Andrew Cuomo’s top aide admitted that his administration ‘froze’ in August when asked to provide data detailing COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients and then hid the information amid fears that it would be used against them in an investigation by the Trump Administration Department of Justice.
In a notable confession made during a conference call with Democrats from the state of New York, obtained by The New York Post, Melissa DeRosa asked for the understanding of her critics.
She told lawmakers: ‘We were in a position where we were not sure whether what we were going to give 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. . ‘
His shocking revelations came just before the Associated Press published new details about how many recovering COVID patients were sent back to nursing homes. They found more than 9,000 readmissions – 40 percent more than official data.
In January, the AP reported that the number of deaths caused by COVID among nursing home patients was 15,000 – an increase almost 50 percent higher than official statistics.
Cuomo’s treatment of nursing homes during the pandemic is under intense scrutiny.
Melissa DeRosa (left), Andrew Cuomo’s secretary (right), admitted that they ‘froze’
Ambulance workers pick up an elderly man at the Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, who has reported an alarming number of deaths from COVID-19. Cuomo was criticized for his policy
On March 25, he ordered health facilities to readmit COVID-positive patients due to concerns about space in hospitals – despite fears of how the virus would spread among vulnerable elderly people.
He later reversed the decision on May 10, preventing nursing homes from accepting COVID-19 patients without a negative test first.
State health officials say that asymptomatic employees in the nursing home, not recovering patients with COVID-19, were the determining factor in outbreaks in nursing homes.
Critics insist that his policy – which saw 9,000 people readmitted to their nursing homes – claimed thousands of lives.
Some states, including Connecticut, established COVID 19 nursing homes only relatively early.
DeRosa, 38, is seen as Cuomo’s right-hand man
Cuomo was asked repeatedly for more details for months, but dodged the questions.
Last month, it was found that 15,000 people in nursing homes died of COVID-19 – a huge increase from the official 8,500 figure.
On February 3, a New York State Supreme Court judge, Judge Kimberly O’Connor, determined that Cuomo has five business days to respond to a FOIL request to disclose data on COVID-19 in nursing homes.
The lawsuit was filed by Senator Jim Tedisco and the Empire Center for Public Policy, and O’Connor in his decision criticized the Department of Health for delaying the release of data from nursing homes for several months.
In the call on Thursday, DeRosa admitted that he deliberately hid the data after the Trump administration began asking questions.
The state democrats asked for the data in August, “at about the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns it into a giant political football, ‘she said.
“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.
On Thursday, the New York State Department of Health reported 10,099 new cases of COVID-19
DeRosa admitted in Thursday’s call that, in the spotlight, the Cuomo government ‘froze’
Trump also, she said, ‘instructs the Justice Department to do an investigation on us.’
‘And basically, we froze.
‘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.
‘It played a very important role in that.’
DeRosa then asked for ‘a little appreciation of the context’.
She then offered Democratic lawmakers an apology for the “political position” that Cuomo’s order placed them.
She said to the employees, ‘We are sorry. 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.
Relatives of COVID victims in nursing homes and Cuomo critics were outraged by the news.
Janice Dean, the Fox News meteorologist who lost her mother and father-in-law in a New York nursing home, told Hannity on Thursday night: “If this guy were a Republican, he would probably be in prison now.”
Dean previously said to Mark Steyn: ‘This is the biggest bomb we’ve had so far.
‘We had a list of the numbers. We knew that the numbers were much higher than the governor was admitting.
‘More than 15,000 residents died of receiving COVID in their nursing homes … and now the biggest bomb coming from the New York Post that their secretary, Melissa DeRosa, admitted they covered up.
‘We need to see these people on stage, with a jury, with us, the people who lost our loved ones, in the audience to see them tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
‘Justice needs to be done.
‘We don’t have our loved ones here today, but by God, I’m here to be the voice of them all.’ ‘
Dean said she was never politically active, but the issue is deeply “personal” for her and her family.
‘I have never been a political person in my life [but] affected my family. I am speaking on their behalf. Today is your 60th wedding anniversary, Mark, and the angels won.
She then tweeted: ‘They should all go to jail.’
Janice Dean, a Fox News meteorologist, described Thursday’s report as “the biggest bomb we’ve had so far”
Steve Scalise, the Republican leader of the House, tweeted: ‘There you go. Cuomo’s aide has just admitted that he covered up data from the nursing home so that federal prosecutors couldn’t find it. It’s time for federal investigations. It’s time for lawsuits. It’s time for JUSTICE. ‘
He added: ‘The more the truth is revealed, the worse for Cuomo.’
Matt Vespa, senior editor at TownHall.com, called for an urgent investigation.
“With Biden now president, Cuomo people admit what many already suspected: they intentionally hid the actual number of COVID deaths from nursing homes in a massive cover-up that justifies a federal investigation,” he said.
‘Biden DOJ should investigate this … if they care about law and order.’
And Buck Sexton, a conservative commentator and podcast host, said: ‘Imagine for a moment that a Republican governor – by executive order – would send 9,000 greedy elderly people back to nursing homes, causing major deaths
– But Cuomo is part of the liberal system, so they allowed him to cover it up while they could.