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Oversight Committee Has Made a Criminal Referral of Andrew Cuomo to DOJ

Oversight Committee Has Made a Criminal Referral of Andrew Cuomo to DOJ

The repercussions of the draconian response to the COVID pandemic by many government officials will continue to be felt for decades.

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was front and center for much of the government overreach, particularly when it came to his must-admit nursing home order.

This from redstate.com.

Now, he is being criminally referred to the Department of Justice by the House Oversight Committee.

The committee announced the referral on X Monday afternoon, having noted:

Andrew Cuomo LIED to Congress about his deadly nursing home scandal. That’s why Chairman Comer is re-upping his referral to the DOJ for criminal charges. Seniors in New York DIED under Cuomo’s must-admit nursing home order.

Attached to the tweet is a copy of Oversight Chairman James Comer’s (R-KY) brief April 21 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which reads: 

On October 30, 2024, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic (Select Subcommittee) referred former Governor of the State of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, for making criminally false statements in violation 18 U.S.C. §1001. To our knowledge, the Biden Administration ignored this referral despite clear facts and evidence. Accordingly, we request you review this referral and take appropriate action. For your reference, the referral is attached to this letter.

The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X. To ask any follow up questions, please contact theCommittee on Oversight and Government Reform Majority staff at (202) 225-5074. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

As noted in Comer’s letter, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic initially made the referral in October 2024, but it appears the DOJ, under former AG Merrick Garland’s leadership, took no action on it. Thus, the Oversight Committee is requesting the DOJ, now led by Pam Bondi, take another look at the matter. 

The request follows a recent move by the Trump administration to update the government’s COVID website regarding the likely origins of the virus. 

Cuomo, of course, famously presided as New York’s governor during the pandemic (before he was ousted in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations). It was his administration’s policies that resulted in COVID-19 patients being placed in nursing homes, among the most highly vulnerable populations, and his alleged order to understate the deaths in those nursing homes by not counting patients who died after being transferred to hospitals.

Cuomo’s alleged falsities were laid out thoroughly by the select subcommittee at the time of the initial referral, including his denial of involvement in drafting a New York state health report that was used to combat criticism of his COVID-19 nursing home policies.

In his letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi dated Tuesday, Comer wrote:

To our knowledge, the Biden Administration ignored this referral despite clear facts and evidence.

At issue is that on March 25, 2020, Cuomo issued a directive that New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities admit COVID-positive and potentially COVID-positive patients.

However, when the New York Health Department report came out on July 6, 2020, it alleged that nursing home staff—not the March 25 directive—caused excess COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

Republicans wrote in their timeline:

According to witness testimony and new documents revealed in the Select Subcommittee’s referral, Mr. Cuomo personally drafted and edited portions of this purportedly independent and peer-reviewed report.

Cuomo, however, told the committee that he:

[W]as neither involved in the drafting nor the review of the July 6 Report.

Documents clearly establish that statement to be false.

Further, Cuomo told the committee he did not know if the report was reviewed by people outside the Health Department. Republicans have documents which “again demonstrate that statement to be false.”

Rep. Comer said during Monday’s release:

Let’s be clear: lying to Congress is a federal crime. Mr. Cuomo must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The House Oversight Committee is prepared to fully cooperate with the Justice Department’s investigation into Andrew Cuomo’s actions and ensure he’s held to account.

Of course, there should also be “Ultimate Accountability” for what the nonprofit Long Term Care Community Coalition has reported:

At least 17,425 COVID deaths were recorded in New York’s long-term care programs, including more than 10,825 inside facilities.