The House of Representatives will appeal to the ex-governor. Andrew Cuomo on criminal charges

NEW YORK – A House subcommittee investigating the government’s response to the pandemic will accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of making false statements to Congress and refer criminal charges to the U.S. Justice Department.

The appeal centers around Cuomo’s statements to the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic about his involvement in editing or reviewing a controversial July 2020 report on Covid deaths of nursing home residents.

“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious and calculated attempt to shield himself from liability,” the Rep. said. Brad Wenstrupthe Ohio Republican who chairs the commission, wrote in a 107-page referral Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly unlawful conduct when deciding whether to charge him with the false statements described in the application.”

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi accused the commission of a “taxpayer-funded farce” and abusing its investigative powers.

He added that the committee “has no basis for this MAGA election exercise and has decided to act unethically to help its masters score cheap political points.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the ex-governor’s lawyer filed an application to initiate a criminal case The Justice Department, which accused the House panel of “misuse of government resources and invasion of government prerogatives.”

The House panel’s appeal comes at a sensitive time for Cuomo, who has been… considering a political comeback.

The former governor has not ruled out a run for mayor of New York as incumbent Democrat Eric Adams fights federal corruption charges.

Cuomo resigned in August 2021 after a report by state Attorney General Letitia James found that he sexually harassed 11 women. He denies any wrongdoing.

Polls showed Cuomo, who remains highly visible, is competitive in the Democratic mayoral primary.

But Cuomo’s critics left and right believe his Covid record makes him vulnerable to voters.

Cuomo has become a national celebrity for his pioneering handling of the pandemic, with his televised news conference serving as meeting watch for New Yorkers at home.

His nursing home policies came under scrutiny after the state Department of Health ordered in March 2020 that facilities not turn away Covid-positive patients amid concerns that hospitals would be filled with sick people.

As criticism intensified in the spring and summer of 2020, state health officials released a report tallying the death toll of nursing home residents. James’s Office Separate Assessment January 2021 later defined The Cuomo administration significantly undercounted the number of deaths of people who initially contracted Covid in nursing homes and died.

Cuomo told House investigators in June that he had not reviewed the July 2020 report.

“I didn’t do it,” Cuomo said in June, speaking behind closed doors. “It might have been in my inbox, but I didn’t.”

He later added that he “doesn’t remember reviewing” or seeing it.

“It’s a joke — the governor said he didn’t remember because he didn’t remember,” Azzopardi said. “The committee lied in their appeal just as they lied to the public and the press.”

The subcommittee’s referral includes testimony from former Cuomo advisers who told investigators they were involved in editing the report before it was released.

And days before the July report was released, a Cuomo aide emailed: “The Governor’s amendments are attached for your review.”