Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is under criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly lying during his testimony to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about decisions during the COIVD-19 pandemic.
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Committee Chair, referred Cuomo for criminal prosecution accusing him of lying to the House Committee about his role in writing a report about infected staff members spreading COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Cuomo came under sharp criticism at the time for telling nursing homes that they could not deny admission solely because a patient was COVID-positive. It was widely held that this directive led to more infection and deaths in already vulnerable older New Yorkers in nursing homes.
"We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple—something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against," Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson said in a statement. "Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political."
“If we are to believe that Andrew Cuomo is telling the truth, he has nothing to worry about other than the expense of his attorneys,” said Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick (R,C,I-Smithtown). “As the saying goes, “Trust, but verify. There's nothing wrong with verifying. So, let's verify he is telling the truth and do a probe. That will put this to rest.”
“Governor Cuomo resigned from office as a result of his COVID lies and many complaints concerning his personal behavior making it impossible for him to govern,” said NYS Conservative Party Chairman Gerry Kassar. “The fact that he perjured himself before Congress as part of his continuing denial of his guilt should come as no surprise. A DOJ investigation is warranted and should be a further reminder that no one is above the law.”
According to Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano, “Health experts pleaded with Andrew Cuomo not to transfer COVID patents from hospitals to nursing homes where thousands of our most vulnerable residents died under horrendous circumstances. But he did it anyway. Then he had state workers write a book about how good he supposedly did during the crisis and received an unethical $5 million advance. Following that, he went and lied to Congress about his role in the pandemic. A DOJ investigation couldn’t come any sooner.”
Cuomo’s team claims the investigation is an example of “lawfare and election interference” by the Trump DOJ. Cuomo is favored in the race for NYC mayor ahead of current Mayor Adams 43-6%. The DOJ investigation of Cuomo comes on the heels of the DOJ dropping its investigation and charges against current NYC Mayor Adams.