AOC calls for ‘full investigation’ into Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined growing calls for an investigation into New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I … stand with our local officials calling for a full investigation of the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during Covid-19,” the high-profile progressive congresswoman, who represents a New York City district, said in a statement on Friday.

Last week, it was revealed that a Cuomo aide told New York legislators the true picture of nursing home deaths wasn’t given last year, for fear it would be used against the governor during an investigation launched by Donald Trump’s justice department.

Cuomo, who has already published a book about his handling of the crisis, has dismissed claims of wrongdoing. On Friday, he said information was not produced fast enough, which created “a void. And conspiracy theories and politics and rumors fill that void and you can’t allow inaccurate information to go unanswered.”

But in January, New York state attorney general Leticia James said nursing home deaths from Covid-19 were undercounted by as much as 50%. Now, federal prosecutors in New York City and the FBI are reported to be investigating and state officials are seeking to strip Cuomo of emergency powers.

The governor is under increasing pressure and Ocasio-Cortez’s intervention adds drama to a combustible mix.

As a former federal housing secretary and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, the governor is a pillar of the Democratic centrist establishment. Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez has rapidly risen to become a prominent voice on the progressive wing of the party.

In her statement, she said: “Thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers lost their lives in nursing homes throughout the pandemic. Their loved ones and the public deserve answers and transparency from their elected leadership, and the secretary to the governor’s remarks warrant a full investigation.”

In March, at the outset of the pandemic, New York reeled from a surge in cases. While Cuomo rose to worldwide prominence as the face of efforts to tackle the problem, an administration directive said nursing homes should not deny admission or readmission to a patient because they had Covid-19.

That policy was rescinded two months later. Keeping the true number of nursing home residents who died hidden would theoretically deflect any blame for a bad policy choice. Cuomo has blamed staff entering nursing homes for spreading the virus to the vulnerable population, not patients brought in with Covid-19. He has said it would be discriminatory not to let those patients into nursing homes.

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The scandal has spread to CNN, a network which has a major presence in New York and for which Cuomo’s younger brother, Chris Cuomo, is a primetime host.

Interviews between the two brothers went viral last spring but the network has now reinstated a prohibition on Chris Cuomo interviewing or covering his brother.

The last time the governor appeared on his brother’s show, in June, Chris Cuomo asked: “Nursing homes. People died there. They didn’t have to. It was mismanaged. And the operators have been given immunity. What do you have to say about that?”

Andrew Cuomo replied that some of what his brother said was incorrect, adding: “But that’s OK. It’s your show. You say whatever you want to say.”