A conservative watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo that alleges he failed to disclose more than $2.6 million in stock options with a nuclear technology company before running for New York City mayor.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, or FACT, is demanding the city's Conflicts of Interest Board launch an investigation to determine if Cuomo "intentionally violated New York City's disclosure laws" and to "enforce any appropriate penalties."
"One of the most basic and fundamental ethics laws applicable to candidates and elected officials requires them to publicly disclose their financial interests," FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold wrote in a Monday letter to the board obtained by the New York Post.
"Unfortunately, it is this essential law that appears to have been violated by mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo when he failed to fully disclose his financial interest in a company named Nano Nuclear Energy," she said.
The complaint comes just days ahead of the city's June 24 Democratic mayoral primary, in which Cuomo is widely seen as the front-runner.
According to the Post, Cuomo's campaign amended his disclosure forms to include the stock options on May 2, following a report from Politico that day about the previously undisclosed holdings in Tennessee-based Nano Nuclear.
The company touts itself as the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be publicly listed in the U.S.
The amended filings show that Cuomo has not exercised his holdings in the nuclear startup, which does not appear to do business in New York City.
"The goal of the city's Annual Disclosure Law is to have accurate and complete reporting by filers," Carolyn Miller, executive director of the Conflicts of Interest Board, told the Post.
"Amendments to annual disclosure reports to increase their accuracy and completeness are encouraged by the Conflicts of Interest Board," she added.
Railing against the ethics complaint as a political hit job, Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo's spokesman, said the campaign divulged the stock options when it filed amended disclosure forms.
"These craven right-wing nut jobs look stupid and should have done their due diligence before trying to grab a cheap headline," Azzopardi told the Post.
"This was always publicly available information that had been filed with the feds for a year," he said, referring to Federal Trade Commission filings. "We said a month ago we'd consult with the board and make amendments as needed, and that's exactly what we did."
According to annual security filings, Cuomo joined Nano Nuclear's advisory board in March 2024 and was awarded 125,000 in stock options at $3 a share that May.
Politico reported that the campaign was initially unclear about whether it needed to disclose the stock options to the city's conflicts board because the shares were held by Cuomo's limited liability company, Innovation Strategies.
When the outlet reported on the holdings in early May, Nano Nuclear shares were trading around $24, making them worth an estimated $2.6 million. As of Monday, the company's shares were trading around $35, increasing the value to about $4.37 million.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.