The state’s soon-to-be disbanded ethics watchdog has filed court papers in a last-gasp bid to force disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo to turn over $5.2 million in profits from his pandemic memoir.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics filed counterclaims in Albany state Supreme Court concerning the book proceeds in response to Cuomo, who sued JCOPE last month to keep the money while accusing the agency of violating his constitutional rights by acting without due process.

JCOPE, which goes out of business in July and will be replaced by JCOPE last month, also urged the court in its reply papers filed Friday to dismiss Cuomo’s suit as “absurd and misplaced….a naked attempt by a former governor to use a federal civil rights statute” to stop his violations of the ethics law regarding the publishing of the book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Cuomo may try to outlast JCOPE.

A JCOPE source acknowledged it will be up to a new ethics agency whether to continue to fight Cuomo in court.

The newly constituted 11-member ethics commission created as part of the state budget approved last month — the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government —  is yet to be appointed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders.

A Cuomo rep mocked JCOPE as it heads out the door.

“In these filings, J-JOKE itself acknowledges it will be out of business within weeks, meaning there’s no way it can hold the required hearings before then,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.

“These filings represent the sad death rattles of a dying, incompetent and increasingly irrelevant bureaucratic beast that is wasting taxpayer money in a feeble attempt to settle political scores.”  

Critics said the much-maligned JCOPE was a toothless tiger that shouldn’t have approved Cuomo’s book deal in the first place and it only moved against the powerful three-term Democratic governor after Cuomo resigned from office last August.

That came after a slew of women accused Cuomo of sexual harassment and misconduct, outlined in a devastating state investigative report issued by state Attorney General Letitia James’ office.

Under JCOPE’s rules, all statewide elected officials must obtain approval of the commission before engaging in a “business venture” that generates or is expected to generate more than $5,000 in compensation.

JCOPE approved Cuomo’s eye-popping book deal on July 17, 2020 —  while thousands of nursing home residents and New Yorkers died from COVID-19 and shutdowns and other restrictions plunged the state into a recession. Critics complained Cuomo was profiting off the backs of dead people, with one furious daughter of a COVID-19 nursing home victim calling it “blood money.”

In court papers, attorneys from the law firm of Hogan Lovells, retained by JCOPE, said Cuomo’s conditional approval letter required him to write the the pandemic memoir on his own time and that “no state property, personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book.”

The agreement also said the subject matter in the book must be “sufficiently unrelated” to Cuomo’s official duties as governor.

JCOPE revoked its approval of the book deal last November after alleging that Cuomo used state workers and resources to prepare the book and that it was substantially related to his job as governor. The commission also said most of the book had been completed before Cuomo sought approval and that it had not seen the contract.

Cuomo maintained he followed the law, saying executive staffers volunteered and worked on his book on their personal time.

The commission then passed a resolution to try to force Cuomo to return the profits and have state Attorney General Letitia James’ office collect it.

But the attorney general’s office refused to get involved, concluding JCOPE’s actions against Cuomo were illegal without first conducting a “substantial” investigation.

Cuomo’s spokesman Azzopardi said JCOPE “continues to double down on their biased abuses of power that even the Attorney General’s office said were unconstitutional.”

JCOPE’s lawyers were forced to address the legal dispute with the attorney general in a footnote in its court papers. The lawyers said the watchdog had the authority to enforce its own rules violated by Cuomo regarding the book.

AG James, citing an unspecified conflict, is not representing JCOPE in the case. Her office typically represents state agencies that are sued.

Her office has an ongoing probe looking into whether Cuomo broke the law by using state resources to prepare the book.

JCOPE is paying the firm Hogan Lovells at least $300,000 to handle the Cuomo case as well as other legal matters.