(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department, recommending former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo be charged with making false statements to Congress.
“In an apparent effort to shield himself from accountability, evidence suggests Mr. Cuomo knowingly and willfully made false statements to the Select Subcommittee on numerous occasions about material aspects of New York’s COVID-19 nursing home disaster and the ensuing cover-up,” the Coronavirus Subcommittee said Tuesday in a press release.
According to the subcommittee, evidence shows that Cuomo reviewed, edited, and even drafted portions of a purportedly independent and peer-reviewed New York State Department of Health report, which was used to support his deadly pandemic-era nursing home policies.
🚨The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is referring Former New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for criminal prosecution.
Evidence suggests Andrew Cuomo knowingly and willfully made materially false statements about New York’s COVID-19 nursing home disaster and the… pic.twitter.com/kJrOQpXHLn
— Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (@COVIDSelect) October 31, 2024
However, Cuomo told the subcommittee in his June transcribed interview that he had nothing to do with that report. Cuomo’s lie is why the subcommittee now wants him criminally charged.
“Andrew Cuomo repeatedly lied to Congress, and he must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. 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,” subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, said 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. If his prior criminal activity is any reflection, Andrew Cuomo is not a man of principle, and his willingness to lie to the Select Subcommittee is unfortunately a continuance of this behavior,” he added.
“Plain and simple, making false statements to Congress is a federal crime.”
The Cuomo administration came under significant scrutiny for a policy that at first required nursing homes to readmit recovering COVID-19 patients in an effort to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. That was on top of state fatality figures that significantly undercounted the deaths.
In June, an investigation into New York’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic found former Gov. Cuomo’s “top down” approach of dictating public health policy through his office—rather than coordinating with state and local agencies—sewed confusion during the crisis.
In the state’s nursing homes, where some 15,000 people died, the administration’s lack of communication with agencies and facilities resulted in wasted resources and mistrust — not to mention anxiety for residents’ loved ones, according to the independent probe commissioned by current Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022.
Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. Hochul, a fellow Democrat who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant, inherited the job and was reelected the follow year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
