Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) will testify before Congress on Tuesday about his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, surrounding the allegations that his office concealed the extent of nursing home deaths.
On Monday, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic published the findings from its investigation into the former governor. The investigation claimed that Cuomo’s office “absolutely” signed off on a directive at the onset of the pandemic that forced COVID-19 positive patients back into nursing homes. There were thousands of COVID-19 deaths as a result (via the New York Post):
Cuomo’s office “absolutely” signed off on the disastrous directive early in the pandemic forcing coronavirus patients back into nursing homes — leading to as many as 9,000 excess COVID deaths — the final congressional report and witness testimonies exclusively obtained by The Post show.
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The investigators accused Cuomo in a memo Monday of making “demonstrably false” statements as part of a “cover-up,” citing conflicting testimony from his top aides.
“This is going to be the great debacle in the history books,” wrote Cuomo aide Stephanie Benton in a June 7, 2020, email about the nursing home death count. “Don’t u [sic] see how bad this is? Or do we admit error and give up?”
Reportedly, four of Cuomo’s aides told House investigators that they believe the email from Stephanie Benton was dictated by the governor himself.
Shortly after this, New York health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker received “talking points” that were used to draft the audit on nursing home deaths, the Post added. According to documents, the governor and his inner circle “edited” the state Department of Health report that undercounted the fatalities.
Reportedly, in June, Cuomo blamed federal and state health officials for the directive that resulted in thousands of COVID-19 nursing home deaths. In addition, the former governor reportedly accussed Republican and Democratic committee staff of promoting a “conspiracy theory” by asking tough questions about his office not being transparent about the death count.
“The Cuomo Administration is responsible for recklessly exposing New York’s most vulnerable population to COVID-19. Today’s memo holds Mr. Cuomo and his team accountable for their failures and provides the most detailed and comprehensive accounting of New York’s pandemic-era wrongdoing,” subcommittee chair Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said.