Republican members of the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic are threatening to subpoena former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over his alleged failure to respond to the committee’s investigation.
Committee Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) are asserting that Cuomo has not produced any documents or communications related to his state’s COVID-19 nursing home policies. They have given him until Oct. 17 to cooperate.
“To date, we have not received a single document from you. The Select Subcommittee is comprised of physicians from both sides of the aisle and members who take our responsibilities seriously,” wrote Wenstrup in a letter dated Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Cuomo criticized the lawmakers, accusing them of playing political games, and stated that the former governor does not have the information they are requesting.
“This letter is a farce,” said Rich Azzopardi. “The data they seek — which has already been reviewed twice by the DOJ, as well as the State Assembly and the AG …. is with the state. Once again, it’s unfortunate that some DC politicians are seeking to transparently weaponize people’s pain to advance a political agenda.”
The panel is currently investigating COVID-19 nursing home policy decisions made by Cuomo, as well as the Democratic leaders of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In particular, the panel is examining Cuomo’s “must admit” order, which mandated that nursing homes could not reject patients who tested positive for COVID-19, as long as they were medically stable.
The facilities were also prohibited from requiring hospitalized residents to be tested for the virus before being admitted or readmitted to nursing homes.
This directive was implemented early in the pandemic to alleviate the strain on hospitals, which were transferring patients elsewhere to create additional capacity.
The virus had a devastating impact on nursing homes, resulting in the deaths of over 15,000 individuals. Cuomo’s policies have been the subject of investigations at both the state and federal level, and former members of his administration are facing numerous civil lawsuits on behalf of those who lost their lives.
In 2021, Attorney General Letitia James’s office released a report revealing that the state health department had underestimated COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by up to 50 percent.
Wenstrup and Malliotakis have requested a transcribed interview with Cuomo and are demanding any documents and communications related to the state’s nursing home policy decisions during the pandemic.
Updated at 12:05 p.m.
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