Andrew Cuomo Won't Get The Proceeds From His Pandemic Book. Here's Who Will

Soon after former New York governor Andrew Cuomo's book, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic," was published in October of this year, a piece in The New Yorker opined the timing couldn't have been worse. Consider that the state was about to face a second wave of infections and the politician had recently stepped down from his job in disgrace after facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.

Reports that the tome would net Cuomo over $5 million had ruffled more than a few feathers (via The New York Times). But now, news has emerged that the embattled former governor won't see a dime of the proceeds from the book, with the New York Post reporting the Joint Commission on Public Ethics approved a resolution ordering Cuomo to return the money to the state he used to oversee.

That Cuomo used state resources in preparing the book was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to overturning the original ruling that he could keep the proceeds. Of course, the book was already considered to be in very poor taste given the nursing home scandal that rocked Cuomo's administration, which saw him allegedly underreporting pandemic-related deaths (via ABC News).

As Bloomberg reports, Cuomo has 30 days to repay the $5.1 million, with the outlet noting the JCOPE found he violated ethical standards by employing state resources for private financial gain.

This latest bad news for Cuomo comes hot on the heels of the announcement that his brother Chris Cuomo, who was recently fired from CNN, was being dropped by his publisher. The anchor's book, ironically entitled, "Deep Denial," is no longer scheduled for release following sexual misconduct allegations against the younger Cuomo and the revelation he helped Andrew cover up his own shocking behavior while in office.

Over on Twitter, the news of Cuomo having to return his book profits was largely praised, with one person tweeting, "Well whadda 'ya know...ol' Andrew has to give the money back. GOOD!" But not everyone supported the ruling, with someone else tweeting he should not have to return any of the funds, and noting, "The publisher was stupid enough to pay that kind of money so be it."