The chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has formally requested that the Department of Justice charge former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo with lying to Congress.
Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, who chairs the panel, issued what’s known as a criminal referral, according to a news release on the website of the House Oversight Committee. Congress has no power to file criminal charges.
The release said “evidence suggests Mr. Cuomo knowingly and willfully made false statements to the Select Subcommittee on numerous occasions about material aspects of New York’s COVID-19 nursing home disaster and the ensuing cover-up.”
The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Wednesday night sent a referral to the Justice Department for the possible prosecution of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the New York Times reported, over allegations that he lied to Congress.
Cuomo, who was… pic.twitter.com/D5erPM7TWf
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) October 31, 2024
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Cuomo administration implemented policies that led to individuals with COVID-19 being admitted to nursing homes. This resulted in thousands of deaths and a political firestorm. The Cuomo administration was accused of knowingly reducing the number from about 10,000 to 6,432 in a July 2020 report, according to a 2021 report in the Wall Street Journal.
A cover letter for the referral says Cuomo “made multiple criminally false statements, including that he was neither involved in the drafting nor the review of the July 6 Report. Documents establish that statement to be false.”
“Mr. Cuomo also testified that he did not have any discussions about the July 6 Report being peer reviewed. Documents show that statement to be false. And Mr. Cuomo testified that he did not know whether the July 6 Report was reviewed by persons outside of the NYSDOH. Documents again demonstrate that statement to be false,” the letter from Wenstrup said.
“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability. The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly wrongful conduct when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described in the attached,” the referral said.
“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,” Wenstrup said, according to the release.
🚨🇺🇸 ‘CONSCIOUS COVER-UP’: CUOMO FACES CRIMINAL PROBE OVER COVID DEATHS
House panel seeks DOJ prosecution of former NY Governor for allegedly lying about nursing home death report, which he claimed never to have reviewed despite evidence he wrote parts himself.
Timing proves… pic.twitter.com/JdIA6KO6oQ
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 31, 2024
“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,” Wenstrup said.
“If his prior criminal activity is any reflection, Andrew Cuomo is not a man of principle, and his willingness to lie to the Select Subcommittee is unfortunately a continuance of this behavior,” Wenstrup added.
Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, the governor who resigned amid a dual controversy over the nursing home deaths and allegations of sexual harassment of staff members, denigrated the criminal referral as nothing more than politics, saying Cuomo never lied when he said he could not recall certain facts, according to The New York Times.
I pray accountability finds @andrewcuomo and justice is one day served for the death of our loved ones. My Dad was a hero who served and protected this country selflessly something he knows nothing about.@COVIDSelect @JaniceDean @NYHammond pic.twitter.com/Y2BNAnjwJe
— Veterans Daughter (@GratefulForDad) October 31, 2024
“This taxpayer-funded farce is an illegal use of Congress’s investigative authority,” Azzopardi said. “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.”
Cuomo is considered to be exploring a run for New York City mayor in 2025, the Times reported.
Cuomo’s legal team has sent its own letter to the Justice Department seeking to have the subcommittee investigated for abusing its power.
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