House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for allowing COVID-19 patients into nursing homes during the wake of the pandemic.
Rep. Wenstrup, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, slammed Cuomo’s decision and said that his policies “had deadly consequences for New York’s most vulnerable population.”
New York lawmaker Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a member of the Subcommittee, also remarked that Cuomo must answer to the probe as she believes that her constituents have “lost loved ones in nursing homes because of the mandates put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that were not in sync with federal guidance.”
On March 25, 2020, Cuomo forced New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to accommodate untested COVID-19 patients.
Under his term, 15,000 individuals died in New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
Cuomo attempted to cover up his crime and claim that the deaths were merely political attacks against him.
According to a report by NY Attorney General Letitia James, COVID-19-related nursing home deaths were “undercounted by as much as 50 percent.”
Wenstrup slammed his actions and said that his mandate put the elderly in harm’s way, and hid the true number of nursing home death rate.
“It appears that politics, not medicine, was responsible for these decisions and that while Mr. Cuomo is adept at seeking legal advice, he is not necessarily adept at seeking medical advice.”
Cuomo must answer to the 15,000 families who have lost their loved ones for his failed COVID-19 mandate.
“We knew all the time that seniors were the most vulnerable, and yet he put COVID-positive patients in with our most vulnerable, even after all the alternatives, setting up makeshift hospitals [and] the U.S. Navy Comfort ship,” Malliotakis said. “As a result, 15,000 seniors in our nursing homes died, and we want accountability.”
“His testimony is crucial to uncover the circumstances that led to his misguided policies and for ensuring that fatal mistakes never happen again. It is well past time for Cuomo to stop dodging accountability to Congress and start answering honestly to the American people.”
The Select Subcommittee first sent their invitation to the former governor on May 19, 2023, to voluntarily appear for a transcribed interview.
By October 10, 2023, Wenstrup’s committee sent a letter highlighting his failure to cooperate and warned that his failure to comply would result in dire consequences.
However, for Cuomo, instead of answering for his crime, he opted to call Congress a circus and the lawmakers “clowns.”
