When news broke that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo used government staff to help produce a for-profit book, his spokesman asserted that the arrangement was legal: The work was performed voluntarily, he said, and was not a misuse of taxpayer-funded resources. But several current and former Cuomo staffers, or people speaking on their behalf, disputed that their work on “American Crisis” last year was truly voluntary. Instead, they told the Times Union the work was expected within the culture of Cuomo’s office, and that book-related assignments were made in the context of normal, daily duties. One former staffer, who was among those asked to perform tasks related to Cuomo’s book, said there was a “clear expectation that we would do political work to help with his campaign and run the governor’s personal errands in the Executive Chamber.”