Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, RN.Y., told America’s Newsroom on Tuesday that she believes it is “for resignation, prosecution or next year at the polls”, “Governor Andrew Cuomo’s days are over.”
She noted that “thousands of New Yorkers” accessed her website to sign a petition calling for the Democratic governor’s resignation.
Cuomo has faced calls to resign since the Associated Press reported that his government has significantly underestimated the number of recovering COVID-19 patients who were sent back to nursing homes to recover under a controversial order he implemented last March. The Associated Press found that nearly 15,000 long-term care patients died of COVID-19 in nursing homes, out of the approximately 8,500 deaths previously reported.
Criticism intensified after Cuomo’s aide, Melissa DeRosa, admitted during a private call that the government withheld data requested by New York state legislatures because they feared they could be “used against us” by the Department of Justice of the United States. then President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Malliotakis said that Cuomo’s treatment of nursing homes during the height of the pandemic was “completely unacceptable”.
On Monday, Cuomo gave a press conference in which the New York Democratic governor, in trouble, admitted that he should have acted earlier to release relevant data related to COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes amid growing criticism of the form how your government handled the scandal.
In his first press conference since reports emerged that his office underreported or withheld critical information about deaths in nursing homes during the pandemic, Cuomo said that all relevant information was “reported in full, publicly and accurately.” When asked if he felt the need to apologize, the New York governor said his team’s failure to address concerns publicly created a “vacuum” that allowed “conspiracy theories” to spread.
“We made a mistake in creating the void,” said Cuomo. “We made a mistake in creating the void when we didn’t provide information, allowing the press, cynics and politicians to fill the void.”
New York State Democrats attacked Cuomo on Monday after the news conference in which he made the disputed allegation about handling his administration of data requests on COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes.
CUOMO AIDE SAID THE NY DEMOCRATS ADMINISTRATION HIDDEN DOMESTIC NURSING DATA TO KEEP FROM TRUMP DOJ: REPORT
The governor sought to clarify his team’s actions at the news conference, telling reporters that the Department of Justice and state legislatures sent requests for data at the same time last summer. Cuomo said his team chose to prioritize the federal inquiry and informed state lawmakers that their request for data would be “paused” in the meantime.
“We gave precedence to the DOJ. We told the assembly, we told the Senate and that is what we did. We were also in the middle of managing a pandemic,” Cuomo said at a news conference.
Cuomo said that any disconnection between his cabinet and state lawmakers was the result of a “failure in communication between the team and members of the legislature”. But several Democratic lawmakers, including New York state senator Jessica Ramos, denied that Cuomo’s office informed them of his decision.
Ramos is one of several state Democratic lawmakers who have called for Cuomo to be stripped of his emergency powers by mishandling nursing home data.
New York State senators Alessandra Biaggi and Gustavo Rivera, both Democrats, also criticized Cuomo’s statements. Both lawmakers said they learned of the DOJ’s investigation of deaths in New York nursing homes in local newspapers, rather than in the governor’s office.
Representatives of New York State Assembly President Carl Heastie, a Democrat, also resisted Cuomo’s claim.
Malliotakis said she thinks some “Democrats are upset” because she believes that “frankly they supported him”.
She noted that when she was a member of the state legislature on August 3, there was a bipartisan hearing with the health commissioner.
“He blocked it, came a little and then left. He didn’t answer any of our questions,” said Malliotakis. “Then came the letter of August 26 from the Department of Justice and he [Cuomo is] trying to use that as the reason he hasn’t given us any answers since the summer and that is completely unacceptable. “
“So, of course, these legislators are being criticized a lot by their constituents who want answers,” she continued. “There are families that deserve justice and I asked him to resign.”
“I hope they will also join me in this effort,” continued Malliotakis.
A spokesman for Ramos, Biaggi, Rivera and Heastie did not immediately respond to Fox News ‘request to comment on whether they call for Cuomo’s resignation or a response to Malliotakis’ statements.
Cuomo said that state legislatures were “wrong” in suggesting that they were never informed about the delay in requesting their data. The governor regretted the delay in disclosing the data, admitting that the requests “should have been prioritized”.
“The void creates disinformation and creates more anxiety for the families of loved ones,” he said.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied that his office has withheld or misrepresented data related to deaths in nursing homes.
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A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Thomas Barrabi of Fox News contributed to this report.