Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, RN.Y., told “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday that she believes through “resignation, prosecution or next year at the ballot box”, the government of Andrew Cuomo’s ‘days are over’.
She noted that “thousands of New Yorkers” went to her website to sign a petition asking them to resign the Democratic governor.
Cuomo has faced resignation calls since the Associated Press reported that his government significantly underreported the number of COVID-19 recovering patients sent back to nursing homes under a controversial order he implemented in March. The Associated Press found that nearly 15,000 long-term care patients died from COVID-19 in nursing homes, compared to the approximately 8,500 deaths previously reported.
Criticism increased after Cuomo Assistant Melissa DeRosa admitted in a private call that the government withheld the information requested by New York State lawmakers because they were concerned it was being leaked by the Department of Justice at the time. president, Donald Trump, could be used against us.
Malliotakis called Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the height of the pandemic Tuesday ‘completely unacceptable’.
Cuomo held a press conference on Monday where the troubled Democratic governor in New York acknowledged that he should have moved earlier to release relevant data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes amid growing criticism of the government’s scandal.
Cuomo said during his first press conference since reports that his office had underreported or withheld critical information about deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic, that all relevant information was “fully, publicly and accurately reported.” When the New York governor was asked if he had the need to apologize, his team’s failure to address the public concern created a ‘gap’ that made the spread of ‘conspiracy theories’ possible.
“We made a mistake in creating the gap,” Cuomo said. “We made a mistake when we created the gap when we did not provide information, it enabled presses, cynics, politicians to fill a gap.”
New York State Democrats slammed Cuomo on Monday following the press conference in which he made the disputed allegation about the administration’s handling requests for data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes.
CUOMO AIDE TELLS NY DEMOCRATS ADMINISTRATION HID NURSING HOME DATA TO KEEP IT FROM TRUMP DOJ: REPORT
The governor tried to clarify the actions of his team during the press conference and told reporters that the Department of Justice and Legislature had submitted requests for data at the same time last year. Cuomo said his team prefers to prioritize the federal investigation and that state lawmakers are being informed that their request for data will be interrupted in the meantime.
“We gave priority to the DOJ. We told the assembly, we told the Senate and that is what we did. We were also in the midst of running a pandemic,” Cuomo told the news conference. said.
Cuomo said a rift between his office and state legislators was the result of a “break in communication between staff and members of the legislature.” But several Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Jessica Ramos, of New York, have denied that Cuomo’s office ever informed them of his decision.
Ramos is one of several Democratic lawmakers who have called for Cuomo to be deprived of his emergency power due to the incorrect handling of the nursing home data.
The state sense. New Yorkers Alessandra Biaggi and Gustavo Rivera, both Democrats, also addressed Cuomo’s remarks. Both lawmakers said they first heard about the DOJ’s investigation into deaths in nursing homes in New York in local newspapers, not through the governors’ office.
Representatives of New York State House Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, also backed Cuomo’s demand.
Malliotakis said she thinks some “Democrats are upset” because she believes “honestly they covered for him.”
She noted that when she was a member of the state legislature on August 3, there was a dual hearing with the health commissioner.
“He stoned, just came for a while and then left. Did not answer any of our questions,” Malliotakis said. ‘Then came the letter of 26 August from the Department of Justice and he was [Cuomo is] to try to use it as the reason why he has not given us any answers since the summer and that is completely unacceptable. ‘
“Of course, these legislators are getting a lot of heat from their voters who want answers,” she continued. “There are families who do deserve justice, and I asked him to resign.”
“I hope they make an effort with me as well,” Malliotakis added.
A spokesman for Ramos, Biaggi, Rivera and Heastie did not immediately respond to Fox News ‘request to comment on whether they would appeal to Cuomo to resign or to respond to Malliotakis’ statements.
Cuomo claimed that state legislators were “wrong” in indicating that they were never informed of the delay in their data request. The governor expressed regret over the delays in disclosing data and conceded that the requests “should have been prioritized.”
“The void that created our misinformation and created more anxiety for the families of loved ones,” he said.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied that his office withholds or misrepresents data on deaths in nursing homes.
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A Cuomo spokesman on Tuesday did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Thomas Barrabi of Fox News contributed to this report.