Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ignored an invite to testify Wednesday at a congressional listening to centered on COVID-19 deaths in nursing properties.
Republicans on the Home Choose Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Disaster final week publicly requested Cuomo to seem to reply questions on his 2020 order requiring nursing properties to take coronavirus-positive sufferers.
“We requested him to testify at this very listening to and he nonetheless to today has not even responded,” mentioned Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who tweeted a letter addressed to Cuomo asking him to seem.
“He’s not collaborating,” Scalise mentioned. “He didn’t even really feel that he owed these victims a response to the questions we had for him.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) advised The Submit that Republicans intend to make use of subpoena powers to research Cuomo’s order and his administration’s admitted subsequent coverup of loss of life statistics if the GOP retakes the Home within the November midterm elections.
“Corrupt Andrew Cuomo failed to indicate up and reply our requests for transparency and accountability on behalf of the households who misplaced their family members as a result of his lethal nursing residence order and felony cowl up,” the No. 3 Home Republican advised The Submit.
“He can't disguise from the reality. We all know Cuomo and Gov. [Kathy] Hochul are accountable for the deaths of over 15,000 New Yorkers.”
Stefanik added, “Subpoenas are coming in a Republican majority.”
Cuomo spokesman Wealthy Azzopardi insisted the invitation was misplaced within the mail.
“Scalise ought to study to make use of [the] Postal Service as a result of we by no means obtained the letter,” Azzopardi mentioned earlier than turning his response right into a rant in opposition to Republicans and former President Donald Trump, as Cuomo so typically did when he was nonetheless in workplace.
“It’s unhappy that these MAGA Republicans proceed to weaponize the ache of those that misplaced family members and picked up the baton of discredited Trump seditionist [and former Justice Department official] Jeffrey Clark who was charged with utilizing DOJ to go after blue states on nursing residence pandemic coverage earlier than being tasked with overturning an election,” he added.
The ex-governor resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal and probes of his dealing with of nursing properties and different COVID-19 points in August 2021.
Because the coronavirus pandemic started within the US, Cuomo on March 25, 2020, barred nursing properties from turning away sufferers “solely based mostly on a confirmed or suspected analysis of COVID-19,” which the households of victims say induced the deaths of susceptible residents.
Cuomo’s order, in impact for lower than two months, was supposed to ease hospital crowding. Critics say it as an alternative induced pointless deaths as federal remedy amenities unveiled with nice fanfare by then-President Trump have been closed as a result of too few sufferers.
The Justice Division later in 2020 investigated whether or not New York violated the federal civil rights of nursing residence sufferers and whether or not amenities supplied “grossly substandard care.”
The Submit revealed final yr that Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa confessed to Democratic legislators that the administration determined to hide nursing residence loss of life statistics as a result of “we froze” out of worry that the information would “be used in opposition to us” by prosecutors.
Federal investigations apparently have been discontinued after President Biden took workplace and changed Trump administration leaders on the Justice Division.
New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James, a Democrat, final yr mentioned there have been about 50 % extra nursing residence affected person deaths than reported by Cuomo’s administration. Her report indicated virtually one-third of New York’s greater than 43,000 COVID-19 deaths on the time have been linked to nursing properties.
The James-led investigation concluded that greater than 13,000 New York nursing residence sufferers might have died from the virus — a lot increased than the official state rely of 8,711 deaths. Earlier than James launched her findings, an Related Press evaluation in August 2020 discovered 11,000 New York nursing residence residents might have died.
A guide launched final month by former White Home adviser Jared Kushner mentioned that Cuomo particularly talked about his concern about nursing residence security 10 days earlier than ordering properties to take sick sufferers.
Cuomo allegedly advised Kushner, “For nursing properties, this might be like hearth by means of dry grass,” earlier than continuing to difficulty the controversial order the next week.
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