New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday faced mounting challenges to his leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic as state lawmakers threatened to strip him of the power to issue emergency orders and federal investigators scrutinized his administration’s handling of nursing home data.
The US Department of Justice has been examining the governor’s coronavirus task force and trying to determine whether the state intentionally manipulated data regarding deaths in nursing homes, two people familiar with the matter said.
The people, who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the Cuomo administration had not been cooperative with prosecutors, especially in the early stages of the probe, and for months had not produced documents and other data the department had requested.
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The inquiry began months ago in the department’s civil division, and parts of it have previously been disclosed publicly. On Aug. 26 last year, federal prosecutors gave Cuomo’s administration 14 days to provide data on nursing home deaths. More data was sought in October last year.
The Times Union of Albany reported on Wednesday that prosecutors in the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn had also become involved in an inquiry.
Over the summer last year, Cuomo’s administration assailed the investigation as politically motivated. There was also some resistance from career prosecutors inside the civil rights division who viewed the investigation as political, the two people said.
The investigation moved back into the public spotlight after revelations that Cuomo’s administration had given the public and state lawmakers an incomplete accounting of the number of deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
In the past few weeks, the administration revealed that 15,000 long-term care residents have died, up from the 8,500 previously disclosed.
Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa also told Democratic lawmakers that the administration delayed releasing data to the legislature about the deaths because officials “froze” over worries the information was “going to be used against us” by the department.
Cuomo’s senior adviser, Rich Azzopardi, said that it was not true that the administration had withheld records from the department, although he acknowledged that some data requested in October had taken time to collect and produce.
Meanwhile, Cuomo was dealing with a fresh challenge in the state senate, where top Democrats, including New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, prepared to vote in the coming days on a proposal that would require the governor to consult with legislators before issuing emergency orders.
Cuomo has used those powers, granted to him last spring, to limit public gatherings, close businesses and schools, and then unilaterally loosen those restrictions when he felt it would help the state.
Stewart-Cousins said the situation had changed since the early months of the crisis.
“We certainly see the need for a quick response, but also want to move toward a system of increased oversight, and review,” she said.
It was not clear whether the proposal had support in the state assembly.
The development unfolded as Cuomo feuded with Democrats who had criticized his handling of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes.
New York State Assembly Member Ron Kim said that Cuomo had vowed to “destroy” him during a private phone call last week for criticism he felt was unfair.
Cuomo denied the allegation, but used a call with reporters on Wednesday to blast Kim, one of nine Democrats who signed a letter seeking support for the proposal to limit his emergency powers, which are set to expire this spring.
The letter, sent to assembly members on Tuesday, said Cuomo’s administration “deliberately covered up” the extent of deaths in nursing homes and “engaged in an intentional obstruction of justice.”
Cuomo earlier this week said that the state did not cover up deaths, but should have moved faster to release information.
“No excuses: I accept responsibility for that,” he said at a news conference.
He said it is a “lie” that he obstructed justice, and told reporters that he had a “long hostile relationship” with Kim.
Kim said that Cuomo called him on Feb. 11 and shouted at him.
“He went off on, I have not seen his wrath, that he had bit his tongue about me for months,” Kim said. “And I heard: ‘I can go out tomorrow and I will destroy your career. I will start telling the world how bad of an Assembly member you are and you’ll be finished.’”
Azzopardi, who was on the call, said that Kim had lied in a statement on Wednesday and said no one threatened to “destroy anyone with their wrath.”
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