Federal prosecutors issued subpoenas for communications related to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial book deal about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.
People involved in editing early versions of American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from COVID-19 Pandemic were subpoenaed last month by prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn seeking information about contracts and promotional materials to sell the book to publishers, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
The report’s sources said the subpoenas signal the scope of the investigation is widening far beyond the original focus of COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes.
CUOMO LEGAL DEFENSE IN NURSING HOME SCANDAL COULD COST NY TAXPAYERS UP TO $2.5M
Media reports about the existence of a federal investigation were published in February after Melissa DeRosa, a top Cuomo aide, acknowledged the governor’s office hid the state’s nursing home coronavirus death toll out of fear of political retribution from then-President Donald Trump.
In February, more than 9,000 recovering COVID-19 patients were sent to hundreds of New York nursing homes following Cuomo’s controversial March directive requiring senior living facilities to accept sick patients, a figure 40% higher than publicly disclosed by the state’s health department, the Associated Press reported.
Cuomo signed the executive order on March 25, 2020, shielding nursing homes from liability when admitting COVID-19 patients. A report conducted by the Empire Center for Public Policy, a government watchdog group, found Cuomo’s directive was linked to more than 1,000 additional resident deaths.
“Statewide, the findings imply that COVID-positive new admissions between late March and early May, which numbered 6,327, were associated with several hundred and possibly more than 1,000 additional resident deaths,” the report read. More than 15,500 nursing home residents who contracted the disease had died as of this spring.
Cuomo reversed the policy on May 10 of last year, and his legal defense in the federal investigation is expected to cost New York taxpayers up to $2.5 million.
The governor’s decision to write and promote a book about his experience leading the Empire State through the pandemic has been met with controversy. The book was released in October. On May 28, Cuomo’s office denied three Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by the Times Union, an Albany publication seeking records about the governor’s recent book deal, which is set to rake in $5 million for the governor.
The potential use of state resources in the promotion of Cuomo’s book has also attracted scrutiny from elected officials. In April, state Attorney General Letitia James received a referral to conduct a criminal investigation into Cuomo’s use of state resources to promote the book after a March 31 ethics complaint from a liberal watchdog group sought an inquiry into whether he violated a law prohibiting “the use of campaign funds for personal use.”
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli authorized James to examine “any indictable offense or offenses,” including “the drafting, editing, sale and promotion of the governor’s book and any related financial or business transactions.”
Cuomo insisted that members of his staff volunteered to help with the book, though his office acknowledged there might be some “incidental” use of state resources, according to the New York Times.
Cuomo faces other scandals threatening his governorship.
The governor was accused of directing state health officials to give special COVID-19 testing access to members of his inner circle. Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, denied those claims as “insincere efforts to rewrite the past” in an email to the Washington Examiner.
At least 10 women have made allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo, who has repeatedly denied he ever engaged in inappropriate touching. The claims have resulted in two investigations: James is investigating the accusations at the state level, and New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is directing an “impeachment investigation” to look into the matter in the Legislature.
James’s investigation into claims of sexual harassment expanded last month to look into claims that a top adviser tied counties’ COVID-19 vaccine access to support for the governor, which Beth Garvey, Cuomo’s counsel, said “malign[ed] a decadeslong public servant.”
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Despite mounting pressure from within his party to resign, Cuomo, who is eligible to seek a fourth term in office in 2022, has vowed not to step down, saying the allegations of impropriety against him are false.
Representatives for Cuomo did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
