New York COVID-19 nursing home scandal
In January 2021, Attorney General of New York Letitia James released a report finding that Governor Andrew Cuomo had understated the toll of COVID-19-related deaths in state nursing homes by as much as 83 percent.
[2] The scandal was made public on February 11, 2021, when the New York Post reported that Melissa DeRosa, a secretary and aide to Cuomo, privately apologized to lawmakers for the administration withholding the nursing-home death toll in fear then-President Donald Trump would "turn this into a giant political football".
[5] Cuomo issued an order on March 25, 2020 that all New York State nursing homes must accept residents that are medically stable.
The order further stated that "[n]o resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19".
[17] Following the report's release, Andrew Cuomo held a press conference in which he stated criticism of nursing home deaths "has no basis in fact.
[19] At a press conference held on July 24, 2020, Cuomo dismissed a reporter's question about appointing an independent investigator to the COVID-19 deaths within nursing homes as politically motivated by conservative media outlets.
New York Times, March 4, 2021 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths.html] Following Attorney General Letitia James' January report that first exposed the cover-up, Cuomo's administration released complete data, including the nursing home deaths, and cited the possibility of a politically-motivated investigation from the Department of Justice as a justification.
could not confirm it had been adequately verified", and that they would have had no effect on the conclusions of the Health Department's July 2020 report finding Cuomo's policies not to blame for the deaths.
[30] Following the report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James, bipartisan criticism emerged toward Andrew Cuomo and his handling of the pandemic.
[33] Erik Wemple, a media critic for the Washington Post, criticized CNN's decision to allow a conflict of interest, writing that "in 'unusual times,' principles of journalism merit even more rigorous adherence, not an expedient suspension" and "You can't nullify a rule when your star anchor's brother is flying high, only to invoke it during times of scandal.
[40] Assemblymember Ron Kim told the New York Post he believed Cuomo committed "obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses".
[41] When asked for comment on Kim's allegation, de Blasio called it "classic Andrew Cuomo" in an interview with Morning Joe on MSNBC.
[45] On March 11, 2021, the New York legislature launched an impeachment inquiry into Cuomo, both for his role in undercounting nursing home deaths and for several sexual harassment allegations recently reported against him.
"[49] Following the attorneys general report, U.S. Representative Nicole Malliotakis from New York's 11th congressional district began to circulate a petition calling for Cuomo to resign.
[50] U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado from New York's 19th congressional district also called for an investigation into Cuomo, saying those who lost loved ones "deserve answers and accountability".
He claimed that New York state did not cover-up the number of deaths in nursing homes, but acknowledged that officials should have released the information earlier.
"[57] Allies of Cuomo cited approval ratings as evidence of his competence; on February 15, Jay S. Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, said that "despite the best efforts of the far fringe, Governor Cuomo's popularity remains unchanged; 11 months into global pandemic, 61% of voters approve of his response", citing a poll taken between February 7 and 11.
[12][58] As a counterpoint to that claim, Slate credited the high numbers to Democrats "celebrating the idea of the competent blue-state governor [as] more important than reckoning with the reality of a serially underachieving chief executive playing three-card monte with dead bodies.
[62] In light of the investigation, on March 5, 2021, Republican staff of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means scheduled a meeting with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to inquire what improvements need to be made regarding tracking of COVID-19 and whether the agencies possess the capabilities to catch future instances of COVID-19 death manipulation.
[63] On March 19, 2021, The FBI reported that an investigation was underway on Governor Andrew Cuomo for improperly using the power of his office to shield nursing home executive political donors from COVID-19 lawsuits.
