Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday tried to dig himself out of the biggest hole in his career by blaming politics for the controversy his government engulfed after The Post revealed that his top assistant had allowed him data on deaths in nursing homes amid a federal investigation.
During a virtual news conference at which he declined to ask The Post’s question, Cuomo claimed that “there is nothing to investigate” regarding the cover-up of Gov. Melissa DeRosa’s secretary during a video conference with Democratic lawmakers last week. confessed. .
Cuomo never paid direct attention to DeRosa’s recorded remarks in which she admits that we froze on the question of whether she should come to the legislature – or the public – clean about deaths in the nursing home in the light of an investigation into the department of justice.
‘Because then we were in a position where we were not sure whether what we would give to the Department of Justice, or what we would give to you, what we started saying, would be used against us while we were not. do not know if there will be an investigation, ”DeRosa said in the conference call on Wednesday evening.
Cuomo also reiterated that the state has always reported the number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19 – although he first began publishing figures on those who died in hospitals, following a damning report last month by the Attorney General, Letitia James, Democrat.
“In recent years, there has been a toxic political environment and everything is political,” Cuomo told a news conference in Albany.
“There are political positions and there are facts.”
Cuomo’s news conference was his first public comment since the outburst erupted after The Post revealed DeRosa’s comments.
During the two-hour-plus meeting, DeRosa said Cuomo’s government rejected a legislative request for figures for nursing deaths after being contacted by federal prosecutors, for fear it could be used politically against them.
During Monday’s news conference, Cuomo also reiterated his defense of a very critical order from the health department on March 25 for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals.
Cuomo said there was “a lot of distortion” regarding the meanwhile-ended order, which he said was issued by “professionals who do the best to” and under the guidance of the federal government.
Cuomo has repeatedly said he accepts responsibility for ‘the lack’ of official information which he said led to conspiracy theories and ‘disinformation’ amid the pandemic.
“No apologies. I accept responsibility for it. I am at the helm,” he said.
‘We were too focused to do the job and address the crisis of the moment … It created confusion, cynicism and pain for the families of loved ones.
But Cuomo pushed back against a bipartisan to deprive him of his COVID-19 emergency forces in the wake of DeRosa’s remarks.
“Emergency services have nothing to do with nursing homes,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo said lawmakers “can reverse any action I take.”
“They have never reversed a single action,” Cuomo said.
“These are public health decisions, not local political decisions.”
Cuomo said that “this virus is serious” and that “it is difficult to close schools and restaurants”.
“These decisions should not be politicized,” he said.
“More people will die.”
Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) – whose uncle died in a nursing home after having “all the symptoms” of COVID-19 – did not hold back in his assessment of Cuomo’s comments.
“It’s all BS,” Kim told The Post.
“They could give us the information back in May and June last year. They chose not to do so. ”
Kim also said Cuomo’s comments did not match what DeRosa said last week, when she accused then-President Donald Trump of turning the deaths of New York’s nursing home into a ‘political football’.
“She talked about the potential that the information would be armed against them,” Kim said.
“DeRosa must be responsible for what she said. She involved us all in the cover-up. ”
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-The Bronx) – who is one of those who wants to strip Cuomo’s emergency forces – also tore up Cuomo’s remarks.
‘No, @NYGovCuomo, you did not tell the * whole * senate or assembly that there was a DOJ inquiry, as the reason you did not share the nursing home number. “I found out in the @nypost story on Thursday night about a DOJ investigation with the rest of NYers,” she tweeted.
And Senator Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn) tweeted: ‘If the governor had informed the legislature months ago that his office was withholding the data they had on the total deaths in the nursing home, it would not be necessary for them to a link last week with a group of lawmakers to let them know about this for the first time. ”