Andrew Cuomo Faces DOJ Scrutiny Over COVID-19 Nursing Home Policy
In a turn of events that has reignited past controversies, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. The inquiry centers around his decision to send COVID-19 patients into nursing homes during the pandemic’s early days.
The probe, which began about a month ago, aims to determine if Cuomo misled Congress about his pandemic-era actions. Two sources close to the investigation shared this development with The New York Times.
This investigation unfolded shortly after the Trump administration dropped charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, is now pursuing a political comeback by running for New York City mayor in the Democratic primary. Should he secure the nomination, he might face Adams, who is seeking reelection as an independent, in the general election.
Addressing the investigation, Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, described it as “lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”
“[Cuomo] testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political,” Azzopardi stated.
Back in March 2020, as COVID-19 surged globally, Cuomo’s administration directed about 9,000 recovering patients to return to nursing homes. The policy aimed to ease hospital overcrowding but faced backlash for potentially endangering elderly residents.
The Associated Press reported in 2021 that this decision might have led to approximately 15,000 deaths among nursing home residents in New York.
Further scrutiny arose when an audit accused the Cuomo administration of understating the number of COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes, suggesting that the state’s health department adjusted data to mislead the public.
Despite the controversy, reports in January 2022 indicated Cuomo would not face criminal charges over the nursing home placements.
Cuomo appeared before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic last September, discussing the nursing home policy. He had previously engaged in a closed-door session with the Subcommittee in June 2024, lasting about seven hours.
With the New York City mayoral election looming, polling suggests Cuomo is a strong contender. A Marist College poll conducted in early May among 3,383 likely Democratic primary voters shows Cuomo leading with 37% support. When undecided voters are excluded, Cuomo secures 60% in a ranked-choice scenario against Zohran Mamdani.
Additionally, an Emerson College poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted in March shows Cuomo leading a hypothetical general election with 43%, outpacing Republican Curtis Sliwa, Adams, and independent Jim Walden.
This article was originally written by www.christianpost.com
