President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has opened a probe against New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo, the Daily Wire reported. The investigation will determine whether he allegedly lied to Congress about his handling of COVID-19 while governor of New York.
Cuomo was eventually forced out of office over sexual misconduct allegations. However, that was after the then-governor made one of the deadliest decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of his COVID-19 response plan, Cuomo mandated that patients positive for the virus be admitted back into nursing homes. This may have resulted in thousands of needless deaths at these facilities.
When asked about it in front of Congress, Cuomo may have downplayed his role. "The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew M. Cuomo, a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the coronavirus pandemic as governor," a source close to the matter shared.
In a June 2024 hearing, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) claimed there was "overwhelming evidence" that a 2020 audit underreported nursing home deaths from COVID-19 by 46%. Cuomo was involved in that audit and was governor at the time of the issue.
Moreover, Comer said that Cuomo made "criminally false statements" about the issue. Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said that the GOP had cooked up the investigation since his client was the frontrunner for Democrats.
"We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference, plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against," Azzopradi claimed.
The spokesman added that 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." However, as Fox News reported, the matter had been referred to the Department of Justice under then-President Joe Biden and ignored.
Cuomo made the decision to send patients infected COVID-19 back to nursing homes in an effort to alleviate hospital overcrowding. Instead, it became a way for the virus to spread like wildfire through the most vulnerable population.
A March 2022 report by the New York state comptroller said that the Health Department under Cuomo "was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes" and "understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%" during some points of the pandemic. This tracks with Comer's findings as well.
Last month, Comer sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for the case to be taken up again as "the Biden Administration ignored this referral despite clear facts and evidence." He urged Bondi to "take appropriate action" based on his referral and reiterated that request in a statement Monday.
"Andrew Cuomo is a man with a history of corruption and deceit, now caught red-handed lying to Congress during the Select Subcommittee’s investigation into the COVID-19 nursing home tragedy in New York. This wasn’t a slip-up – it was a calculated cover-up by a man seeking to shield himself from responsibility for the devastating loss of life in New York’s nursing homes," Comer said.
"Let’s be clear: lying to Congress is a federal crime. Mr. Cuomo must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The House Oversight Committee is prepared to fully cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into Andrew Cuomo’s actions and ensure he’s held to account," Comer demanded.
Of all the failures and injustices from politicians during the pandemic, Cuomo's was arguably the worst. He has yet to pay for that decision, but his time may have finally come.
