Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to testify before Congress about COVID nursing home deaths

Cuomo is scheduled to appear on September 10, where he will be questioned about his administration’s issuance of “unscientific guidance that forced New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-19 positive patients,” according to a press release from the committee.

Earlier this year, Cuomo appeared before the Select Subcommittee for a seven-hour, closed-door, transcribed interview. The Select Subcommittee has also conducted transcribed interviews with nine high-ranking former Cuomo Administration officials, including the former Secretary to the Governor, Ms. Melissa DeRosa, and the former New York Health Department Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker.

According to the release, transcripts from all interviews related to the New York nursing home crisis will be released before Cuomo’s hearing.

Wenstrup said, “Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 10, Americans will have the opportunity to hear directly from the former governor about New York’s potentially fatal nursing home policies.”

“During closed-door testimony, Mr. Cuomo was shockingly callous when pressed to explain discrepancies in nursing home death counts, repeatedly deflected responsibility for the nursing home directive, and most egregiously, showed little remorse for the thousands of lives lost," Wenstrup added. “A true leader owns up to his mistakes and takes responsibility for wrongdoing. That is not what we saw from Mr. Cuomo during his term as governor nor during his transcribed interview. We hope that during his public hearing next week, Mr. Cuomo will stop dodging accountability and honestly answer the American people.”

The hearing will be open to the public and press and will be live-streamed.