The Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo over accusations he lied in a congressional hearing.
The investigation surrounds concerns that Cuomo’s administration presented nursing home data that concealed the deaths of several thousand senior citizens in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic, per the New York Times and several other outlets.
The revelations follow calls from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in April urging the DOJ to open an investigation into Cuomo.
“We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told the Washington Examiner.
“Gov. Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the subcommittee — but from the beginning, this was all transparently political,” he added.
Despite Cuomo’s denials, Comer and other Republicans have justified efforts to prosecute the Democrat by pointing to a congressional report released last year that found he lied to Congress regarding his role in the nursing home controversy and concluded that the former New York governor was guilty of being involved in a “calculated cover-up.” The act of lying to Congress should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Comer argued.
The investigation marks a downturn for Cuomo, who announced in March a campaign to become New York City’s next mayor. He resigned in disgrace four years ago as the state’s governor under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations.
The latest polling shows Cuomo holds the biggest lead in the mayoral race, besting his closest rival by 12 points, per a Marist University survey released last week. Incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams, forgoing the primary to run as an independent in the general election, was himself the subject of a DOJ investigation under the Biden administration over allegations that he illegally collected donations for his 2021 mayoral campaign from Turkish businessmen.
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The mayor argued the investigation, which resulted in a federal indictment last year, was designed to hurt his chances for reelection and was fueled by political animus due to his public break with the Biden White House over illegal immigration. The Trump DOJ agreed, dropping the charges this year and issuing Adams a full pardon. Critics said the matter reeked of quid pro quo due to Adams’s expanded cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement a few days after the DOJ lifted charges.
Cuomo has also faced accusations of illegally funneling campaign donations. Earlier this month, campaign finance regulators withheld $600,000 from the former governor due to allegations that he illegally coordinated with a super PAC to obtain the funding.
