A Republican-led House committee prepares to present Attorney General Merrick Garland with evidence of alleged false statements by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo regarding COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
According to CNN, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will send a formal letter to Garland, seeking a criminal investigation into Cuomo's testimony about his involvement in a controversial state health department report.
The dispute centers on a June 2020 report that significantly understated nursing home fatalities, reporting only about half of the actual death count. This development marks a significant escalation in the ongoing investigation of Cuomo's pandemic leadership.
The controversy stems from a March 2020 advisory that prevented nursing homes from turning away patients based solely on positive COVID-19 diagnoses. This policy decision has drawn sharp criticism from committee leadership.
Subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup, an Ohio Republican, has expressed serious concerns about the former governor's actions. The impact of these decisions on New York's vulnerable populations has become a focal point of the investigation.
Cuomo's team has responded aggressively to these allegations. His spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, characterized the investigation as politically motivated, dismissing the proceedings as a pre-election exercise.
A January 2021 report from New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed significant discrepancies in reported nursing home deaths. The investigation found approximately 50% of deaths had been undercounted due to classification methods.
The health department's counting methodology came under fire for excluding deaths that occurred after patient hospital transfers. This practice significantly affected the reported numbers across the state's facilities.
A survey of 62 nursing homes, representing about 10% of state facilities, provided preliminary evidence of underreporting. In one particularly striking case, a single facility failed to report 29 deaths to the Department of Health.
Former executive assistant Farrah Kennedy's testimony has emerged as crucial evidence. Her June 2020 communications, including emails titled "Edits to nursing home doc," suggest direct involvement from Cuomo in revising the report.
The subcommittee's letter, signed by Wenstrup, outlines multiple allegedly false statements made by Cuomo during a June 11 interview. These statements concern his role in drafting and reviewing the July 6 Report. Rich Azzopardi, speaking for Cuomo, stated: "This is a joke. The Governor said he didn't recall because he didn't recall."
Cuomo's legal team has mounted a counteroffensive, requesting a Justice Department investigation into alleged abuse of power by the select committee. They specifically target Chairman Wenstrup's conduct and alleged connections to external parties. Documentation and testimony present conflicting narratives about the former governor's involvement in crucial reporting decisions.
In conclusion, the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic plans to refer former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution, alleging he lied about his role in a report that underestimated COVID-19 nursing home deaths. Cuomo's administration is accused of allowing COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes, which led to many deaths. Cuomo denies involvement in altering the report, but evidence suggests otherwise, prompting the subcommittee to act on these findings.
