review of Cuomo’s actions leading up to and directly following the book’s October release suggest he may have broken a few of those conditions and toed the line of others, which could put him at chances with state Public Officers Law.

Public Officers Law violations can be punished by a fine of as much as $10,000 and the worth of any “payment or benefit received as an outcome of such offense.” Cuomo fetched offers of more than $4 million for his book offer, according to The New York City Times

Amongst the conduct in concern:

  • Cuomo consistently conducted television interviews, Q&A s and other virtual occasions promoting the book from the Executive Estate, the state-owned home offered to the guv for use as his home.
  • A minimum of 3 senior staff members– Melissa DeRosa, Stephanie Benton and Rich Azzopardi– were involved in the crafting or promo of the book, though Cuomo’s office states all offered their time.
  • Cuomo mentioned his book throughout several official COVID-19 rundowns and press conference, consisting of those on Aug. 19, Nov. 15, Nov. 23 and Dec. 23.
  • Executive assistants were informed to type or transfer notes for the book, and at least twice were directed to print drafts and provide them to the Executive Mansion, The New York Times reported Wednesday

Azzopardi, Cuomo’s senior consultant and spokesman, stated Cuomo and his staff members made efforts to comply with state rules.

” As is permissible and constant with ethical requirements, individuals who volunteered on this task did so on their own time,” Azzopardi stated in a declaration. “Every effort was made to guarantee that no state resources were used in connection with this task.”

Government-reform advocates see it differently.

John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a group that pushes for federal government openness, said Cuomo’s actions in regards to the book were “incredibly unethical.”

” The guv is blatantly breaking state principles law and the authorization he got from JCOPE to do this book,” he stated.

More: Assembly probe will now check out concerns over Cuomo’s reported $4M book offer

Restored analysis of Cuomo’s book deal

Cuomo’s choice to sign a book deal in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is drawing restored scrutiny as he faces multiple scandals including supposed unwanted sexual advances, a hostile workplace environment and the underrepresenting of coronavirus deaths in assisted living home.

Upon the book’s release in October, the USA TODAY Network New york city filed a Freedom of Info Law ask for any principles viewpoints or approvals Cuomo received before signing his book deal.

On Wednesday evening, the guv’s workplace released its correspondence with Levine after more than 5 months of delay. The file was released about 90 minutes before the Times released its story suggesting Cuomo’s book deal surpassed $4 million.

The correspondence reveals an attorney in Cuomo’s workplace, Judith Mogul, looked for an ethics approval from JCOPE on July 10, 2020, as the governor was negotiating with publishers.

That very same day, Cuomo initially publicly discussed the possibility of a book throughout an interview on WAMC-FM in Albany

” I am now thinking about writing a book about what we went through, lessons found out, the entire experience, due to the fact that if we do not learn from this, then it will truly intensify the entire crisis that we have actually gone through,” he stated.

Levine responded a week later on, setting out a nine-point criteria Cuomo needed to follow to adhere to principles rules. It was the exact same criteria Cuomo was required to follow in 2014, when he composed a narrative that paid him $783,000 in spite of poor sales.

Among the rules set out by Levine:

  • The book must be written on the guv’s own time and not on state time.
  • No state residential or commercial property, workers or other resources might be made use of for activities associated with the book.
  • The book may not be written for a company or audience which is regulated by, routinely negotiates with, or has agreements with any state agency.
  • The guv might not market, or otherwise promote or endorse, the book when he is performing his state responsibilities.

Cuomo promoted the book greatly

In the ensuing months, Cuomo used the Executive Estate as the setting for numerous interviews and events tied to the book’s release.

The 39- space, Queen Anne-style home in Albany is completely owned by the state and is provided to the guv for usage as a residence. Cuomo has used it as his primary house given that 2019

The estate was the website of numerous remote television interviews promoting the book, including those on “ Live With Kelly and Ryan,” “ The Daily Program,” “ The View,” “ CBS Today” and “ The Late Program With Stephen Colbert,” in addition to virtual question-and-answer sessions he held with actor Billy Crystal and Bravo tv character Andy Cohen

In a declaration, Azzopardi said the interviews at the state-owned estate weren’t helped with by state personnel. He stated they did not utilize public equipment to shoot the interviews, though he acknowledged some state assistants might have staffed the interviews on their own time.

” Devices used for media looks for this task were paid for or provided privately and any personnel who offered did so on their personal time,” he said.

Azzopardi protected the use of the mansion despite the JCOPE prohibition on utilizing state resources for activities connected with the book. He noted the state Constitution needs the state to offer a “suitable and provided executive residence” for the governor.

” The Executive mansion is treated in a different way than other state buildings because it is lawfully the Governor and First Family’s individual private residence,” he stated in his statement. “The New York State Constitution clearly specifies that the Governor is entitled to a ‘ideal and furnished’ house and as such, anything that comes with the estate is offered for his individual use.

The mansion was likewise the background for an Oct. 1 private webinar for staff members of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, the significant worldwide law office.

More than 400 individuals registered for the one-hour, closed-to-the-public Zoom call with Cuomo. All were promised a copy of Cuomo’s then-forthcoming book.

The book was later on mailed to the employees with a bookmark featuring the Skadden logo and this note: ” Please take pleasure in the Governor’s brand-new book with our compliments.”

Skadden, meanwhile, had actually received a COVID-related state contract simply seven months previously. The company received a Department of Health contract worth up to $1.5 million to vet the purchase of COVID-related medical devices.

At the time of the occasion, Azzopardi indicated the JCOPE guidance, which the governor’s workplace had not yet released publicly at that point. He said it allowed Cuomo to ” promote the book as long as he does not utilize state resources or do so during a main occasion.”

Azzopardi safeguarded the Skadden webinar again Thursday, stating the principles guideline prevents Cuomo from composing a book particularly for a firm with company prior to the state– such as a training manual or something likewise particular.

” This is not that case– the book was not written for Skadden,” he said. ” It was rather obviously written for the general public. It’s not a training handbook or composing targeted to a specialized audience.”

Staff assisted Cuomo with book

In numerous instances, members of Cuomo’s gubernatorial personnel appear to have actually been involved in the crafting or promotion of the book.

In October, Azzopardi supplied press reporters with advance excerpts from the book ahead of its release. He sent out the excerpts from an individual Gmail account and said he required time off from his state task to volunteer for the effort.

Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, who is Cuomo’s leading aide, and Director of the Governor’s Workplace Stephanie Benton also had some participation, according to the Times.

DeRosa was associated with a few of the book pitch conferences with publishers and worked on editing a draft, the newspaper reported, while Benton two times asked executive assistants to print parts of a draft and bring them to Cuomo at the Executive Mansion.

The junior aides were also asked to type up notes for the book, according to the Times.

Like his own work connected with the book, Azzopardi stated DeRosa and Benton volunteered their time to the effort. The very same was true of any state aides who staffed his book interviews at the Executive Mansion, he said.

” To the degree an aide printed out a document, it appears incidental,” Azzopardi said in his declaration.

Under the JCOPE approval, Cuomo was barred from marketing, backing or promoting the book while carrying out main state tasks.

But on at least 4 events, Cuomo mentioned the book throughout main rundowns, speeches or press conference– in some cases on his own, and sometimes in reaction to a concern about the book.

On an Aug. 19 conference call with press reporters, Cuomo brought it up during his opening remarks.

” I stated, ‘I’m doing a book on COVID,'” Cuomo said. ” Some individuals say, ‘Oh, you’re doing the history of COVID.’ And my book is not about the history of COVID due to the fact that it’s not over. It is what we have learned, what we ought to learn, what we must do, how we handle this, and what we need to do in the second half of the game.”

He mentioned it again at a Nov. 15 speech he delivered at the Riverside Church in Manhattan, which his workplace billed as a gubernatorial occasion.

” We have made mistakes during COVID,” Cuomo stated. ” I wrote a book on the lessons to be discovered from the COVID crisis. I think of COVID as low tide for America.”

Azzopardi stated the mentions throughout main occasions didn’t increase to the level of advertising or endorsing the book.

” An offhand mention about composing a book, or addressing concerns from the media about it in no other way is an advertisement of recommendation of it,” he said. “Appearances to promote this outside task were done without state assistance to the widespread frustration of Albany reporters who complained that we weren’t advising these appearances.”

How much was Cuomo paid? He will not say

Cuomo and his workplace have consistently declined to say just how much the guv was paid for the book project.

A response might not come up until mid-May, when the Democrat is needed to file a state-mandated disclosure type detailing any outdoors earnings he received in2020 That’s likewise when tax filings are due; It’s long been custom for New York guvs to make their income tax return available to reporters upon filing.

Cuomo’s book has actually sold more than 40,000 copies, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks sales. He has actually previously pledged to contribute a portion of his profits to COVID-related causes, though he has not stated precisely how much.

Azzopardi said a “substantial portion” of Cuomo’s profits will go to charity.

” As is traditional, disclosure of information of the Governor’s finances, as well as his charitable contributions, will be released in his yearly income tax return and financial disclosure,” he stated.

Kaehny, the Reinvent Albany executive director, implicated Cuomo of “playing video games” by refusing to release his book agreement or compensation now.

” Anybody who wished to be the tiniest bit transparent and above board would have launched the book contract and the quantity of the agreement back when it was worked out and signed so it might be judged by the public whether it’s appropriate,” he said.

Who would investigate?

The state Public Officers Law prohibits the governor and any other officer of a state company from utilizing their position to secure “baseless opportunities or exemptions” for their own advantage, consisting of making use of state residential or commercial property, services or resources for “personal business or other compensated nongovernmental purposes.”

It depends on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics to examine any potential infractions of the general public Officers Law and levy fines, if needed.

However the commission has actually long faced criticism from government-reform supporters for its close ties to Cuomo and its complicated governance structure, which has actually hamstrung or obstructed some potential investigations.

Levine, who composed the approval memo for Cuomo’s book, referred comment to JCOPE spokesman Walt McClure.

” As you understand, we can not comment on any particular assistance or any matter that may or might not be the subject of an examination or enforcement action,” McClure said Thursday.

Cuomo’s book offer will be examined by the state Assembly’s ongoing impeachment examination into the guv, Assembly Judiciary Chairman Charles Lavine verified Wednesday

However Lavine warned the bulk of the probe will continue to focus on sexual harassment accusations, the COVID assisted living home death toll and potential security issues at the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The guv is dealing with a different problem including his book.

On Thursday, TEAM, a Washington-based government-watchdog group, filed a grievance with the state Board of Elections, implicating Cuomo of utilizing his political campaign for individual gain by having it promote his book in 2015.

The group pointed to several examples of the Cuomo project promoting the book through its social networks channels and its extensive e-mail list.

” The law is clear that you can not spend campaign funds for your own individual advantage,” TEAM President Noah Bookbinder stated. “Since the cash spent on book promos appears to have actually been for the special personal benefit of Guv Cuomo, he requires to be examined.”

Includes reporting by Joseph Spector.

Jon Campbell is the New York State Team editor for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.

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