The families of victims who died from COVID while residing in New York nursing homes are urging the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The New York Post reported that the loved ones are pushing for charges against Cuomo after recently surfaced emails and congressional documents suggested that the disgraced governor personally altered a report that downplayed the state’s nursing home deaths.
‘He must be held accountable.’
In a letter to the DOJ, Peter Arbeeny, Vivian Zayas, and Janice Dean argued that Cuomo lied to members of Congress when he claimed during two separate hearings that he did not recall seeing the 2020 New York State Department Health report, let alone reviewing or editing it, before its release.
“We call on the Department of Justice to launch a full and fair investigation into Andrew Cuomo’s statements to Congress, his coordination with other witnesses, and his role in covering up the nursing home death toll,” the letter to the DOJ read.
“If it is found that he knowingly misled Congress and the American people or interfered with the congressional inquiry, he must be held accountable under the law,” it continued. “The families who lost loved ones deserve the truth, and the public deserves to know that no one is above the law, especially those entrusted with public office.”
Emails recently released by the New York Times revealed that Cuomo may have been more involved with the report than he told lawmakers.
A June 23, 2020, email from Cuomo’s then-assistant, Farah Kennedy, suggested that the then-governor personally made edits to the report.
The email stated, “Governor’s edits are attached for your review.”
“The smaller text in the beginning is from your original document. He replaced your paragraph on page 3 beginning with ‘But, like in all fifty states, there were Covid-positive cases,'” the email added.
“The larger text,” Kennedy wrote, “is what he added.”
Cuomo’s alleged suggested edits included adding language that emphasized how “community spread among employees or possibly visitation by family and friends were relevant factors” in the nursing home deaths.
The Times also released congressional documents that revealed that the report had apparently been sent to his home, at his aide’s request, before it was released.
The news outlet found that some of Cuomo’s requested edits were included in the final report, which understated the nursing home deaths.
Vivian Zayas, co-founder of Voice for Seniors, told the Post, “He said he had nothing to do with the report.”
“If he lied to Congress, he committed a crime. He should definitely be investigated,” Zayas added. “We’re going to see this through to the end. Cuomo needs to be held accountable.”
Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesperson, told the Post on Sunday, “We are long past the point of absurd.”
“We sympathize with every one of the 1 million-plus families who lost loved ones, but the continued attempts to purposefully distort and politically weaponize this pandemic are both transparent and sad,” he told the Post.
Following the Times’ report, Azzopardi stated, “Governor Cuomo was fully cooperative with the committee over two separate days, relayed everything he remembered about events that happened four years ago in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, and nothing this MAGA committee has uncovered undermines that New York followed [then-President Donald] Trump’s CDC nursing home policies or the DOH report’s conclusion that COVID was spread in nursing homes by asymptomatic staff.”
Some Democratic politicians have also pushed for Cuomo to be held accountable.
Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) recently stated, “I’ve stood with the families of nursing homes and will continue to stand with them to hold the former governor accountable.”
“Andrew Cuomo has consistently lied and gaslit the public in pursuit of his book deal and political ambitions,” Kim continued. “Now, we must hold him accountable and seize this opportunity to fix our broken long-term care system.”
City Councilman Lincoln Restler (D) accused Cuomo of providing “misleading and inaccurate” testimony.
“Time and again, he reveals himself to be someone New Yorkers cannot trust and who does not belong in public office,” Restler said.
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