Andrew Cuomo ordered to forfeit $5.1 million from book deal

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being forced to forfeit $5.1 million from his 2020 memoir, after an order from a state ethics board.

Mr. Cuomo was given the directive Tuesday from the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which accused the Democratic ex-governor of breaking several state ethics laws.

Mr. Cuomo, who plans to fight the order, is being told to relinquish the earnings to the New York Attorney General’s office.

“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,” Jim McGuire, Mr. Cuomo’s attorney, said.

Mr. Cuomo published a memoir in October 2020 titled “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The book chronicles Mr. Cuomo’s experience serving as New York’s governor as the disease arrived on American shores, with his state as the epicenter.

Mr. Cuomo donated $500,000 of the book’s proceeds to charity and put $1 million in a trust for his daughters, making the ethics panel’s demand potentially complicated.

The commission says Mr. Cuomo misrepresented the subject of his memoir and the timeline of his work on the book.

Mr. Cuomo resigned as governor in August amid several sexual harassment accusations. The former governor maintains that he never inappropriately touched or made a sexual advance towards anyone while serving in office.