The incredible acknowledgment by the top assistant to the Cuomo government that the government had withheld the death toll from the state’s old age home for fear that the damning numbers would be used against us, made twofold calls for a thorough investigation – and prosecution of the governor. .
“Governor Cuomo, the governor’s secretary, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately – both by the New York State Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice,” the Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik wrote in a statement.
“This acknowledgment of a cover-up and the remarks made by the secretary to the governor indicating that the federal investigation is being obstructed is a marvelous and criminal abuse of power,” Stefanik continued.
‘I have said from the outset that this is more than a nursing home scandal, it is a massive corruption and cover-up scandal at the highest level of the New York government, which the governor, the governor’s secretary, the health commissioner of the state of New York implies. and the Governor’s staff, ”she wrote.
“The families who have lost loved ones, New Yorkers and all Americans deserve accountability from the U.S. Department of Justice that will be independent and not threatened by Governor Cuomo’s desperate political pressure.”
New York Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Republican, said in a tweet“Governor Cuomo and his administration must be investigated from top to bottom and he must be deprived of his emergency forces. Justice must be created for the grieving families who have been ignored to protect Governor Cuomo and his Democratic allies in the legislature. ”
In a separate statement, he said: ‘The news today that Governor Cuomo’s top assistant has conceded that he deliberately withheld information about COVID-19 deaths is the latest in a series of disturbing acts of corruption by his government.
‘This is clearly a gross obstruction of justice. Instead of apologizing or giving answers to the thousands of New York families who have lost loved ones, the governor’s government apologized behind closed doors to politicians for the ‘political discomfort’ this scandal had caused them.
The comment comes after The Post revealed that Gov. Melissa DeRosa’s secretary said during a video conference call with the state’s Democratic leaders that the government rejected a legislative request for the count in August because ‘exactly the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] make it a giant political football, ‘according to an audio recording obtained by The Post.
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” DeRosa said. ‘He starts chasing [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, start chasing [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, start afterwards [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer. ”
In addition to the attack on Cuomo’s fellow Democratic governors, she said, “Trump commands the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into us.”
“And actually we froze,” DeRosa told lawmakers.
‘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 going to say, would be used against us while we were not. do not know if there will be an investigation, ”she added.
State Attorney Letitia James recently announced in a 76-page damning report that the Empire State’s death toll in COVID-19 was more than 50 percent higher than officials claimed because Cuomo’s government did not disclose how many of the residents in hospitals is not dead. .
The findings of the bombing could increase the DOH count from 8,711 deaths to more than 13,000, based on a survey among 62 nursing homes that found that the state counted the deaths there by an average of 56 percent.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Said Cuomo “has blood on his hands.”
‘The Cuomo Coverup led to the unnecessary deaths of New Yorkers who all knew they were in danger. And Fredo and CNN helped him hide it while he laughed about it! ‘ Greene said in a tweet, using former President Trump’s reference to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo based on Fredo Corleone, the ineffective son of ‘The Godfather’.
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise also commented on Twitter, writing“There it is. Cuomo’s assistant has just conceded that he concealed data on nursing homes so that federal prosecutors could not find it. Time for federal investigations. Time for prosecutions. Time for JUSTICE.”
He added: “The more the truth comes out, the worse it gets for Cuomo.”
Democrats, including Public Defender Jumaane Williams, also assaulted the governor, tweet: “For constant defenders of @NYGovCuomo, how is that right? How is it not #Trump?
‘And when you’re forced to get admission, it’s a shame we’re caught … and not even directly from him or the families. Although he asks NYers to trust their decisions, ‘he added.
State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-NY) also weighed in, say in a tweet: “You just regret that everyone was caught. As a result of your decisions, thousands of people have died who do not have to die. We’re not ‘offensive’, Melissa, we’m furious – for a very good reason. ‘
State Senator Andrew Gornardes (D-NY) calls it a ‘betrayal of public trust’.
“There must be full accountability for what happened, and the legislature must reconsider its broad allocation of emergency powers to the governor,” he said in a tweet.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a prepared statement: “We have explained that the Trump administration is in the midst of a politically motivated effort to blame democracies for COVID deaths and that we are cooperating with Federal document productions and that it was the priority and now that it is over, we can address the state legislature. ”
“That said, we worked simultaneously to complete the audit of information they requested,” he added.
The DOJ declined to comment.