House panel threatens to subpoena former NY Gov Andrew Cuomo over COVID nursing home policies

Republican members of the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic are threatening to subpoena former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) over his alleged failure to respond to the committee’s investigation.

Committee Chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said Cuomo failed to produce any documents or communications related to his state’s COVID-19 nursing home policies. They said he has until Oct. 17 to cooperate. 

“To date, we have not received a single document from you. The Select Subcommittee is comprised of physicians from both sides of the aisle and members who take our responsibilities seriously,” Wenstrup wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

A spokesman for Cuomo slammed the lawmakers for playing political games, and said the former governor doesn’t have the information they are asking about.

“This letter is a farce,” said Rich Azzopardi. “The data they seek — which has already been reviewed twice by the DOJ, as well as the State Assembly and the AG …. is with the state. Once again, it’s unfortunate that some DC politicians are seeking to transparently weaponize people’s pain to advance a political agenda.”

The panel is investigating COVID-19 nursing home policy decisions made by Cuomo, as well as the Democratic leaders of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Specifically, the panel is looking into Cuomo’s “must admit” order, which said nursing homes could not turn away patients who tested positive for COVID-19, as long as they were medically stable.

The facilities were also prohibited from requiring hospitalized residents to be tested for the virus before their admission or readmission in nursing homes.

The move was made early in the pandemic and was meant to help relieve overburdened hospitals, which were sending patients elsewhere to help free up capacity. 

The virus decimated nursing homes, killing more than 15,000 people. Cuomo’s policies have come under state and federal investigation, and former members of his administration are facing waves of civil lawsuits on behalf of those who died.

Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office issued a report in 2021 that found the state health department undercounted COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50 percent.

Wenstrup and Malliotakis said the panel requested a transcribed interview with Cuomo and called for any documents and communications related to the state’s pandemic-era nursing home policy decisions.

Updated at 12:05 p.m.