Judging Freedom - Cuomo ordered to turn over $5.1 million from book deal

Episode Date: December 15, 2021

Judge Napolitano tells you what's on his mind, detailing the recent news that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been ordered to turn over $5.1 million from his book deal within 30 days. #AndrewCuomo #Cuomo #BookDealSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello, everyone. Judge Napolitano here. What's on my mind this afternoon? It's Tuesday, December 14th, 2021, and some administrative agency, some ethics board in the state of New York has just ordered former Governor Andrew Cuomo to give to the state the $5.1 million that he earned by writing and publishing a book about leadership during the time of COVID. Now, I am not defending Andrew Cuomo. I am not going to talk about why he left office. Suffice it to say the allegations against him are severe and credible, and he decided to leave office rather than endure impeachment at the hands of the state legislature. But while he was the governor, he followed the procedures to have an ethics board approve his writing a book and earning royalties from the book while he was the governor

and his use of state employees on their free time to help him with the book. Then he leaves office. Then a new membership comes in to the ethics board, excuse me, the same ethics board that said, yes, you can write the book and you can earn the money. New membership comes in on that ethics board and said, well, we disagree with the old ethics board. We want the money. Well, guess what? The state can't steal any more than anybody else can. And the contracts clause of the Constitution prohibits all states from interfering with private contracts. This is a contract between Andrew Cuomo and his publisher, a contract that the State Ethics Committee blessed and allowed him to earn that money. It would be one thing to say he didn't earn the money and he owes it back. That would be for the judicial branch to say.

It's quite another for the state to say, you didn't have the right to write the book, even though we told you you could write the book and now pay the money to us. The state is acting like mobsters, like a criminal gang. Again, this is not to defend Andrew Cuomo's personal behavior. I don't know what it is. I know that the allegations were strong and credible and were enough for him to resign.

But it is to defend his right under the Constitution to speak his mind, to write a book, to contract with a publisher while he's the governor, to have the very contract approved by the state of which he was the governor and to earn the money that the contract called for. The state is too little, too late. It can't change its mind, and it should stop acting like a bunch of mafia goons who are threatening him that he has to disgorge and pay them. That's what I'm thinking this afternoon. Judge Napolitano, and that's what's on my mind.