The U.S. Division of Justice has opened a legal investigation into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for allegedly mendacity to Congress about his selections made in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic whereas serving as governor, a supply aware of the probe confirmed to Fox Information.
The New York Occasions first reported that the U.S. legal professional’s workplace in Washington opened the inquiry into Cuomo a couple of month in the past after senior officers within the DOJ demanded an indictment of New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams for corruption prices be dismissed.
The DOJ declined to remark to Fox Information.
The Trump administration is now in an uncommon spot of ending a legal case in opposition to Adams whereas opening a brand new case into Adams’ important rival inside months of one another.
Cuomo is working within the Democratic main to function the following mayor of New York Metropolis, whereas Adams is searching for re-election as an unbiased candidate.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN ASKS TRUMP DOJ TO CRIMINALLY PROSECUTE EX-NEW YORK GOV ANDREW CUOMO
Former governor and mayoral candidate, Andrew Cuomo, (C) marches within the Rejoice Israel Parade up Fifth Avenue on Might 18, 2025 in New York Metropolis. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Photos)
“We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple—something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Wealthy Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson informed Fox Information. “Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political.”
The previous governor was grilled by Republican lawmakers final 12 months about his dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic. Home Republicans subsequently really helpful the Justice Division pursue legal prices in opposition to him. They accused him of deliberately mendacity to Congress in the course of the Home Oversight Committee’s investigation into the extreme variety of nursing residence deaths.
Home Oversight and Authorities Reform Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., referred Cuomo to President Donald Trump’s Justice Division for legal prosecution.
BILL MAHER SUGGESTS ANDREW CUOMO’S NURSING HOME SCANDAL MAY COST HIS NYC MAYORAL CAMPAIGN
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks outdoors the West Aspect Institutional Synagogue on April 1, 2025, in New York Metropolis. (Spencer Platt/Getty Photos)
Cuomo – the Democratic scion now thought-about the present frontrunner within the New York Metropolis Democratic mayoral main in June – was first referred to the Biden Justice Division for legal prosecution in October 2024.
Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, then-chairman of the Home Choose Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, mentioned Cuomo made “multiple criminally false statements” to Congress about his dealing with of the 2020 COVID-19 nursing residence demise scandal.
Cuomo, who was governor on the time, issued a March 2020 directive that originally barred nursing properties from refusing to just accept sufferers who had examined optimistic for COVID-19. The directive was geared toward releasing up beds for overwhelmed hospitals.
Greater than 9,000 recovering coronavirus sufferers had been launched from hospitals into nursing properties below the directive, which was later rescinded amid hypothesis that it had accelerated outbreaks.
SECOND COVID NURSING HOME DEATH’S CASE AGAINST CUOMO TOSSED
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo arrives to testify earlier than the Choose Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic within the Rayburn Home Workplace Constructing on the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura)
The eight plaintiffs within the case argued that their family members contracted COVID-19 in nursing properties and died because of the directive. They accused Cuomo and his administration of being civilly liable for his or her deaths in addition to being responsible for failing to precisely report the variety of nursing residence deaths in New York state that resulted from the virus.
Cuomo has beforehand mentioned that the directive was primarily based on the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) and Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers (CMS) steering on the time.
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A report launched in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller discovered Cuomo’s Well being Division “was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes” and it “understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%” throughout some factors of the pandemic.
In a letter to Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi final month, Comer mentioned “to our knowledge, the Biden Administration ignored this referral despite clear facts and evidence.” He requested that Bondi overview the referral and “take appropriate action.”
“Andrew Cuomo is a man with a history of corruption and deceit, now caught red-handed lying to Congress during the Select Subcommittee’s investigation into the COVID-19 nursing home tragedy in New York,” Comer mentioned in an announcement Monday. “This wasn’t a slip-up – it was a calculated cover-up by a man seeking to shield himself from responsibility for the devastating loss of life in New York’s nursing homes. 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.”
Fox Information Digital’s Michael Dorgan and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
