New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo used the majority of the profits he earned in 2020 from his book on COVID-19 leadership lessons to enrich his three adult daughters, according to a statement from one of his advisors.
The advisor, Richard Azzopardi, told The New York Times on Monday that Cuomo had netted $1,537,508 from the book in 2020 after expenses and taxes, most of which he funneled to a trust for his children.
“From that net income, the governor donated a third to the United Way of New York State for statewide Covid relief and vaccination effort, and is giving the remainder in a trust for his three daughters equally,” Azzopardi said.
Cuomo’s office had previously said the governor would donate a “significant portion” of his book earnings to a COVID-related charity.
Azzopardi did not immediately return a request for comment asking why Cuomo gave the bulk of his book profits to his three adult daughters.
Cuomo’s youngest daughter, Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo, is 22 and serves as the chief marketing officer of The Woke Mystix, a podcast platform that amplifies “diverse voices in wellness, spirituality, self-care, and astrology”, according to her LinkedIn profile. Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo graduated from Brown University in 2020.
Cuomo’s other two daughters — Cara and Mariah — are twins. Cara Kennedy-Cuomo, 25, graduated from Harvard University in 2017 and works at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit group operated by her mother, according to Town and Country Magazine.
Mariah Kennedy-Cuomo, 25, graduated from Brown University in 2017 and now works at the global communications firm Teneo, Town and Country reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo walks past his daughter Mariah Kennedy-Cuomo as he holds his daily press briefing at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the first day that traders are allowed back onto the historic floor of the exchange on on May 26, 2020 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Cuomo is expecting to receive another $2 million from his book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic,” over the next two years, according to The Times. (RELATED: Cuomo Set To Make Over $5 Million From His Book Deal)
The governor is currently under investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James over his alleged use of state resources to write the book amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa reportedly attended meetings with prospective publishers and helped edit early drafts of the book around fJuly 2020, according to The Times.
At the same time, DeRosa and two other Cuomo advisors reportedly pressured the New York State Department of Health to alter a report published in early July to conceal the true number of nursing home COVID-19 deaths.
The report, which claimed Cuomo’s March 25, 2020, order that required nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients was not the driver of nursing home deaths, had initially said nearly 10,000 residents had died of the virus.
DeRosa successfully pressured the NYSDOH to reduce the death toll number to 6,432, according to multiple reports. (RELATED: Top Cuomo Aides Reportedly Altered Nursing Home Death Toll)
The Daily Caller News Foundation reported in May 2020 that Cuomo’s administration was knowingly undercounting nursing home deaths caused by COVID-19.
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