DOJ investigating Andrew Cuomo over COVID-19 nursing home deaths
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his controversial decision to place COVID-19 patients in nursing homes during the pandemic.
The DOJ had opened up the investigation about a month ago into claims that Cuomo lied to members of U.S. Congress about his actions as governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, two sources familiar with the matter told The New York Times.
This investigation began not long after the Trump administration dismissed a criminal indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
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Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid sexual harassment claims, is currently running for mayor of New York City in the Democratic primary. If nominated, he would likely face Adams, who is running as an independent, in the next election.
Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, told the outlet that he considered the investigation "lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against."
"[Cuomo] testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political," Azzopardi said.
In March 2020, as the pandemic was spreading worldwide, the Cuomo administration sent around 9,000 recovering COVID-19 patients to hundreds of nursing homes in New York.
While the move was meant to alleviate the burden facing hospitals, it was widely criticized for putting elderly New York residents in danger and for possibly causing thousands of deaths.
As many as 15,000 nursing home residents in New York died from COVID-19 during the time period that Cuomo's order was in effect, The Associated Press reported in 2021.
Cuomo gained even more scrutiny when an audit accused his administration of undercounting the number of documented COVID-19-related deaths in New York-based nursing homes, saying the state health department "conformed" its narrative to present "data in a manner that misled the public."
In January 2022, reports surfaced that the former governor would not face prosecution for his nursing home placement order.
Last September, Cuomo testified before the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic about the placement of coronavirus patients into nursing homes.
Cuomo had previously spoken with the Select Subcommittee in June 2024 for a recorded interview that was held behind closed doors and had lasted around seven hours.
The Justice Department's investigation into Cuomo comes less than six months before the New York City mayoral election, where polling indicates that Cuomo is favored to win both the primary and general elections. A Marist College poll of 3,383 likely Democratic primary voters conducted from May 1-8 found Cuomo capturing a plurality (37%) of the vote among Democratic primary voters in New York City against eight other candidates.
When eliminating the undecided voters and using several rounds of ranked-choice voting to eliminate the candidates who receive the lowest share of the vote, Cuomo is the last candidate standing among Democratic primary voters. He secures 60% of the vote against Zohran Mamdani.
A poll of 1,000 registered voters in New York City conducted by Emerson College from March 21-24 finds Cuomo leading with 43% of the vote in a hypothetical general election matchup, with Republican Curtis Sliwa at 13%, Adams at 11% and independent Jim Walden at 4%.
