Governor Cuomo’s top aide particularly apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the death toll in the COVID-19 state nursing home – telling them “we froze” for fear that the real numbers would be “used.” against us “by federal prosecutors, the Post learned.
The impressive admission of a cover-up was made by Governor Melissa DeRosa’s secretary during a videoconference with Democratic state leaders, in which she said the Cuomo government rejected a legislative request for counting in August because “at about the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns it into a giant political football, ”according to an audio recording of the two-hour meeting.
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” said DeRosa. “He starts to go after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, start chasing [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, start chasing [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer. “
In addition to attacking Cuomo’s other Democratic governors, DeRosa said, Trump “instructs the Justice Department to do an investigation on us.”
“And basically, we froze,” she told lawmakers on the call.
“Because then we were in a position where we were not sure whether what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we gave you, what we started to say, would be used against us while we were not sure whether there would be an investigation. “
DeRosa added: “That played a very important role in that.”
After dropping the bomb, DeRosa asked for “a little appreciation of the context” and offered what appears to be the Cuomo government’s first apology for dealing with asylums in the midst of the pandemic.
But, instead of a mea culpa to bereaved family members of more than 13,000 dead elderly people or critics who say the Department of Health spread COVID-19 in health centers with a March 25 State Health Department policy For nursing homes to admit infected patients, DeRosa tried to make peace with the other Democrats for the political inconveniences it caused them.
“So, we apologize,” she said. “I understand the position you were placed in. I know it’s not fair. It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans. “
Assembly Health Committee chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) immediately rejected DeRosa’s expression of remorse, according to the recording.
“I don’t have enough time to explain all the reasons why I don’t give it any credit,” said Gottfried, one of the lawmakers who demanded data on the death toll in August.
State Senate Aging Committee chairwoman Rachel May (D-Syracuse) – who was beaten during her candidacy for reelection last year because of deaths in nursing homes – also attacked DeRosa, saying that her former opponent had launched another attack earlier in the day.
“And the problem for me, the biggest one is feeling that I need to defend – or at least not attack – a government that seemed to be covering up something,” she said.
“And in one, in a pandemic, when you want the public to trust public health officials, and there is this clear feeling that they are not coming, being open to you, that is really difficult and it remains difficult.”
Deputy Ron Kim (D-Queens), who took part in the call, told The Post on Thursday that DeRosa’s comments sounded “as if they admitted they were trying to evade any incriminating evidence that might put the administration [Health Department] in more trouble with the Department of Justice. “
“This is how I understand their reasoning about why they were unable to share the data in real time,” said Kim.
“They first needed to make sure that the state was protected from federal investigations.”
Kim, whose uncle allegedly died of COVID-19 in a nursing home in April, also said he was not satisfied with DeRosa’s apologies.
“It is not enough how sorry they are with us,” he said. “They need to show that to the public and to families – and they didn’t.”
In addition to preventing lawmakers from the total number of asylum residents killed by COVID-19, the Cuomo administration also turned down requests from the media – including the Post – and fought a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the Empire Center on Public Policy.
Instead, it only released data on the number of residents who died in their nursing homes.
But after Attorney General Letitia James released a hard-hitting report last month that estimated deaths of nursing home residents in hospitals would increase the dismal count by more than 50 percent, Health Commissioner Howard Zucker finally released data showing that the combined total was 12,743 on January 19.
Just a day earlier, DOH was publicly acknowledging only 8,711 deaths in nursing homes.
In a letter on Wednesday to lawmakers, Zucker said the total number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19 increased to 13,297. This number jumps to 15,049 when adult / elderly care facilities are considered.
The controversy sparked by James’ report led to an infamous press conference in which Cuomo insensibly dismissed the question of where fatalities at the nursing home actually occurred.
“Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died, ”he said.
During Wednesday’s conference call, DeRosa said it seemed that the DOJ was no longer focused on deaths in New York’s nursing homes.
“All signs indicate that they are not looking at this, they have abandoned it,” she said.
“They never formally opened an investigation. They sent a letter with a series of questions and then we answered those questions and it looks like they are gone. “
In a prepared statement, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said: “We explained that the Trump administration was in the midst of a politically motivated effort to blame democratic states for COVID’s deaths and that we were cooperating with the production of federal documents and that was the priority and now that it’s over, we can address the state legislature. ”
“That said, we were working simultaneously to complete the audit of the information they were requesting,” he added.
DOJ declined to comment.