New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is now facing a new federal inquiry stemming from the revelation that his office lied about the state’s nursing home coronavirus death data.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether Cuomo, his aides or the state’s health department submitted falsified data to the Department of Justice following the agency’s request for information last year, according to a report in the New York Times.
The DOJ’s original probe in late August sought information from several states — New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan — that implemented similar controversial policies that required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients.
The current federal inquiry started within recent weeks with several of Cuomo’s lawyers and senior officials being interviewed and subpoenaed for documents related to the August probe, according to the report. Cuomo could face criminal charges if evidence finds that the state submitted false information to the DOJ.
A lawyer representing Cuomo’s office said in a statement that “the submission in response to DOJ’s August request was truthful and accurate and any suggestion otherwise is demonstrably false.”
Cuomo has been under severe scrutiny since the bombshell admission in February that state officials purposely withheld nursing home coronavirus data out of fear it would be used against them.
