This is a topic that we first began digging into nearly a week ago. Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is out of office and, at least according to his spokesperson, “has no interest” in running for elected office again. But he’s still an authorized recipient of campaign donations through one of his party’s largest fundraising platforms. On top of that, he’s sitting on a significant trove of campaign cash, somewhere in the range of $18 million. Most of that was raised in anticipation of his running for another term next year and his donations skyrocketed during the early days of the pandemic when he was being treated as “America’s shadow president.”

But what happens to that money now? Members of his own party in the state legislature have taken notice of the question and are starting to weigh in publicly. A senior Democratic state senator who heads the Finance Committee has a suggestion. Everyone who sent Andrew Cuomo campaign money over the past year should contact his office and ask for a refund. That doesn’t mean that they will actually get the money back, and the senator admits as much, but it would at least bring pressure on him to do the right thing. (NY Post)

A state senator who heads the powerful budget-writing committee is demanding that disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo close his campaign account and return $18 million in donations by contributors to his aborted re-election bid.

Anticipating that Cuomo won’t relinquish the pile of cash so easily, State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said donors should contact Cuomo’s campaign and ask for refunds.

“I urge all donors to Andrew Cuomo’s 2022 campaign to request refunds of their contributions. I also urge Mr. Cuomo to close his account and return all contributions voluntarily,” Krueger, chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee said Friday.

This is turning out to be more of a political burn than the possibility that Cuomo might have to return the $5 million advance he received for his book. The Post spoke to a number of players in Albany and New York City to get their takes on the question and some of the responses were pretty brutal.

Sen. Liz Krueger went on to say that if people don’t ask for their money back, they should be aware that it will be used to “lie about and attack his perceived enemies.” She also reminded donors that taking back the money would show that they stand with Cuomo’s sexual harassment victims and the families of all the people who died in the nursing homes. (Ouch.)

The executive director of Reinvent Albany. a political ethics watchdog group, said, “It would be the ethical thing to do for Cuomo to close the campaign account. But if Cuomo was ethical he might still be governor.” (Somebody call the burn ward.)

Cuomo’s options are limited in terms of how to handle his campaign account, but he still has a few choices. Giving the money back to donors is legal, but it’s tricky. He’s still sitting on most, but not all of the money he took in. (There are always legal expenses and campaign staffers’ salaries to be paid.) If everyone asked for their money back, some people wouldn’t be getting paid. And you can’t say which specific people’s money is still remaining because money is fungible. Still, he could legally give it back on a first-come, first-served basis.

Two easier options would be to simply donate the entire haul to eligible recipients. I’m not sure how many individual campaigns would want a fat check with Cuomo’s name on it at this point, but he could transfer it all to the state Democratic Party and let them distribute it. Alternately, he could give it all to a non-profit charitable organization. Perhaps sending $18 million to a group that protects women who have been the victims of sexual harassment and assault might send a positive message. Or he could split the money between the two. It’s a fair amount of cash to go around.

Frankly, I’ll be shocked if Cuomo doesn’t figure out some way to make this leftover trove of money work to his own benefit. But who knows? Perhaps he’ll surprise us all and do something honorable. Everyone can turn over a new leaf at some point if they really feel a sincere desire to change.