Home Republicans have referred former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to the Justice Division for felony fees, alleging he lied to the panel about his data of a state well being division report that was used to deflect criticism of his administration’s pandemic-era nursing dwelling insurance policies.
Cuomo instructed members of the Home panel investigating the coronavirus pandemic that he was not concerned within the overview or drafting of the report and had no data of anybody outdoors the state well being division who reviewed the report earlier than its launch in July 2020.
The report blamed employees for bringing the virus inside nursing houses and inflicting extra COVID-19 deaths, slightly than the Cuomo administration’s insurance policies.
However the Home panel, led by Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), stated it discovered “overwhelming evidence … that proves that Mr. Cuomo reviewed, edited, and even drafted portions” of the report.
“Both witness testimony and new documents serve as evidence that the former Governor made false statements to the Select Subcommittee during our COVID-19 nursing home investigation,” Wenstrup stated in a press release. “This deliberate and self-serving attempt to avoid accountability for the thousands of lives lost in New York nursing homes during the pandemic will not stand.”
In his letter to Legal professional Normal Merrick Garland dated Wednesday, Wenstrup known as on the DOJ to prosecute Cuomo.
“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability,” he wrote.
Wenstrup offered copies of emails and paperwork that seem to indicate Cuomo knew in regards to the report and helped write early drafts, contradicting assertions that it was independently written by the well being division.
“Governor’s edits are attached for your review,” Cuomo’s assistant Farah Kennedy wrote in a June 2020 e-mail obtained by the committee. The emails purported to indicate Cuomo inserted language stating “But, like in all fifty states, there were Covid-positive cases.”
In the course of the closed-door interview, subcommittee counsel requested Cuomo if he was “involved in the drafting of [the July 6 Report] in any capacity.” Cuomo stated he was not.
The emails had been reported by The New York Occasions in September.
In a press release, a Cuomo spokesman slammed the committee and stated its investigation was solely meant to attain political factors days away from the election.
“This taxpayer-funded farce is an illegal use of Congress’ investigative authority. The committee counsels … knows there is no basis for this pre-election Maga exercise and affirmatively chose to act unethically in order to help their masters score cheap political points,” Wealthy Azzopardi stated.
Azzopardi cited elements of the closed-door testimony and Cuomo’s public listening to in September the place he clarified that he didn’t recall seeing or reviewing the report previous to its issuance, after earlier asserting that he was not concerned.
After the committee indicated it had uncovered paperwork displaying that Cuomo reviewed and offered proposed edits forward of the report’s launch, Cuomo’s attorneys despatched a letter to Wenstrup and the committee reiterating that the previous governor didn’t recall seeing the report.
“This is a joke – the Governor said he didn’t recall because he didn’t recall,” Azzopardi stated.
In response to what he stated was the panel’s overreach, Cuomo’s legal professional Sarah Sulkowski despatched her personal letter to the Justice Division on Wednesday, asking them to research the committee for misconduct.
The interrogation of Cuomo “far exceeded the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction and appears to have been an improper effort to advantage the interests of private litigants against Governor Cuomo,” Sulkowski wrote.
The panel is investigating Cuomo’s “must admit” order, which stated nursing houses couldn’t flip away sufferers who examined constructive for COVID-19, so long as they had been medically secure.
The amenities had been additionally prohibited from requiring hospitalized residents to be examined for the virus earlier than their admission or readmission in nursing houses.
The transfer was made early within the pandemic and was meant to assist relieve overburdened hospitals, which had been sending sufferers elsewhere to assist unlock capability.
The virus decimated nursing houses within the state, killing greater than 15,000 folks. Cuomo’s insurance policies have come underneath state and federal investigation, and former members of his administration are dealing with waves of civil lawsuits on behalf of those that died.
