ALBANY, N.Y. — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday filed a lawsuit in opposition to the state’s ethics fee, the most recent transfer in an ongoing dispute over his earnings from a guide about his efforts in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within the lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court docket in Albany, Cuomo accused the Joint Fee on Public Ethics of violating his constitutional rights and displaying “extraordinary bias in opposition to him.”
A spokesperson for JCOPE mentioned they’d no remark.
In December, JCOPE ordered Cuomo to turn over money from his guide “American Disaster: Management Classes from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Cuomo’s camp decried the order and promised a authorized combat.
Shortly after, although, the state lawyer basic’s workplace issued a letter saying the fee had extra steps to take earlier than the workplace may get entangled in attempting to assert the cash.
The fee has regulatory oversight over lobbyists and authorities officers. Its employees had granted approval for Cuomo’s guide deal in July 2020, after being instructed that Cuomo wouldn’t use state personnel or sources.
A state Meeting investigation discovered that wasn’t the case, that state sources and personnel had been concerned within the guide coming to fruition.
However Cuomo’s representatives have mentioned any state workers concerned with the guide had been utilizing private time, not work time.
