Cuomo aide admits they hid nursing home data after Trump pressured them on Twitter



An aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted that they hid nursing home data on coronavirus infections after former President Donald Trump began pressuring them on Twitter.

Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa apologized to state Democratic leaders about the cover-up in a video conference call, according to a two hour recording reviewed by the New York Post.

DeRosa also appeared to pass the blame onto Trump by claiming that they were scared by his tweets.

"[R]ight around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football," she said on the recording.

"He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes," DeRosa continued. "He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer."

"And basically, we froze," she said.

DeRosa said that Trump directing the Department of Justice to look into the matter forced them to hide the numbers.

"Because then we were in a position where we weren't sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren't sure if there was going to be an investigation," she added.

DeRosa apologized, not to the families of the thousands of people who died of coronavirus in nursing homes, but to the state's Democrats for the political inconvenience of their cover-up.

"So we do apologize," she said. "I do understand the position that you were put in. I know that it is not fair. It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans."

A spokesperson for Cuomo's office released a statement about the report:

We explained that the Trump administration was in the midst of a politically motivated effort to blame democratic states for COVID deaths and that we were cooperating with Federal document productions and that was the priority and now that it is over we can address the state legislature.

That said, we were working simultaneously to complete the audit of information they were asking for.

The bombshell dropped on the same day as a damaging report by the Associated Press that documented how the New York state health department underreported the true numbers of coronavirus patients sent to nursing homes under Cuomo's order.

Here's more about the stunning admission from DeRosa:

Cuomo aide admits hiding COVID nursing home data from the fedswww.youtube.com

'Bombshell' report says thousands more coronavirus patients were sent to nursing homes than Cuomo previously admitted



A report from the Associated Press documenting thousands more of coronavirus cases being sent to nursing homes under New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being described as a bombshell for his administration.

The report says that new documents say that more than 9,000 recovering patients were sent to nursing homes early in the pandemic.

That figure would be about 40% higher than originally reported by the New York state health department.

Cuomo has been under fire in recent weeks over reports that the deaths in nursing homes from coronavirus were far higher than his administration reported.

When Cuomo was confronted with the startling report, he angrily dismissed it and said it didn't matter where the people died.

The new documents obtained by the AP show that the health department had previously only reported new cases of coronavirus that were sent to nursing homes. The higher statistic takes into account previously unreleased numbers of coronavirus patients that were "readmissions" into nursing homes.

Cuomo faced fierce criticism over the order to admit coronavirus patients into nursing homes he made on March 25, when pandemic deaths were peaking in New York. He later rescinded that order on May 10.

Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean excoriated Cuomo over the alarming revelation. Dean's in-laws both died of coronavirus they caught while at a New York nursing home after Cuomo's order.

"This is a bombshell," tweeted Dean.

This is a bombshell. We were told just over 6,000 patients. The numbers are skyrocketing not only in terms of infe… https://t.co/3d9WzblouC
— Janice Dean (@Janice Dean)1613086428.0

"We were told just over 6,000 patients. The numbers are skyrocketing not only in terms of infected patients but the total number of seniors that died is now over 15,000 which is 65% higher than what @NYGovCuomo has been saying up until a week ago," she added.

New York state Republicans on the Oversight and Investigations Committee are calling for officials to be subpoena'd for a public hearing in order to get to the bottom of the nursing home scandal. They say that so far their efforts have been stonewalled by the health department and the governor's office, according to WCBS-TV.

Here's more about the damaging nursing home report:

New York State Lawmakers Call For Hearing On Nursing Home Deathswww.youtube.com

NY Senate Democrats block subpoena of records in Gov. Cuomo's nursing home scandal



Democrats in the New York Senate blocked a motion to subpoena records that would shed further light on the scandal involving the coronavirus deaths at the state's nursing homes.

State Sen. Thomas O'Mara, a Republican, made the motion Monday during a virtual meeting of the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations.

The scandal threatens to despoil the self-aggrandizement of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for what he has tried to portray as a competent state government response to the pandemic. On Thursday, his administration was hit with a bombshell in the form of a scathing report by the state attorney general's office in New York that accused Cuomo of underreporting the number of actual coronavirus deaths in nursing homes.

Instead of approving the motion on Monday, Democrats blocked it and muted O'Mara's microphone during the meeting.

Sen. James Skoufis, the top Democrat on the committee, accused O'Mara of an "ambush" for not giving him notice before the meeting, and said it was procedurally out of order because it wasn't made in writing.

"It is time for the Senate Democrat Majority to stop stonewalling and protecting Governor Cuomo on the nursing homes crisis," O'Mara said in response.

"In the wake of the attorney general's report, the failure of the Investigations Committee to immediately issue subpoenas and demand testimony from Governor Cuomo and his administration once again completely abandons legislative responsibility," he added. "It makes the Senate Democrats complicit in this tragedy. Every step of the way, the Senate Democrat Majority has been willing to give the Cuomo administration every opportunity to keep trying to cover its tracks and rewrite its false story on nursing homes."

'Their failure to act is shameful'

NY state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R) also excoriated the Democrats for blocking the motion.

"This partisan decision in the wake of the AG's report is a dereliction of duty on their part and a grave injustice for the families of the deceased. This is the sole committee equipped with the power to fully investigate state government, and their failure to act is shameful," said Palumbo in a statement.

When Cuomo was confronted about the report Friday, he lashed out and said that it didn't really matter whether the deaths were in a nursing home or outside of one.

"New York state we're only about 28% … but were below the national average in number of deaths in nursing homes," Cuomo said. "But who cares?" 33 [percent], 28 [percent], died in a hospital, died in a nursing home — they died!"

In October, Cuomo released a book touting the alleged success of his administration in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Later he released a celebratory poster as well.

Here's more about the Cuomo nursing home scandal:

NY A.G. James Probes Cuomo On Nursing Home Deaths | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBCwww.youtube.com