After months of delays, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was grilled on Capitol Hill regarding his pandemic response. Specifically, the Coronavirus Subcommittee sought better answers on the Cuomo administration’s March 2020 order requiring nursing homes to accept COVID patients from hospitals, and the claims his team manipulated data on nursing home deaths. NBC New York’s Melissa Russo reports.
A U.S. House panel on the COVID-19 pandemic is sending a criminal referral of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the Department of Justice, alleging he made "criminally false statements" during closed-door testimony in June 2024.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland accusing the former governor of providing false statements to the panel when he testified on June 11.
In the Republican-led committee's referral, it says Cuomo "knowingly and willfully made materially false statements" to the panel during its investigation into the New York's COVID-19 response. The statements in question stem from exchanges about a New York State Department of Health report on nursing home infections and deaths that was released on July 6, 2020.
The criminal referral alleges Cuomo denied being involved in the drafting or reviewing of the report during his June 2024 testimony, but that documents counter his claims. Cuomo also denied having discussions about the July 6 report being peer reviewed, according to the panel, which said documents show otherwise. The committee said it asked Cuomo if he knew people outside of the health department who were involved in drafting or editing the review and the former governor responded "no," which the panel said it has proof he was not truthful.
According to the panel, documents show handwritten notes on a draft copy of the July 6 report that a former executive assistant to Cuomo testified appeared to be his handwriting. The panel also offered what it said is a June 23, 2020 email from the assistant to staff of the governor's office that said "Governor's edits are attached for your review."
In a statement Wednesday night, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called the subcommittee's actions "a taxpayer-funded farce."
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Azzopardi released a part of a transcript of Cuomo's testimony that he says shows the ex-governor said he couldn't recall if he reviewed the July 6 report.
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“This is a joke - the Governor said he didn’t recall because he didn’t recall. The committee lied in their referral just as they have been lying to the public and the press," Azzopardi said.
In a letter to the subcommittee, Cuomo attorney Rita Galvin asked the subcommittee to share with them the documents around the July 6 report to "afford him the opportunity to refresh his recollection."
Azzopardi said Galvin also made her own referral to the DOJ against members of the committee, accusing them of abuse of power and colluding for financial gain.
The panel said Cuomo was not under oath during his testimony but was required to answer questions truthfully to Congress.
The Cuomo administration came under significant scrutiny for a policy that at first required nursing homes to readmit recovering COVID-19 patients in an effort to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.
Cuomo came under fire on the subject at a Sept. 2024 hearing before the subcommittee.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York called the directive “deadly.” Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican who chairs the subcommittee, said it was inconsistent with federal guidance and its consequences were “dangerous and disastrous.” Republicans accused Cuomo of staging a cover-up to hide mistakes that endangered nursing home residents.
“Governor, you own this. It’s your name on the letterhead. This is your directive, whether you knew about it or not," Wenstrup said. “You’re the leader. The buck stops with you, or at least it should."
In over two hours of testimony, Cuomo adamantly defended his actions and blamed the former Trump administration for failing to provide enough testing and personal protective equipment in the early days of the pandemic.
“These are all diversions to blame New York and other states for the culpability of the federal response, which was malpractice,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo's plan to centralize the pandemic response in the governor's office also has received criticism, including from an independent report commissioned by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022.
“While this report cuts through the political garbage that has consumed the nursing home issue and points out how circumstances were consistent nationwide, it’s ridiculous to suggest that this pandemic response be treated the same as H1N1 or Legionnaires outbreaks,” a statement from Azzopardi said in June at the time of the report's release.
“We all lived through this and no rational person can believe that a coordinated centralized response is inferior to having decisions made by a gaggle of faceless bureaucrats," Azzopardi said.
There were about 15,000 COVID-19 deaths among long-term care residents in New York, far more than the initial number disclosed. Cuomo said some figures were initially withheld out of concerns about accuracy.
Cuomo was widely seen as a reassuring figure in the early months of the pandemic, but his reputation suffered after revelations that his administration released an incomplete accounting of the number of deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, amid sexual harassment allegations, which he has repeatedly denied.
