WASHINGTON — The Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 held a hearing entitled “Hearing on Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo” to investigate the former governor’s role in issuing unscientific guidelines that forced New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit positive COVID-19 cases. Prior to the hearing, the Select Subcommittee released memos, including evidence from over 500,000 documents and 10 transcribed interviews, revealing that Cuomo and his team were involved in the decision to issue New York’s disastrous March 25 directive and subsequently repeatedly acted to downplay the tragic consequences of that decision. The Commissioners held Cuomo accountable for this failure and demanded that he immediately apologize to the friends and families of the victims who suffered as a result of the March 25 directive. Both Commissioners grilled Cuomo about his lack of empathy and insensitive remarks regarding the underestimation of deaths in nursing homes. Chairman Wenstrup concluded the hearing by noting that even though Mr. Cuomo is not on trial today, he has refused to engage in the discussion about what happened in New York and how Americans can prevent this tragedy from happening again. The Select Subcommittee is committed to conducting a postmortem of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to hold individuals like Mr. Cuomo and his administration accountable as appropriate.
Important points for hearing tests
The Select Subcommittee on COVID-19 Publicly held former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo accountable for his role in issuing the disastrous March 25 directive that forced nursing homes to admit COVID-19 positive patients, publicly exposing his efforts to cover up the tragic consequences of his administration’s deadly decision. The hearing was an opportunity for Cuomo to take responsibility for this misconduct and provide the victims’ families and friends with the answers and honesty they deserved, but he remained evasive and defensive. In one surprising exchange, Cuomo further admitted that he never spoke to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the science behind the March 25 directive, either before or after it was issued. Members grilled Cuomo on the most significant findings of the Select Subcommittee’s two-year investigation into New York State’s pandemic response. The findings include that the March 25 directive was rescinded for “public relations reasons” and that the Cuomo Administration made a deliberate decision to exclude non-facility deaths from nursing home deaths in its count. Cuomo and his team prompted and edited the official New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) report, which was drafted to counter criticism of the March 25 directive. Contrary to his claims, the report is not “scientific” or “peer reviewed.” The Special Subcommittee announced that it would send subpoenas to the New York State Governor’s Office to compel the production of all documents the Governor is hiding related to former Governor Kathy Hockle’s failed pandemic policies.
Member Highlights
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, extracted a concession from Governor Cuomo that he did not speak with the CDC or CMS before or after he mandated New York nursing homes to admit positive coronavirus patients, contradicting Governor Cuomo’s explanation that his March 25 directive followed CDC and CMS guidance.
Chairman Wenstrup: “My question is, did Governor Cuomo speak to anyone at CMS or CDC about this directive in advance? Governor Cuomo, you.”
Cuomo: “You asked that question, and I answered that question and said no.”
Chairman Wenstrup: “Thank you. And that hasn’t happened since then?”
Cuomo: “I said yes, and then they never contacted me again. I figured if they had a problem with the directive, if it was that bad, they would have called me.”
Chairman Wenstrup: “You didn’t even call to verify that the information was accurate. Yes or no?”
Cuomo: “I don’t know if the Department of Health…”
Chairman Wenstrup: “Governor Cuomo, I’m telling you right now, Governor Cuomo, have you tried to verify that what you’ve declared is accurate? I’m asking you. I don’t want to hear about anybody else.”
Cuomo: “Okay. The Department of Health has issued 400 recommendations. Several per day. I have not discussed the 400 recommendations with CMS.”
Chairman Wenstrup: “Thank you. In fact, not a single person that we interviewed said they had consulted with them to ensure that the applicable science was being followed.”
Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) pressed Cuomo about his administration’s role in editing a New York State Department of Health report that blamed nursing homes, rather than the March 25 directive, for an increase in COVID-19 deaths. Chairman Comer cited the fact that the report was personally edited by Cuomo and his staff.
Chairman Comer: “On July 6, 2020, the Department of Health issued the report that you requested. Has this report been peer reviewed?”
Cuomo: “I don’t know.”
Chairman Comer: No. Was this report published in a medical journal?
Cuomo: “Not true.”
Chairman Comer: Was the Executive Branch involved in drafting and editing the report?
Cuomo: “The executive branch must have been involved”
Chairman Comer: “Yes. So you asked for a factual report and received one that had not been peer reviewed, had not been published in a medical journal, and was drafted and compiled by the alleged wrongdoing organization itself.”
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik of New York grilled Cuomo for negotiating the $5 million book deal after his administration’s disastrous March 25 directive led to the deaths of thousands of elderly Americans.
Chair Stefanick: “My question to you is why you were negotiating a multi-million dollar advance for the publication of your book at a time when seniors were dying in nursing homes. That is the issue before you.”
Cuomo: “Congressman, you can’t fabricate facts.”
Chair Stefanik: “You are the one who falsified the facts. You are the one who undercounted the nursing home deaths. That’s the one I want to hear from you right now. You apologized today, but there are families sitting here. I want you to turn around, look them in the eye and apologize, and you’ve failed to do that. Will you do that?”
Cuomo: “This is not political theater.”
Chairwoman Stefanik: “No, this is an accountability issue.”
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Chair Stefanik: “This order was issued in your name. It was against the CDC and CMS. This is about seniors, Governor. They should apologize directly to you for negotiating a multi-million dollar book deal. This is disgraceful. There’s a reason you’re a former Governor of New York State and should never hold public office again.”
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) condemned the false opinion pieces published before Mr. Cuomo’s hearing that sought to shift the blame from his administration to his political opponents. Assemblymember Malliotakis has publicly held Mr. Cuomo accountable for these falsehoods.
Rep. Malliotakis: “I had a series of questions planned, but after reading your opinion piece in Sunday’s Daily News and hearing your testimony here today, I intend to use my time to correct the half-truths and lies that are an insult to New Yorkers.”
“You cite CMS data to claim that New York had the 12th lowest death rate at the end of 2020, but CMS began collecting data in mid-May, so it does not include deaths from when your deadly directives were in full effect. Your administration reported 6,000 deaths; the actual number is 11,400, nearly double.”
“You claim that your March 25th directive never required nursing homes to admit COVID-positive patients. This is false. Your directive clearly states ‘you may not refuse admission to a resident’ and prohibits pre-admission COVID testing.”
“You asserted in your op-ed, and again today, that this directive mirrors CDC guidelines. This is also false. Both CMS and CDC use permissive language such as ‘can’ and ‘should’ rather than ‘must’ and ‘must.'”
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“The March 25 directive was claimed to be aimed at protecting hospital capacity, but despite the deployment of US Navy comfort ships and the Javits Center, they were underutilized.
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“You have tried to blame everyone, including the CDC, CMS, nursing home operators, nursing home staff, and the unspecified directive from the Department of Health that supposedly issued this directive, but the responsibility lies with you.”
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) questioned Governor Cuomo about why his devastating March 25 directive prohibited nursing homes from testing patients before they were admitted or readmitted. Instead of providing COVID-19 tests to the most vulnerable, Governor Cuomo prioritized testing for his family who lives in the Hamptons.
Rep. Miller-Meeks: “The state health director tried to shift the blame by claiming that the majority of nursing home deaths were due to asymptomatic staff unknowingly spreading the virus. As a former state public health director, I find it absolutely appalling and disrespectful that you have conscripted your own health department and tried to cover up your harmful policies. You prohibited nursing homes from mandating testing. CMS guidance allowed you, the nursing homes, and the state to determine who enters the facility, as long as there was proper allocation and proper isolation in the facility. But as you stated here today, if you have infection control programs and you are prohibiting infected people from entering nursing homes, why tie the nursing homes’ hands by prohibiting testing? How on earth do you know if you prohibited testing? Testing was possible. The CDC made mistakes with testing. I understand that, but you prohibited nursing homes from testing anyone who came from a hospital who could have easily been infected with COVID-19.”
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