House GOP files criminal charges against Cuomo in Justice Department over nursing home death scandal

Select Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Wednesday obtained by Washington Examiner calling for an investigation into Cuomo Department of Justice for concealing his involvement in a New York State Department of Health report on the number of seniors who died due to state requirements nursing homes admit patients infected with coronavirus.

“Mr. Cuomo made false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from responsibility,” Wenstrup wrote to Garland.

The subcommittee confirmed Washington Examiner that their referral to the Department of Justice was unrelated to the original draft directive of March 25, 2020, which stated that nursing homes could not refuse admission due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

However, in its referral to the Department of Justice, the subcommittee submitted more than 100 pages of documentation showing that Cuomo made “criminally false statements” to Congress about his role in a report estimating the number of deaths related to this policy, released on July 6, 2020.

A spokesman for Cuomo did not respond to this message Washington Examinerrequest for comment.

Initial versions of the July 6 NYSDOH report on the nursing home directive estimated the number of nursing home-related deaths at fewer than 10,000, but evidence from multiple investigations indicates that mandatory admissions policies resulted.

Cuomo repeatedly told the subcommittee during transcripts of an interview in June and a public hearing in July that he had no role in developing the mandatory nursing home admissions policy or in the July 6 report that undercounted deaths.

However, testimony from New York City Executive Chamber staffers, including senior adviser Jim Malatras and an executive assistant FarrahKennedyindicate that Cuomo was closely involved in the production of the July 6 report, reviewing significant parts of it to downplay the seriousness of the death toll caused by nursing home policies.

The more than 20 pages of the document sent to Garland include scanned pages of draft versions of the July 6 report with handwritten notes identified by Kennedy as Cuomo’s writing.

Kennedy told the subcommittee during a voluntarily transcribed interview on October 8 that executive assistants were often asked to decipher Cuomo’s handwriting because Cuomo preferred to make changes to documents manually rather than electronically.

According to Kennedy, Cuomo often stood over the shoulders of executive assistants in the governor’s office, dictating to them what to write.

The evidence presented to Garland also highlights testimony from several witnesses regarding an email sent to staff on June 7, 2020, during a period during which multiple changes were made to the nursing home report in the Executive House report.

Stephanie Benton, another assistant principal, sent an email to senior staff in June about the report on nursing home deaths, stating that “this will be a major failure for the history books” and asking: “Can’t you see how bad this is?” . ? Or will we admit our mistake and give up?”

Cuomo’s secretary, Melissa DeRosa, confirmed to the subcommittee that many Executive House staffers who received the message understood the message to have come directly from Cuomo, who DeRosa said “frequently dictated emails to Stephanie” and other aides.

The recipients of the June email were Malatras, state solicitor general Gareth Rhodes and NYSDOH Commissioner Howard Zucker.

A spokesman for Cuomo did not respond to this message Washington Examinerrequest for comment.

Selected subcommittee last month accused Cuomo of intimidating Malatras, who at that point in the investigation was the only witness who contradicted Cuomo’s denials about his involvement in the report.

Malatras told the subcommittee that Cuomo contacted him several times during the subcommittee’s investigation after the two had not spoken for several years. Malatras said Cuomo’s messages made him feel “uncomfortable.”

The subcommittee’s report to Garland noted that the Justice Department has in the past prosecuted witnesses for making false statements to congressional committees, citing indictment Roger Stone in 2019 on Russian influence in the 2016 election.

It is unclear at this time how the relationship between Cuomo and Garland may affect the likelihood of a Justice Department investigation into the former governor’s cover-up.

Cuomo, who left office in 2021, requested a meeting with Garland in February to discuss a settlement between the Justice Department and New York state over an investigation into Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment of at least 13 women.

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In its request to Garland, Cuomo’s legal team said there was “apparently no actual investigation” into the sexual harassment case against Cuomo, alleging that a Justice Department representative did not interview the former governor.

The Department of Justice did not respond Washington Examiner regarding whether a meeting between Garland and Cuomo took place.