State Sen. George Borrello called it “disgraceful” that Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he was paid a $3.1 million advance to write his COVID-19 leadership book last year and under his publishing contract will make another $2 million on the memoir over the next two years.
Cuomo disclosed Monday details of his $5.1 million deal for the book chronicling his leadership during the pandemic in New York state.
“It is disgraceful that Governor Cuomo will personally pocket more than $5 million from his book deal with Crown Publishing Group,” Borrello said Monday. “That’s five million reasons to hide the truth and mislead the public about the deadly impact of his administration’s decision to return COVID-positive patients to their nursing homes at the beginning of the pandemic.”
Borrello, R-Chautauqua County, said the disclosure adds “great urgency” to the ongoing investigations surrounding the governor’s deal.
“The role that a financial motive played in the nursing home cover-up needs to be fully investigated, as do the reports that its development involved the improper use of state staff and resources,” the senator said.
Borrello contended that despite Cuomo promising to donate the proceeds to COVID relief, just one-third went to charity.
He reiterated the need to pass his proposed legislation to prevent elected officials from publishing books about their leadership while still holding that office, calling it an anti-corruption issue.
“Even if no laws were broken, the glaring conflicts of interest involved here demand action,” Borrello said.
At least 52,987 people have died of COVID-19 in New York, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.
The Associated Press reported that Cuomo, a Democrat, had for months declined to say how much money he made from writing “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic.
AP noted Monday’s disclosure of the book deal numbers was made on the day Cuomo’s mandatory financial disclosures were due to a state ethics agency. Cuomo also let reporters view a copy of his tax returns, which were also due Monday.
Cuomo spokesperson Richard Azzopardi claimed that after taxes and expenses, Cuomo had netted $1.5 million on the book last year. He said Cuomo donated $500,000 of his profits from the book to the United Way of New York State and is putting the rest into a trust for his three daughters.
AP reported Azzopardi didn’t immediately provide a response Monday to a question about what the governor plans to do with the future $2 million in book payments.
The book backfired politically on Cuomo, who used the project to tout his performance during the pandemic while the crisis seemed to be lessening during the summer and into the fall — only to see a resurgence of infections and deaths through the winter.
Cuomo’s also come under more criticism over the involvement of some of his staff in preparing the book for publication.
In April, the state’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, authorized New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the role some of Cuomo’s aides played in “drafting, editing, sale and promotion” of the book.
Cuomo has also been criticized over his administration’s decision to withhold data on COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients for months as the book was being finalized and sold.
Borrello and other critics have argued that the administration purposely obscured the true death toll to boost the governor’s image and mute criticism that Cuomo hadn’t done enough to protect nursing home residents. AP noted that Cuomo often used the smaller death toll to argue that New York lost far fewer nursing home residents than other states, based on a percentage of overall deaths.
The governor and the state’s health commissioner have said the numbers were withheld because the state had trouble verifying them.
State Sen. Rob Ortt of North Tonawanda, the top Republican in the state, said “the fact that Governor Cuomo lined his own pockets with more than $5 million while thousands of New Yorkers were dying horrific deaths is a national disgrace.”
The book issue only piles on Cuomo’s problems as he is also under fire over sexual harassment allegations made by several women who worked for him. One aide has also accused him of groping her breasts beneath her shirt.
The state’s attorney general is investigating those allegations and the state Assembly’s judiciary committee is probing whether there are grounds to impeach the governor. The Assembly committee’s investigation is also examining whether Cuomo provided members of his family with priority access to COVID-19 tests in spring 2020.
