6 January 2022: Manhattan DA's Dropping Cuomo Nursing Home Deaths Cover-up Case "Shady and Fishy"

Families of NY nursing home victims slam Manhattan DA for dropping Cuomo probe: 'Shady and fishy'

This report covers the reaction of families whose sick, elderly members residing in New York nursing homes died of COVID during the period Andrew M. Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect to the news that the Manhattan district attorney's office would not pursue criminal charges related to Cuomo's attempted cover-up of the full extent of those deaths. Here's an excerpt:

A man who lost his father in a New York nursing home slammed the Manhattan district attorney's office for dropping the probe of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration.

"What I would say to the new D.A. is start out with why was the strategy of the Cuomo administration to send positive patients to nursing homes as the only strategy rather than the absolute last?" Peter Arbeeny told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. He also asked why families of those who died were not interviewed as part of the investigation.

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, who lost her in-laws in a nursing home that was impacted by New York’s order to open them to COVID-positive patients, thinks there was a deal made before the governor decided to resign.

"I think this was planned in advance. He was going to be impeached. And I think lawmakers got together and said listen if you step down now, we will drop the charges and you could run again. I believe this was all planned out."

Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals involved many more people than his sexual harassment scandals. There's a strong argument to be made that members of Cuomo's Democratic Party in New York advanced the weaker sexual harassment scandals as a way to minimize damage to the party's interests. More honest prosecutors would be indicting dozens of party members serving in elected and apppointed positions in the Cuomo administration connected to the excess deaths associated with nursing home deaths resulting from Cuomo's directive and their cover-up.

COVID victims who died in NY nursing homes deserve justice. I won't stop fighting for them

Anti-Cuomo COVID nursing home deaths scandals activist Janice Dean was quoted in the previous article. Here are extended excerpts of her op-ed giving a more complete picture of her reaction to the dropping of cases investigating the Cuomo administration's acknowledged cover-up of nursing home deaths:

It’s been almost two years since the deaths of my in-laws Mickey and Dee Newman who contracted COVID-19 in their separate elder care facilities in New York City.

Our families were never notified of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandate to send over 9,000 COVID positive patients into New York nursing homes and we still don’t know why he decided to do it.

There were other facilities provided by the federal government he could’ve used (like the USS Comfort ship and the Javits Center) that went virtually empty, without any COVID patients. Instead, the governor’s health department decided to put the sickest people into the places where our most vulnerable resided.

Since May of 2020, myself and thousands of families have demanded answers and accountability into why those deadly decisions were made. But instead of addressing why this tragedy happened on his watch, Cuomo did everything he could to cover it up.

And despite the disgraced governor’s resignation in August it appears that little by little, those in power are helping him get away with his corruptive, criminal behavior.

On Monday, Cuomo’s team announced that the Manhattan district attorney’s office were dropping their nursing home probe.

Elkan Abramowitz, Cuomo’s attorney wrote in a statement:

"I was contacted today by the head of the Elder Care Unit from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who informed me they have closed its investigation involving the Executive Chamber and nursing homes.

I was told that after a thorough investigation — as we have said all along — there was no evidence to suggest that any laws were broken."

According to the New York Post, the investigation under ex-DA Cyrus Vance, Jr. was quashed last Thursday right before the new DA Alvin Bragg was sworn in.

How convenient. And how telling.

Many of us are disturbed and angered by this news especially since this now seems like a deal was made before Vance left office and hours before the new DA moved in.

Peter Arbeeny, a fierce advocate whose father contracted covid in a Brooklyn nursing home and died in the spring of last year says that the data manipulation, the false public DOH reports, the false reporting of the death toll and the false testimony given to the senate and the assembly are "a violation of law and public trust because they were driven by personal profit and gain."

This cannot be overlooked...

My friend and fellow advocate New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim, chairman of the Assembly Aging Committee, is still optimistic that the other ongoing probes by the FBI, the DOJ and AG are more serious, and that justice will still prevail....

According to the New York Post, the Feds’ probe is still examining the Cuomo administration’s actions relating to the nursing homes deaths and the FBI is still looking into Cuomo’s $5.1 advance for his book, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic" which was negotiated and published while he was being accused of covering up the total nursing home death toll.

And just because Cuomo is no longer in power doesn’t mean the rest of us are done with trying to hold him accountable or call out his continued corruption.

Because although our loved ones can never defend themselves, it’s up to us to keep using our voices for justice on their behalf.