A top House Republican unveiled a timeline on Thursday of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s handling of nursing homes amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has now resulted in several investigations.
“The facts are simple: Governor Cuomo issued an order sending thousands of contagious COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes and then he lied about the death toll,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, said in a statement. “Governor Cuomo endangered the most vulnerable, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of nursing home patients and caused unimaginable grief for their families and loved ones.”
Scalise is also the ranking member of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, and the report, headlined, “Timeline of the Cuomo Cover-Up,” bears its name.
Scalise, who is calling for a full investigation into Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes, began his timeline with the first COVID-19 case found in New York on March 1 of last year and ended it with Monday’s announcement of bipartisan lawmakers’ intention to subpoena the governor to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Other benchmarks include the governor signing a “lethal directive” on March 25, 2020, and receiving an Emmy for his public updates on Nov. 23.
Last March, Cuomo issued an executive order mandating that nursing homes admit COVID-19-positive patients, a move Scalise said the governor “quietly” rescinded and removed from the state’s website in May.
The Democrat has been embroiled in controversy over the directive, which was found to be directly linked to over 1,000 additional COVID-19 deaths. Overall, New York has had over 46,000 deaths related to COVID-19.
Following a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James indicating that the death toll in nursing homes could be 50% higher than what Cuomo’s administration reported, a top aide for the governor acknowledged hiding the data over fears of political retribution via former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account.
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Amid bipartisan calls for an investigation, reports emerged on Feb. 17 that the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI opened investigations into the matter, a fact that was noted in Scalise’s timeline.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Cuomo’s office for comment.
Cuomo is also facing controversy over allegations by a former staffer, Lindsey Boylan, who accused him of sexual harassment. The governor denied the allegations.
