New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday called for a full report on the circumstances behind a suspected cover-up by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration of the number of New Yorkers who died in nursing homes in the early days of the COVID. 19-pandemic. .
“It’s very disturbing. We need to know more. We now need a full report of what happened,” he told The Brian Lehrer Show.
“Think of seniors, who their [sic] lives were in the balance and their families, you know, are just desperate to get them the help they need, “he said. We need to know exactly what happened here. We must ensure that such a thing never happens again. ‘
The New York Post first reported that Cuomo’s assistant Melissa DeRosa told state Democrats that the government ‘froze’ when the Department of Justice began looking into dealing with nursing homes.
14 DEMOCRACTS IN NY SENATE WANT TO RECALL CUOMO’S EMERGENCY POWERS
‘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 were starting to say, would be used against us while we were not. do not know if there will be an investigation, ‘she said.
DeRosa’s statement comes after New York Attorney – General Letitia James’ office found that Cuomo’s office was down to 50 percent in deaths. Cuomo was criticized for an order on March 25 requiring nursing homes to admit infected patients.
De Blasio, who regularly clashed with Cuomo, called the Post’s revelations a ‘really disturbing report’.
DeRosa on Friday tried to retract her allegations, insisting in a statement that “we were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ.”
GOV. CUOMO’S CORONAVIRUS NURSING HOME SCANDAL: 5 THINGS TO KNOW
“I explained that when we received the DOJ investigation, we had to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first,” she said.
“We notified the houses of this at the time,” she continued. ‘We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to focus our resources immediately on the second wave and vaccine deployment.
But the statement is unlikely to dampen Cuomo’s heat. De Blasio’s is not the only New York Democratic voice calling for action over the revelations. More than a dozen Democratic state senators in New York are demanding that Cuomo be deprived of his emergency services.
“Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls on the legislature to govern as an equal branch of government. COVID-19 tested the boundaries of our people and state – and early in the government’s pandemic required it to restructure its decision – making. “to deliver swift, essential public health statements – it is clear that the extensive emergency powers conferred on the Governor are no longer appropriate,” a joint statement by the Senators said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, the rep. Lee Zeldin, RN.Y., among Republicans called for a federal obstruction of the investigation into the New York nursing home situation.
Other New York Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, demanded that Cuomo and his ‘senior team’ be “immediately prosecuted” at the state and federal level regarding the deaths in the nursing home.
Vandana Rambaran and Michael Ruiz of Fox News contributed to this report.