Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo testified Tuesday before adversarial members of the House select coronavirus pandemic subcommittee.
The heated discussion revolved around the former governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely regarding nursing home-related deaths at the beginning of the outbreak.
Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) led the charge by accusing Cuomo of issuing a March 2020 advisory that was more so a “directive” pressuring nursing homes to readmit patients who tested positive for COVID.
The Republican leader then invited Cuomo to make an opening statement “without naming and blaming others.”
Cuomo responded by calling former President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic “horrific” while describing a situation where states were left to fend for themselves.
“It was the COVID ‘Hunger Games,’ ” Cuomo testified. “The federal government was nowhere to be found.”
He emphasized that 1.2 million Americans died during the pandemic to make his point.
Cuomo also pushed back against the notion that New York nursing homes were pressured to house people infected with the coronavirus.
“It was up to the discretion of the nursing home,” Cuomo testified.
He said the reason he didn’t immediately report a comprehensive count of how many people died in senior housing facilities was because it took time to gather statistics he could trust.
Republican members interrogating Cuomo on behalf of the subcommittee included New York Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Elise Stefanik, who accused Cuomo of focusing on a book deal at the height of the pandemic.
“This is not about political theater,” Cuomo snapped as he and Stefanik accused one another of distorting facts.
Stefanik, of upstate Schuylerville, charged Cuomo’s administration with implementing a “fatal executive order” inconsistent with health officials’ guidelines and undercounting nursing home deaths.
“There’s a reason you’re the former governor of New York State and you will never hold elected office again,” she said to a quickly muted round of applause.
When it was her turn, Malliotakis (R-S.I., Brooklyn) accused Cuomo of trying to escape accountability.
“The buck stops with you,” she said. “You show no responsibility for the actions of your administration, and that’s not leadership.”
Before the proceedings began, Wenstrup accused the Cuomo administration of “recklessly exposing New York’s most vulnerable population to COVID-19” in a statement published Monday.
His comments coincided with a 48-page report accusing Cuomo of trying to undermine fatality numbers after issuing the March 2020 “directive” for senior centers to readmit patients who tested positive for the virus.
A spokesman for the former governor noted that a thorough investigation concluded by New York officials in June found “no evidence” of wrongdoing by the 66-year-old Democrat and dismissed the congressional inquiry as a waste of taxpayer resources.
That report, however, did fault the state’s efforts as “rushed and uncoordinated” due to Cuomo’s “top down” management style, which sometimes caused confusion at the local level.
The state Health Department said 13,000 nursing home residents died from the coronavirus in the year following the 2020 guidelines endorsed by the governor’s office in coordination with state health officials.
But the former governor was widely praised for his COVID-19 briefings while in office. His 2020 book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” was a best seller.
Cuomo left office in August 2021 amid sexual harassment claims he denies.
His dealings with lawmakers don’t appear to be over. The House panel announced Tuesday it was issuing a subpoena to compel Gov. Hochul to provide records pertaining to her predecessor’s handling of the pandemic.
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