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By: Jordan Baker
A final investigative report from the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has accused former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of “medical malpractice” and covering up the true death toll of nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The explosive findings, reported by the New York Post, claim that Cuomo undercounted deaths and directly influenced key pandemic policies that endangered public health.
NUREMBERG 2.0
4) Andrew Cuomo contributed to the deaths of citizens, then covered it up. https://t.co/xH030yEwOQ— Daniel Bollinger (@DJBDanielB2022) December 4, 2024
Released Monday, the 500-page report asserts that Cuomo “likely gave false statements” about his involvement in pandemic decision-making. Specifically, it alleges he played a central role in the controversial March 2020 directive requiring nursing homes to admit recovering COVID-19 patients, despite the known risks. The directive, later rescinded amid public backlash, was labeled “antithetical to known science” and a failure to follow federal guidance.
The subcommittee found that Cuomo and his administration actively worked to minimize the reported nursing home death toll. A July 2020 state Department of Health report, approved and edited by Cuomo himself, excluded deaths of nursing home residents who died in hospitals. This omission significantly reduced the official fatality numbers.
Andrew Cuomo committed ‘medical malpractice’ during deadly COVID crisis, House report finds #AndrewCuomo #Covid #CDC #Nursinghome #Publichealthhttps://t.co/VhE2tqGL4b
— CPT35E (@Captain35E) December 4, 2024
Internal documents revealed that Cuomo’s team sought external input from hospital executives to revise the report. One memo, obtained by the committee, showed Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling offering to “rewrite” parts of the report. The exclusion of “out-of-facility” deaths, the subcommittee claims, was a deliberate attempt to mitigate criticism of the March directive.
Additionally, the report accuses Cuomo of obstructing the investigation. The panel alleges he attempted to influence the testimony of James Malatras, a former aide, which could be seen as an effort to manipulate the inquiry.
The report concludes that Cuomo “likely gave false statements” to the House subcommittee, a federal offense that could carry a prison sentence of up to five years. In October, the committee referred these allegations to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible prosecution.
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, chair of the subcommittee, stated there was bipartisan agreement on key points, including that Cuomo’s decisions amounted to “medical malpractice” and undermined public health. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to scrutinizing the Cuomo administration’s handling of the pandemic, with his name appearing more than 200 times.
Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 amid unrelated sexual misconduct allegations, dismissed the findings as politically motivated. His spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, called the report “weak gruel” and a product of a “MAGA Republican witch hunt.”
Azzopardi also pointed to previous investigations, including those by the Department of Justice and Manhattan District Attorney, which found no criminal wrongdoing in Cuomo’s handling of nursing home deaths. He argued that New York ranked 39th in per capita nursing home deaths in 2020, using federal data to defend the state’s pandemic response.
“This has been an abuse of power and a waste of taxpayer money,” Azzopardi told the New York Post.
Families of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 have long demanded accountability for Cuomo’s actions. Peter Arbeeny, whose father died after being released from a Brooklyn nursing home, said the report confirmed their fears.
“Cuomo has been lying about following the Trump CDC guidelines for years,” Arbeeny told the New York Post. “If they had used resources like the USS Comfort ship and Javits Center, thousands of lives could have been saved.”
