NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — There are fresh calls for an investigation of how the Cuomo administration handled COVID-19 in nursing homes in the wake of two bombshell reports by the Associated Press and the New York Post.
Early on in the pandemic, the state mandated that recovering coronavirus patients should return to nursing homes.
On Thursday night, the AP uncovered the total number involved more than 9,000 people, which is 40% higher than what the Cuomo administration previously reported.
It's feared that is what triggered rapid spread of the virus within nursing homes throughout the state, but New York health officials disagree, blaming asymptomatic employees and not recovering patients.
Meanwhile, the New York Post first reported that Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to the governor, admitted in a call with Democratic state lawmakers this week that the Cuomo administration "froze" in releasing nursing home data, fearing the Trump administration would use it as ammunition in a political attack in the form of a Department of Justice investigation.
According to a partial transcript released by the governor's office, when asked what the holdup was on responding to a list of questions that state lawmakers had submitted around nursing homes, DeRosa said, "Basically we froze because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, and what we start saying, was going to be used against us and we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation."
DeRosa said then-President Donald Trump was “going after” Democratic governors and directing “the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us.”
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” she said, according to the transcript.
Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to the governor, released a statement attributed to DeRosa with an attempted clarification.
"I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature's request to deal with the federal request first. We informed the houses of this at the time," DeRosa said. "We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then has to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout. As I said on a call with legislators, we could not fulfill their request as quickly as anyone would have liked. But we are committed to being better partners going forward as we shared the same goal of keeping New Yorkers as health as possible during the pandemic."
Democratic State Assembly member Ron Kim was on the call.
"I'm glad that they are trying to retract her statement and clarify," Kim said. "I think what she was trying to articulate in that moment was that there was a federal inquiry about nursing homes and they had to deal with that first."
He tells WCBS 880's Steve Burns that he's glad the statement was clarified but that it still follows a theme of a lack of transparency from Cuomo's office.
"If there are mistakes made, just own up to it," Kim said. "There were apologies that were given I think from beginning to end about the lack of communication and a commitment to do better."
GOP lawmakers are accusing the Cuomo administration of a "cover-up" and are calling for investigations, resignations and even impeachment discussions.
Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin is demanding the Department of Justice launch an obstruction of justice investigation of the governor and his administration.
"This can't just get swept under the rug," Zeldin told WCBS 880. "What is warranted when you are withholding information like this, admitting as this report came out, that warrants an obstruction of justice investigation."
He said New Yorkers deserve answers.
"This is a delicate issue that's why so many people have been talking about it, concerned about it for so long because what really is at the heart are thousands of New York families who are contacting their state legislator, who are contacting their member of Congress because they want answers," Zeldin said. "That's what this really is all about are the thousands of New York seniors who passed away as a consequence. They're demanding answers, they're demanding accountability. That's why we can't be quiet."
Nick Langworthy, chair of New York's Republican party is calling for the prosecution and impeachment of Cuomo.
“The second most powerful person in state government and top aide to Governor Cuomo admitted on video to the premeditated and willful violation of state laws and what clearly amounts to federal obstruction of justice. Andrew Cuomo has abused his power and destroyed the trust placed in the office of governor. Prosecution and impeachment discussions must begin right away.”
In a series of tweets, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island called on Cuomo to resign and also asked the Department of Justice to conduct an investigation to hold the Cuomo administration accountable.
New York Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt is also calling for an investigation into the Cuomo administration and is demanding the governor be stripped of his emergency powers granted to him amid the pandemic.
"I don't know what else a prosecutor at this point would need to do an investigation, I don't know what else my colleagues across the aisle would need to issue subpoenas, or what they would need to rescind the governor's powers," Ortt said.
When asked about impeachment, Ortt said nothing is off the table, but he wants an investigation first.
Senate Republicans have tried to revoke Cuomo's pandemic emergency powers at least 16 times with no success, after failing to get any Democratic support. But that has now changed.
Fourteen Democratic senators on Friday issued a joint statement calling for the removal of Cuomo’s emergency powers.
“Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls for the Legislature to govern as a co-equal branch of government. While COVID-19 has tested the limits of our people and state –– and, early during the pandemic, required the government to restructure decision making to render rapid, necessary public health judgments –– it is clear that the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate," the senators wrote. "While the executive's authority to issue directives is due to expire on April 30, we urge the Senate to advance and adopt a repeal as expeditiously as possible."
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins issued a statement saying, "Crucial information should never be withheld from entities that are empowered to pursue oversight. This was always about getting the truth and allowing information to guide our response. That is why we had multiple hearings and another hearing scheduled for this month. And why we requested this information in the first place. Politics should not be part of this tragic pandemic and our responses to it must be led by policy, not politics. As always, we will be discussing next steps as a conference."
A statement from the office of State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said, "There was a formal request from Assembly committee chairs and other members to the Department of Health asking for more information on follow up questions in regards to data on nursing homes. The Governor's office communicated to staff that they needed more time to provide the information. Other than what was reported in the news, the Speaker had no knowledge of an official Department of Justice inquiry."
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on his weekly appearance on WNYC called the Post report "disturbing" and "very troubling."
"We've gotta know more," de Blasio said. "We now need a full accounting of what happened. Think about seniors who their lives were in the balance and their families just desperate to get them the help they needed. We need to know exactly what happened here, we need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,"
There were roughly 15,000 deaths in long-term care facilities across New York. Initially, the state reported the death toll was 8,500.
The Cuomo administration accuses the Trump White House of waging a politically-motivated blame game.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow WCBS Newsradio 880
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram