New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo became a celebrity during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering long soliloquies about what he was doing to battle the virus for which he received an Emmy award.
Now, his statue is beginning to tarnish, with an investigation underway by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office for his handling of nursing homes during the crisis.
At the height of the pandemic in New York City, he ordered nursing homes to receive patients released from hospitals who had tested positive for the virus.
Business Insider reported Democrats in his state are working to strip him of the emergency powers he was granted last year. And there’s even a movement developing in New York’s legislature to impeach Cuomo.
His administration also is accusing of withholding data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes to avoid federal review.
Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor, said the office has been cooperating with the DOJ.
Complicating matters at the state level is the accusation from Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim that the governor called him and threatened to “destroy” him if he didn’t “cover” for the government, according to CNN.
In a conference call with reporters, Cuomo blamed his troubles on a conspiracy against him by President Trump, Fox News and the New York Post.
NBC News reported there were 15,000 deaths of long-term care patients in the state from COVID-19 while only 8,500 had been reported previously.
Last week, Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa disclosed that the state “held off” releasing the full death count last fall over fears the Trump Justice Department would use the information against Cuomo.
At a news conference this week, Cuomo said: “In retrospect, should we have given more priority to fulfilling information requests? In my opinion, yes. And that’s what created the void. I just want to make sure people know these are the facts: Everything that could have been done was done.”
ABC News reported prosecutors have issued subpoenas in their investigation.
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