Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently and repeatedly claimed that he does not recall seeing the 2020 New York State Department of Health report before its release. However, emails and congressional documents revealed that Cuomo may have been much more involved in the report than previously admitted.
Cuomo testified at a private hearing in June and a public hearing this month as part of a congressional subcommittee investigation into New York for its COVID response, including the more than 15,000 reported COVID-related nursing home deaths.
‘He should be prosecuted.’
The disgraced governor was asked multiple times about the Health Department report, which deflected blame for the deaths. He claimed he did not remember seeing the report, let alone reviewing or editing it, before it was released.
However, a June 23, 2020, email from his then-assistant, Farah Kennedy, suggested Cuomo was far more involved in the report than he had previously admitted, the New York Times reported.
“Governor’s edits are attached for your review,” read Kennedy’s email, which was sent to members of Cuomo’s senior staff.
“The smaller text in the beginning is from your original document. He replaced your paragraph on page 3 beginning with ‘But, like in all fifty states, there were Covid-positive cases,'” Kennedy’s email explained.
Cuomo requested adding language to the report that emphasized how “community spread among employees or possibly visitation by family and friends were relevant factors” in the nursing home deaths.
“The larger text,” Kennedy wrote, “is what he added.”
Additionally, the Times also uncovered congressional documents that suggested one of Cuomo’s aides had requested on June 29, 2020, that the report be sent to the former governor’s home.
“Please print two copies and drop at mansion,” it read.
A week after the aide’s request, the report was published, and some of Cuomo’s edits were included, according to the Times report.
Tracey Alvino, director of Voices for Seniors, whose father passed away after contracting COVID while residing in a New York City nursing home, accused Cuomo of lying to Congress, the New York Post reported.
“It’s a crime. It’s proven by the emails,” Alvino stated. “Absolutely, he should be prosecuted. I would love to see him in an orange jumpsuit.”
Vivian Zayas, co-founder of Voice for Seniors, whose mother died after contracting COVID in a New York City nursing home, also accused Cuomo of lying.
“He said he had nothing to do with the report,” Zayas remarked. “If he lied to Congress, he committed a crime. He should definitely be investigated.”
“We’re going to see this through to the end. Cuomo needs to be held accountable,” Zayas added.
A Cuomo spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, stated, “Governor Cuomo was fully cooperative with the committee over two separate days, relayed everything he remembered about events that happened four years ago in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic and nothing this MAGA committee has uncovered undermines that New York followed [then-President Donald] Trump’s CDC nursing home policies or the DOH report’s conclusion that COVID was spread in nursing homes by asymptomatic staff.”
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