WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Committee Republicans today called on Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) to issue subpoenas for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s testimony before the Oversight Committee and for the documents, information, and communications Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Republicans have requested repeatedly from Governor Cuomo related to his order mandating contagious coronavirus patients to be admitted to nursing home and long-term care facilities.
“Governor Cuomo ordered contagious patients into nursing homes, lied about it, tried to cover up the data, and now is threatening anyone who crosses him,” said Ranking Member Comer. “For almost ten months, Governor Cuomo has actively obstructed Congress’ access to information about the nursing home death toll and it’s past time for the House Oversight Committee to compel his testimony before Congress to bring the truth to light. We owe it to the thousands of families who lost loved ones to hold accountable anyone whose reckless policies may have contributed to their deaths.”
Recently, a top aide to Governor Cuomo admitted the Cuomo Administration intentionally withheld the state’s nursing home death toll from the U.S. Department of Justice. Governor Cuomo also threatened retaliation against a Democrat New York State Assemblyman who did not participate in his scheme to cover up the true nursing home data. In response to Governor Cuomo’s threats and obstruction of justice, two New York Democratic Members of Congress, including Oversight Committee Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have called for an investigation of the Cuomo Administration’s handling of nursing homes during COVID-19.
For more than nine months, Republicans on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis have repeatedly demanded accountability and transparency while blowing the whistle on Governor Cuomo’s actions. To date, Select Subcommittee Democrats, including Chairwoman Maloney, have declined to join Republicans in their efforts to hold Governor Cuomo accountable.