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NEW YORK (77WABC) – The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn have launched an investigation that is examining the actions of Governor Cuomo’s administration’s handling of the nursing homes and long-term care facilities during the pandemic according to a report by The Times Union.
The report states that the probe by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York is apparently in its early stages and is focusing on the work of some of the senior members of the governor’s task force, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who is not authorized to comment publicly.
“As we publicly said, DOJ (Department of Justice) has been looking into this for months,” said Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for the governor. “We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to.”
Last week the New York Post revealed that Cuomo’s top aide told Democratic lawmakers.
Melissa DeRosa said in a video conference call, “we froze” out of fear that the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors, The Post learned.
The stunning admission seemed to allude to a coverup. During the video conference call with state Democratic leaders DeRosa ssaid the Cuomo administration had put off a legislative request for the nursing home death tally in August because “right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,” according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting.
Last month New York State Attorney General Letitia James released a scathing report that estimated the deaths of nursing home residents in hospitals would boost the grim tally by more than 50 percent. The estimated tally is now at about 15,000.
Just a day earlier, the state was only publicly acknowledging 8,711 deaths in nursing homes.
