14 July 2022: Republican NY Governor Candidate Calls for Independent Probe of Cuomo's COVID Nursing Home Deaths Scandals

Lee Zeldin vows special prosecutor on New York nursing home COVID deaths if elected governor

Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals were always going to be a political campaign issue in 2022. However, replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul's leadership failure to follow through on her pledge of an independent probe into those scandals has created a valid point of attack for her opponent against her in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Here's how Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for NY governor, indicates he would keep the promise Hochul hasn't:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk) is vowing to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes on “day one” if elected over Gov. Kathy Hochul this November.

“The special prosecutor should pursue justice for thousands of New York families who have lost their loved ones and should not give up that fight,” the GOP hopeful told the Post Wednesday.

“If a special prosecutor determines that no criminal statutes were violated then so be it so long as it’s a thorough investigation that seeks out the truth,” he added.

Such an investigation would focus on actions taken by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the early months of the pandemic, including a controversial March 2020 directive that critics say contributed to the death toll among nursing home residents.

Zeldin said that he would look to a current or former district attorney to conduct the investigation, which he expected could take somewhere around six months or a year to complete.

Had Hochul acted when she became New York's replacement governor in August 2021, the much-needed probe would be nearly finished by now. But she didn't, so its going to drag out much longer than it should ever have had to.

For Hochul, this is the political equivalent of an own-goal in soccer.