Cuomo Accused Of Ethical, Criminal Violations In Book Promotion Tour

It seems Cuomo is using his goons to keep anybody who isn't a sychophant away from him on his book tour:

Gov. Cuomo may have violated state criminal and ethics laws by using his public position and employees to promote his newly published autobiography, “All Things Possible,’’ a sworn complaint charges.

The complaint, filed with two state agencies by a Republican foe late Friday, says members of Cuomo’s State Police detail allegedly “forcibly ejected individuals from book-tour events that asked questions not pertaining to his book.’’

The complaint was referring to at least one alleged incident involving an Iona College freshman, Bill Maloney.

Maloney told The Post that he was “pushed away’’ from the governor at Cuomo’s recent book-signing at a Barnes & Noble in Manhattan when the student tried to question the governor about the Moreland Commission scandal.

Maloney said he didn’t know whether it was the governor’s aides or state troopers who pushed him away.

But the lawmaker who filed the complaint — Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin (R-Rensselaer), a strong backer of Cuomo’s GOP gubernatorial rival, Rob Astorino — says he wants the incident investigated to find out. He added that he has been told of similar complaints.

And then there's this Quid Pro Cuomo:

McLaughlin’s filing also questions whether Cuomo violated ethics laws by appearing on David Letterman’s “Late Show’’ on CBS last week to peddle his book, for which he is reportedly being paid about $750,000.

The appearance could be an “impermissible gift,’’ since “CBS recently negotiated with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office a tax break for the ‘Late Show’ of at least $16 million,’’ reads the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Post.

“Does the opportunity of a coveted guest spot on the ‘Late Show’ constitute an impermissible gift from CBS to Gov. Cuomo pursuant to [the] Public Officers Law?” the complaint asks.

In addition to possible ethics violations, the governor’s actions raise “issues as to whether Gov. Cuomo violated penal law . . . which establishes an ‘E’ felony for state officials who obtain ‘services or other resources with a value in excess of $1,000 from the state’ for personal gain,’’ according to the complaints.

The complaints were filed with JCOPE,  the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, and the state Board of Elections.

McLaughlin is not expecting a pre-Election decision from either entity but wanted to get these complaints on record:

“We have a governor who is out shilling books for his own personal gain,” the lawmaker told The Post. “He’s using state resources, the State Police, state employees, for his own personal gain, and that’s wrong,”

Add the complaints McLaughlin has filed against Cuomo with JCOPE and the Board of Elections to the detailed list of campaign finance machinactions WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reported on Friday and to what we know about his tampering in the Moreland Commission matter and what we have here is a portrait of a very corrupt governor who belongs in prison, not the highest political office in the state.