House committee plans to recommend criminal charges against former Governor Andrew Cuomo
Cuomo on Wednesday charged Republicans with abusing their authority.
TroibNews 
NEW YORK — A House subcommittee investigating the governmental response to the pandemic is set to accuse former Governor Andrew Cuomo of making false statements to Congress and plans to refer criminal charges to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The referral focuses on Cuomo's remarks to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic regarding his role in the editing or review of a contentious July 2020 report concerning Covid deaths among nursing home residents.
“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability,” stated Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican chairing the panel, in the 107-page referral addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly wrongful conduct when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described in the attached.”
In response, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi labeled the panel's actions a “taxpayer-funded farce” and accused it of misusing its investigative powers.
He contended that the committee lacks “basis for this pre-election MAGA exercise and affirmatively chose to act unethically in order to help their masters score cheap political points.”
On Wednesday, an attorney representing the former governor submitted his own criminal referral to the Department of Justice, claiming that the House panel has engaged in “the misuse of government resources and the invasion of state prerogatives.”
This referral from the House panel arrives at a critical time for Cuomo, who is contemplating a potential political comeback.
He has not dismissed the possibility of running for New York City mayor, especially as incumbent Democrat Eric Adams faces federal corruption charges.
Cuomo stepped down from his position in August 2021 after a state Attorney General Letitia James report concluded he sexually harassed 11 women, which he has denied.
Polling suggests that Cuomo, who remains well-known, is competitive in a Democratic primary for mayor.
However, his critics from both the left and right argue that his handling of Covid makes him susceptible to voter backlash.
Initially, Cuomo gained national fame for his management of the pandemic, with his televised press conferences becoming must-see events for New Yorkers confined to their homes.
His nursing home policies attracted scrutiny after the New York State Department of Health issued a March 2020 directive mandating that facilities accept Covid-positive patients due to concerns that hospitals could become overwhelmed.
As criticism escalated during the spring and summer of 2020, state health officials released a report detailing fatalities among nursing home residents. A subsequent investigation by James’ office in January 2021 concluded that the Cuomo administration had significantly underreported deaths of individuals who contracted Covid in nursing homes and later died.
In June, Cuomo testified before House investigators that he did not review the July 2020 report.
“I did not,” he said during closed-door testimony. “Maybe it was in the inbox, but I did not.”
He subsequently noted that he did "not recall reviewing" or seeing the report.
“This is a joke — the governor said he didn’t recall because he didn’t recall,” Azzopardi stated. “The committee lied in their referral just as they have been lying to the public and the press."
The subcommittee's referral includes testimonies from former Cuomo aides who indicated that he was involved in the editing of the report prior to its public release.
Moreover, just days before the July report became public, a Cuomo aide sent an email stating, “Governor’s edits are attached for your review.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
The referral focuses on Cuomo's remarks to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic regarding his role in the editing or review of a contentious July 2020 report concerning Covid deaths among nursing home residents.
“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability,” stated Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican chairing the panel, in the 107-page referral addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly wrongful conduct when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described in the attached.”
In response, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi labeled the panel's actions a “taxpayer-funded farce” and accused it of misusing its investigative powers.
He contended that the committee lacks “basis for this pre-election MAGA exercise and affirmatively chose to act unethically in order to help their masters score cheap political points.”
On Wednesday, an attorney representing the former governor submitted his own criminal referral to the Department of Justice, claiming that the House panel has engaged in “the misuse of government resources and the invasion of state prerogatives.”
This referral from the House panel arrives at a critical time for Cuomo, who is contemplating a potential political comeback.
He has not dismissed the possibility of running for New York City mayor, especially as incumbent Democrat Eric Adams faces federal corruption charges.
Cuomo stepped down from his position in August 2021 after a state Attorney General Letitia James report concluded he sexually harassed 11 women, which he has denied.
Polling suggests that Cuomo, who remains well-known, is competitive in a Democratic primary for mayor.
However, his critics from both the left and right argue that his handling of Covid makes him susceptible to voter backlash.
Initially, Cuomo gained national fame for his management of the pandemic, with his televised press conferences becoming must-see events for New Yorkers confined to their homes.
His nursing home policies attracted scrutiny after the New York State Department of Health issued a March 2020 directive mandating that facilities accept Covid-positive patients due to concerns that hospitals could become overwhelmed.
As criticism escalated during the spring and summer of 2020, state health officials released a report detailing fatalities among nursing home residents. A subsequent investigation by James’ office in January 2021 concluded that the Cuomo administration had significantly underreported deaths of individuals who contracted Covid in nursing homes and later died.
In June, Cuomo testified before House investigators that he did not review the July 2020 report.
“I did not,” he said during closed-door testimony. “Maybe it was in the inbox, but I did not.”
He subsequently noted that he did "not recall reviewing" or seeing the report.
“This is a joke — the governor said he didn’t recall because he didn’t recall,” Azzopardi stated. “The committee lied in their referral just as they have been lying to the public and the press."
The subcommittee's referral includes testimonies from former Cuomo aides who indicated that he was involved in the editing of the report prior to its public release.
Moreover, just days before the July report became public, a Cuomo aide sent an email stating, “Governor’s edits are attached for your review.”
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
