Angry families of COVID-19 victims are calling for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be indicted after newly surfaced emails contradict what he told a congressional committee about nursing home deaths.
Peter Arbeeny, Vivian Zayas and Janice Dean are calling on the Justice Department to investigate Cuomo, arguing he lied to congressional investigators about a state report that undercounted the number of nursing home deaths at the height of the pandemic.
Cuomo initially claimed he had not seen the report, but a shocking new report appears to show that he not only knew about the report, but edited it himself.
“We call on the Justice Department to launch a full and fair investigation into Andrew Cuomo’s statements to Congress, his coordination with other witnesses, and his role in covering up the nursing home death toll,” the three men wrote in a statement obtained by the Post.
“If he is proven to have knowingly misled Congress and the American people or interfered with the congressional investigation, he will be held accountable under the law,” the statement continued. “The families who lost loved ones deserve the truth, and the public deserves to know that no one is above the law, especially those in public office.”
In June, Cuomo downplayed any involvement in a July 2020 state Department of Health report that undercounted the number of nursing home deaths when questioned by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
But emails uncovered in a New York Times report showed that Cuomo suggested changes to the report before it was released, inserting language blaming nursing home staff and visiting families for spreading the virus and contributing to deaths.
A Cuomo spokesman said the latest criticism politicized the pandemic.
“We are long past the point of absurdity,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told The Post in a statement Sunday.
“We sympathize with each and every family who has lost loved ones, over a million of them, but the continued attempts to deliberately distort this pandemic and use it politically as a weapon are both transparent and saddening.”
Cuomo was not sworn in for his testimony, but authorities told him he could be prosecuted if he knowingly made false statements, according to a transcript of the closed-door session.
Democratic politicians have also called for greater accountability from Cuomo.
“I have supported nursing home families and will continue to support them in holding the former governor accountable,” said Rep. Ron Kim (D-Queens), a vocal Cuomo critic.
“Andrew Cuomo has consistently lied and manipulated the public to advance his book agenda and political ambitions,” Kim added. “Now we must hold him accountable and seize this opportunity to fix our broken long-term care system.”
Councilman Lincoln Restler wrote in a statement that it was clear that Cuomo’s testimony before the House was “misleading and inaccurate.”
“Time and time again, he has proven himself to be someone New Yorkers cannot trust and who has no place in public service,” Restler said.
