ANDY BOOKS A $5M WIN

Big ethics ruling

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo scored another win Thursday in his efforts to unravel the state’s new ethics commission as part of an ongoing spat over his pandemicera book deal.

A mid-level appellate court upheld a lower court judge’s decision to scrap the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG), which had ordered Cuomo (inset) to fork over proceeds from his pandemic era memoir.

“The Legislature, though well-intentioned in its actions, violated the bedrock principles of separation of powers,” the five-judge panel wrote in its unanimous ruling.

The ex-governor, who stepped down in 2021 amid a wave of sexual harassment and ethics accusations that he denies, cheered the ruling.

“This has been a three-year exercise to bend the law to fit the political will of those in charge and hopefully after this second — and unanimous — court decision, this partisan and baseless prosecution will finally end,” a Cuomo spokesperson said in a statement.

“As we’ve said from the very beginning, no one is above the law nor the [C]onstitution,” he added.

The decision means Cuomo will still get to hold onto the $5 million in profits from his book deal.

The decision could also likely be the end for the shortlived ethics panel, which was created in 2021 to replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE).

Its predecessor was widely criticized for lacking independence given that most of its appointees were beholden to the governor.

“We respectfully disagree with the result reached by the court and are reviewing all options, including, if appropriate, recommending interim legislation,” COELIG Chairman Frederick Davie and Executive Director Sanford Berland wrote in a joint statement.

They added that the panel will try to appeal the decision, though that first requires permission of the appellate court given that its ruling was unanimous. The state attorney general’s office is reviewing the decision.

Targeted lawsuit

Cuomo first filed his lawsuit last year, in part seeking to unravel COELIG’s effort to force him to turn over proceeds from his pandemic-era memoir, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The courts sided with Cuomo’s argument that the process for appointing members of COELIG unfairly removes checks and balances from the executive branch.

“It usurps the Governor’s power to ensure the faithful execution of the applicable ethics laws,” the judges wrote.

Good government groups, which filed an amicus brief defending COELIG, called for the state’s highest court to overturn the decision.