15 August 2021: Lt. Gov. Hochul Claims She'll "Fully Cooperate" with Cuomo Nursing Home Deaths Probes

Cuomo successor Kathy Hochul vows to 'fully cooperate' with COVID nursing home probe

NY Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul indicates she will "fully cooperate" with requests for data on Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. But doing so won't be her top priority after being sworn in after Cuomo's resignation takes effect on 24 August 2021.

Incoming New York governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday vowed to "fully cooperate" with requests for data on the nursing home scandal facing Andrew Cuomo’s administration – though she stressed other priorities included getting COVID relief money out to landlords and illegal immigrants.

"I'm not going to raise expectations that I have those documents in my hand on day one," Hochul, the lieutenant governor set to replace Gov. Andrew Cuomo next week, said in an appearance on CBS’ "Face the Nation." "What I have done already is met with the commissioner of health and we will be talking about what outstanding requests for data are in the realm. I will look at those and have my team focus on that early on."

"I have to tell ya, on Day 1, I am focused on COVID," Hochul, a Democrat, continued. "We have to deal with the fact that the rates are rising. I want to get money out to people. We have way too much money sitting there that should be going to renters, the landlords who are suffering. And I also want to get the money out for the excluded worker program where people who are immigrants aren’t getting any money because they aren’t documented and that money is sitting there unspent."

"So I have a lot of priorities, but I will absolutely make sure that my administration fully cooperates with these requests for data," she said.

If she follows through, that would be an improvement over the Cuomo administration. One red flag is her stating she met with the "commissioner of health", which would be a reference to Howard Zucker. Zucker played an instrumental role in implementing and enforcing the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive, and also played a substantial role in its subsequent cover-up, which has resulted in calls for his ouster from public office.