Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) took New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to task once again, as the growing scandal of a coronavirus death coverup unfolds. Cuomo is under fire for his horrific COVID policy for nursing homes, which mandated COVID-positive patients be admitted. The rule ultimately caused thousands of lives to be lost, and his team recently admitted that Cuomo’s administration ultimately avoided making data publicly available, in order to avoid scrutiny from federal prosecutors.
Stefanik was one of the first lawmakers to call for a probe into Cuomo’s nursing home practices, and now urges the Biden administration to authorize a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the Cuomo administration’s policy. The New York congresswoman said that the “dam is breaking” for “the worst governor in America,” who is largely viewed as a media darling, pointing to bipartisan criticism of the reported coverup of nursing home deaths.
“You have both Democrats and Republicans calling for an independent investigation. I want to see subpoenas both at the state level, the State Senate and State Assembly should issue subpoenas immediately, and I want the Department of Justice to launch an independent investigation. We know from the partial transcript that was released by the secretary to the governor that there was obstruction of justice,” Stefanik said on Fox News. “This is not about politics but people's lives. What was so shameful about the transcript that was released was the secretary to the governor didn't apologize for the number of deaths, didn't apologize for the policy, but apologized for the political fallout for Democrats. It's a disgrace. President Biden needs to keep to his promise that the Department of Justice will be independent from political pressure from Governor Cuomo, who is a Democrat. But the Department of Justice and law enforcement, this prosecution needs to go forward immediately.”
President Biden met with Cuomo, among other governors, last week but offered no comment on the unfolding scandal.