Rep. Elise Stephanik (R-NY), along with other Republicans have called for the prosecution of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as anyone on his staff who may have been involved in knowingly withholding coronavirus death tolls in nursing homes.
This comes after a report came out in which an aide of Cuomo’s admitted that they had done just that.
Full Story: Andrew Cuomo Aide: To Avoid Federal Investigation, New York Hid COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths
Stephanik tweeted out a statement that said, “Governor Cuomo, the secretary to the Governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately-both by the Attorney General of New York state, and the U.S. Department of Justice.”
“This bombshell admission of a cover-up and the remarks by the secretary to the Governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power,” she added.
?? My Statement on the bombshell @nypost reporting on Cuomo’s cover-up ?? pic.twitter.com/brOrGZjeBo
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 12, 2021
A Stunning Admission
The horrific admission came from Cuomo’s Secretary Melissa DeRosa while on a video conference call with New York state Democrat leaders. In a report from the New York Post, DeRosa claimed that the Cuomo administration had rejected a request from the New York State Senate back in August for a complete tally of COVID deaths.
DeRosa went on to say that former President Trump had turned the New York state numbers “into a giant political football.” During the meeting, DeRosa said of Trump that, “He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes.
“He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer,” and that “Trump directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us. And basically we froze.”
Gov. Cuomo's office has released a partial transcript of the call between Melissa DeRosa and lawmakers discussing nursing home fatality data https://t.co/PkNtpQGYOV
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) February 12, 2021
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Multiple Calls For Investigation/Prosecution
In addition to Congresswoman Stephanik’s call for investigation and possible prosecution of Cuomo, other state and national Republican office holders have come out in support of holding Cuomo and his staff to account for possible obstruction of an investigation.
New York State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt demanded a “top to bottom investigation.
Chairman of the New York State Republican Committee Nick Langworthy called for the impeachment of Cuomo, and state Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay called for subpoenas and subsequent hearings.
Even some Democrats were outraged enough to speak out. Democrat Assembly Woman Yuh-Line Niou called the Cuomo administration’s actions “criminal.”
Governor Cuomo and his administration must be investigated from top to bottom and he must be stripped of his emergency powers.
Justice needs to be brought for the grieving families who have been ignored to protect Governor Cuomo and his Democrat allies in the Legislature. pic.twitter.com/N4B2c77u3w
— Rob Ortt (@SenatorOrtt) February 12, 2021
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The Numbers And Those Effected
Bill Hammond, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at the Empire Center, sent out a tweet in September 2020 that stated that the CDC “unfortunately made it optional for nursing homes to report COVID deaths in March, April, and early May of 2020. this was when NY’s pandemic was at it’s worst.”
He went on to say that “some homes did the right thing, and often gave numbers strikingly higher than reported by NYS DOH.” In September on the Empire Center website, he said that:
“The result is that a major public health disaster affecting New York’s nursing home residents is not being accurately documented by either of the agencies responsible for protecting them-because state officials are refusing to share the true numbers, and federal officials haven’t yet asked for them.”
The CDC unfortunately made it optional for nursing homes to report COVID deaths in March, April and early May, when NY's pandemic was at its worst.
But some homes did the right thing — and often gave numbers strikingly higher than reported by NYS DOH. https://t.co/6WSYZno25L pic.twitter.com/zIQOPExDLH
— Bill Hammond (@NYHammond) September 8, 2020
One of the most outspoken critics of the Cuomo administration’s COVID nursing home policies is Fox News Channel Meteorologist Janice Dean, who lost both of her in-laws to Governor Cuomo’s nursing homes.
On Thursday, Dean said that,”I would like to thank whoever that Democratic lawmaker that was the leak yesterday that gave us that information because i believe all of them should go to jail.”
“We need to see these people on the stand, with a jury, with us, the people that lost our loved ones, in the audience to see them tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” she added.
“Justice needs to be served,” Dean continued. “We don’t have our loved ones here today, but by God, I am here to be a voice for all of them.”
Janice Dean: People 'should go to jail' over New York nursing home death cover-up https://t.co/oBdHaqCXZ1
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 12, 2021