An ethics committee in Maryland ruled that Police Chief Charles A. Moose cannot profit from the proceeds of a book deal he made. The committe stated, "Accepting remuneration for services directly and immediately related to an employee's governmental activities violates the prestige-of-office prohibition because, to paraphrase the state ethics commission, those services `go with the job.'"
Chief Moose, familiar to the country as the lead police authority in the DC area sniper shootings case last fall, can appeal the ruling, but it's unknown whether he will. The ethics committee makes an interesting point and it made Gothamist wonder about memoirs by Rudy Giuliani and the upcoming ones by the Clintons. Newt Gingrich was leading the Senate when he came out with his book. The ethics committee ruling is noble, but seems unfair to Gothamist, if these other figures get to profit from their books.
