The Department of Justice is being accused of a partisan attack in an effort to humiliate Democratic governors after it announced a potential probe into four states’ controversial nursing home policies. 

The department has faced harsh criticism since its request in late August for data from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan pertaining to each state’s response to COVID-19 in its nursing homes. The DOJ noted that each state issued orders requiring nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients, which may have resulted in the deaths of nursing home residents. It added that its Civil Rights Division is “evaluating whether to initiate investigations” into those orders, but it has not officially launched a probe. 

“We must ensure they are adequately cared for with dignity and respect and not unnecessarily put at risk,” Eric Dreiband, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

A former DOJ Civil Rights Division official said it is unusual for a preliminary inquiry to be publicized. 

Ordinarily, “that would be handled at a much, much lower level in a much quieter fashion, because you’re much more likely to get the information you’re looking for, and to use it to determine whether there’s a problem that warrants an investigation or not,”Jonathan Smith, who served in the Civil Rights division in the Obama administration, told The Hill.

“This was not intended to solve a problem that exists in nursing homes. It was intended to embarrass Democratic governors,” Smith added. 

The inquiry also was called an “abuse of authority,” by Margo Schlanger, a former civil rights official for the Department of Homeland Security. 

“This is supposed to be an apolitical civil rights statute … and what the signs point to is that it’s being used to embarrass the president’s political opponents,” she told The Hill.

This isn’t the first time New York, Michigan and New Jersey have faced pressure to answer for their controversial nursing home policies. In June, House Republicans sent letters to the governors of those states, plus Pennsylvania and California, seeking answers about their pandemic response in regards to nursing homes. Those requests were ignored.