Andrew Cuomo Was Just Ordered To Do This With His Book Profits

It seems as if the problems just keep piling up for the Cuomo brothers. In early December, Chris Cuomo was fired from his primetime position at CNN after allegedly helping brother Andrew Cuomo in his battles against piling sexual harassment allegations. Andrew, on the other hand, stepped down as Governor of New York earlier this year as harassment allegations mounted.

Andrew resigning from his post as governor comes after a hectic year of managing New York as the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Eventually, the tides turned against him when New York Attorney General Letitia James came down on him for suppressing the death tolls of nursing home patients amidst the pandemic. And in the months that followed, more than 10 women, backed by James, came forward to accuse the disgraced politician of sexual harassment. Andrew ultimately resigned in August.

On the flip side, as brother Chris was ousted from CNN, the anchor, too, has seen a downward spiral in his professional career. Days after his firing, Chris announced the end of his SiriusXM radio show, "Let's Get After It," after hosting for three years. If that wasn't enough, HarperCollins also pulled the anchor's book, "Deep Denial," which would've been "a provocative analysis of the harsh truths that the pandemic and Trump years have exposed about America," according to a description obtained by the New York Post.

Now, Andrew Cuomo's book deal is set to cost him a ton of money.

Penning "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic" in October 2020, then-Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo was set to pocket $5 million from the book. Just one year later, however, Cuomo has been ousted from his post as governor as scores of sexual harassment allegations pile up for the disgraced politician. Now, he has been ordered to pay all of his book profits back to the State of New York.

In a 12-1 vote, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) revoked their approval in allowing Cuomo to profit off his COVID-era book, the New York Post notes. The commission concluded that Cuomo had breached agreements not to utilize government staff and state resources in producing the New York Times best-seller. Commissioner and Senate Republican appointee David McNamara stated the former governor "lacked the legal authority to engage in outside activity and receive compensation in regard to the book."

He further added that "Gov. Cuomo is not legally entitled to retain compensation ... for any form of outside activity related to the book" and ordered the politician to repay "an amount equal to the compensation paid to him for his outside activities related to the book" to New York Attorney General Letitia James "by no later than 30 days from the date of this resolution."