Cuomo referred to DOJ for potential prosecution over report on COVID nursing home deaths
NEW YORK — A Republican-led House panel has referred former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the U.S. Department of Justice for potential prosecution for allegedly lying to Congress about his role in a COVID report on nursing home deaths.
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic accuses Cuomo of "knowingly and willfully" making false statements to avoid accountability.
"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," Rep. Brad Wenstrup, chair of the subcommittee, said in a statement. "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."
Cuomo's administration has been accused of underreporting the number of nursing home deaths by nearly half.
The former governor has repeatedly said New York followed the federal COVID guidelines. He was subpoenaed to speak before the subcommittee back in March and testified on June 11 and Sept. 10.
At the latest hearing, Cuomo was asked if he directed his staff to make the number of nursing home deaths lower than they were.
"No. We said these are the deaths without the 'out of facility' death numbers, which we will add when they're accurate, which will reduce the hospital death number, but the total number of deaths stays the same. It was an allocation question," he testified at the time.
The subcommittee claims he reviewed, edited and drafted portions of a New York State Department of Health report about COVID in nursing homes, then testified that he was not involved and was not aware of the peer review process, which the subcommittee claims to be "demonstrably false."
Cuomo's attorney's push back, ask Justice Department to investigate the committee
Cuomo's spokesperson denied the claims, saying there is no basis for the referral. In turn, his attorneys referred the subcommittee to the Justice Department for allegedly abusing its power.
"In light of Wenstrup's comments and apparent confidences, made to an interested party during the same period when Wenstrup was using his authority to cause the Subcommittee to misuse government resources to 'investigate' a matter beyond its jurisdiction-apparently in service of a private lawsuit-I hereby refer this matter to the Department of Justice and request that you launch an investigation into this misconduct," attorney Sarah A. Sulkowski wrote in her complaint to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
CBS News reached out to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.