New York, NY – EXCLUSIVE: New York lawmaker Michael Montesano said he plans to ask the state legislature to consider impeaching Governor Andrew Cuomo after a bombastic admission by his aide that his office allegedly covered up data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths to avoid an investigation Department of Justice on the matter.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve asked for subpoenas and a hearing,” Montesano, a Republican member of the state’s Oversight and Investigations Committee, told Fox News. “This news from the last few days is extremely worrying to me and I am going to ask for his resignation today and I am also going to ask the legislature to examine, to explore the presentation of impeachment articles against the governor if he does not resign.”
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Criminal investigation requests against Cuomo and his team increased after Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, told New York Democrats on Thursday that the Cuomo government feared that data on COVID-19 deaths could “be used” Against us “by the Department of Justice in the midst of its federal investigation initiated against four states over deaths in nursing homes, including New York, and so the government withheld the actual death count.
“This is now criminal,” said Montesano, a Republican who represents District-15. “The governor wants to talk about how our attacks on him are political. They are not politicians, that we had a feeling all along that they were covering up things, and now she admitted that she was covering up because she knew the Justice Department has an active investigation ongoing on the problems of the nursing home that many of us in the legislature, especially the minority, have asked us to do.
“She is obstructing an investigation. This is what makes it even more worrying, ”he added.
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“If I had to make a guess, I believe she realized that the DOJ is doing an investigation, things may be getting close and she wants to get rid of any wrongdoing she may have done if she covered up something and if she is trying to get it done” , Montesano said of De Rosa’s shocking confession, which she tried to avoid in a statement released on Friday.
US Representative Tom Reed, RN.Y., told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that he plans to bring criminal action against DeRosa so that she can be arrested.
Montesano said he supports the Congressman’s aggressive pressure to hold Cuomo and his top officials accountable, calling his conduct “very shocking”.
Cuomo had long faced criticism for his way of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic – in early 2020, after he ran nursing homes in the Empire State to accept patients who had or were suspected of having COVID-19. The decision created a violent attack on COVID-19 cases that infected thousands of elderly patients and resulted in hundreds of deaths among the state’s most vulnerable population.
In late January, New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that the Cuomo Health Department underreported COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by up to 50%.
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The New York Department of Health reported that on January 27, 2021, there were 5,957 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 in nursing homes and an additional 2,783 presumed deaths. In assisted care centers, 160 deaths and 52 presumed deaths occurred.
But on Wednesday, the state revealed that the death toll was 15,049 residents of elderly institutions (nursing homes and nursing homes / adult care facilities), according to a letter from the State Health Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, sent to the Senate Democrats.
New York lawmakers at the state and federal levels have increased pressure against the governor who asks for his resignation.
“Resignation is one thing and I have to be frank with you, he is too arrogant to think about doing that. He is for himself, not for these people,” Montesano told Fox News.
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“That’s why I’m asking if there is a possibility of impeachment under the New York State Constitution,” said Montesano. “It is worthwhile for the legislature to explore because this is far-reaching.”
Republican MP Kieran Lalor also said he supports an impeachment investigation in Cuomo.
“Because of the massive loss of life, the cover-up of deaths in nursing homes is no worse than the crime. But the cover-up is still extremely bad,” Lalor told Fox News in a statement. “There must be an investigation into whether Cuomo and his team obstructed the United States Department of Justice.”
“Cuomo’s advisor comments appear to be an admission of obstruction,” he added. “The public has a right to know to what extent the governor was involved in the obstruction. Unlike California, New York, unfortunately, has no mechanism by which citizens can try to directly remove an incumbent chief executive. In New York , it is up to the people elected representatives to use the impeachment process. The impeachment must be on the table. “