New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, fell under harsh scrutiny recently from both Liberals and Conservatives due to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation on his COVID-19 nursing home mandate death count.
It is suspected that Cuomo and his staff underreported up to 50% of the total elderly deaths from his March 25 mandate placing COVID-19 patients in nursing homes which they denied as a conspiracy theory.
A week earlier, Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, on a phone call, told members of the Legislature they withheld information publically because they were afraid that then President Trump and the Department of Justice would use it against them.
Both the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York are looking into the situation.
Democratic NY State Senator Jessica Ramos called for Cuomo and his administration to be subpoenaed in a statement she released.
“At a time when we need New Yorkers to trust their elected officials the most, the Governor and his administration knowingly chose to lie and play politics with New Yorkers’ lives. This news is another slap in the face to the many New Yorkers still grieving the loss of their loved ones across our state,” she said.
In the statement, Ramos also called for Cuomo’s emergency powers to be stripped away from him.
On Wednesday it was reported that Cuomo called Democratic NY Assembly Member Ron Kim to threaten to “destroy” him for Kim’s criticism over the nursing home mandate. Kim has also been very vocal about removing the governor’s executive powers.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio was interviewed by MSNBC said that this isn’t new behavior for Cuomo. He also called him a bully.
12 Democratic members of the NY Legislature released a statement, “We are deeply disturbed by the Governor’s attacks on our colleague — a fellow Democrat — Assemblymember Kim.”
They also wrote, “It is our job to represent our constituents and seek answers to the tragedies that took place in nursing homes around the State. We have no interest in name calling — we aim to restore the proper balance of power between the Legislature and Executive branches.”