23 February 2021: Polls Bad, Subpoenas Served?

Majority of New Yorkers think Cuomo botched COVID-19 in nursing homes: poll

This report indicates that 61% of New Yorkers responding to a Marist College poll believe Governor Cuomo has mishandled COVID in the state's nursing homes. This report also indicates Governor Cuomo's job approval rating has dropped below 50%, down from a 66% approval rating in July.

Cuomo dodges subpoena question on nursing home probe

Has Governor Cuomo or members of his administration been served with subpoenas by authorities investigating the allegations surrounding his policies and actions related to the deaths of nursing home residents from COVID-19?

This report indicates Governor Cuomo doesn't want to make the answer to that question public.

Gov. Cuomo refused to say whether he or his top officials have received or responded to subpoenas as federal prosecutors probe New York's handling of nursing homes during the COVID crisis.

It's as if Governor Cuomo believes the people do not have a right to know anything about his or his administration's actions and conduct.

22 February 2021: Bullied NY Lawmaker Says Time to Consider Impeachment for Governor Cuomo

NY Assemblyman Ron Kim says Cuomo impeachment should be discussed over nursing home deaths

This report indicates Governor Cuomo's recent threats aimed at New York Assemblyman Ron Kim in a phone call to him has backfired badly. Instead of backing down, Kim is now calling for Governor Cuomo's impeachment and removal from office.

22 February 2021: NY Dems Try to Head Off Cuomo Impeachment With Censure; Is There Another Cuomo Coverup?

Democrats Introduce Resolution to Censure N.Y. Gov. Cuomo Over COVID Nursing Home Controversy

This report covers the efforts of members of Governor Cuomo's political party in the New York legislature to preserve his tenure in office by formally rebuking his conduct in office. We interpret this action by his supporters as an indication of how far the pendulum has swung against the Governor.

Another Cuomo Cover-Up?

This op-ed by James Freeman considers whether Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration has engaged in a second coverup of COVID-19 deaths, this time of New York residents with disabilities who live in residential group homes. The article brings to mind the old saying about hygiene: you either have it, or you don't. Which is to say that once people realize you were covering up a problem, every other problem you have becomes visible, because they can no longer be ignored.

22 February 2021: Cuomo Cheerleader CNN "Haunted" by Massive Ethics "Blunder"

CNN's Cuomo Brothers 'Blunder' Comes Back to Haunt Network Amid Nursing Home Scandal

Another article describing how CNN's editorial policies of allowing Governor Cuomo free platform to present a one-sided view of his performance during the coronavirus pandemic has severely damaged the news network's credibility.

CNN is facing criticism for its coverage of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid his administration's handling of COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes, with experts saying that the network committed a "major blunder" by allowing Chris Cuomo to regularly interview his own brother on his show Cuomo Prime Time.

Earlier this year, CNN aired regular primetime banter between the New York governor and his brother, anchor Chris Cuomo. But has the network had its reputation damaged now that hindsight shows such lighthearted segments may have represented a conflict of interest that led to blinkered coverage of the politician?...

DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall feels that the press establishment "made a mistake last spring by actively creating a narrative that Governor Cuomo was a national hero in the COVID challenge."

Speaking to Newsweek, McCall said CNN got on the Gov. Cuomo "bandwagon" as it fit with the network's Donald Trump programming strategy but "committed a major blunder from a journalism ethics standard in letting brother Chris go on night after night to interview his own brother."

"All major journalism codes of ethics warn specifically about conflicts of interest, and interviewing your brother for news purposes is a clear-cut violation of these professional codes," McCall explained.

In a sense, CNN made itself an accessory to Governor Cuomo's scandals by concealing them, creating a positive narrative around the governor to distract from his shortcomings.

22 February 2021: Andrew Cuomo's PR Blunders

Cuomo's Crisis Lessons in Failed Leadership

This is an interesting take on Governor Cuomo's nursing home scandals, from the perspective of public relations and marketing industry expert Fraser Seitel:

The New Yorker's dizzying fall from grace—from first to worst among U.S. governors—provides a cautionary tale not only for public figures, but also for those who advise them.

The reason, in a word, for the once-respected Governor's rapid decline in esteem, trust and credibility is "hubris," i.e., excessive pride, conceit or arrogance.

And Gov. Cuomo's unbridled hubris—demonstrated over nine months of preening, preaching and self-promoting followed by three months of back-pedaling, blaming and alibiing—has landed the erstwhile Democrat darling squarely in the middle of an untenable, unwinnable and, for Andrew Cuomo himself, "unimaginable," public relations disaster.

Seitel goes on to cite the Governor Cuomo for violating the following PR rules: 1. Taking full credit. 2. Believing his own publicity. 3. Feigning empathy. 4. Accepting no blame.

Call us crazy, but we would also add knowingly implementing policies that would lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of additional COVID deaths and trying to cover them up to the list of PR rules the Cuomo administration violated.

22 February 2021: What Federal Crimes May Team Cuomo Have Committed?

Gov. Cuomo nursing home scandal could merit criminal charges: prosecutor

Former acting attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ John Daukas describes how Governor Cuomo and members of his administration may have violated federal law in a WSJ op-ed. Since that article is behind a paywall, here is a summary of those laws from another report:

"Numerous federal criminal statutes could apply," he warned.

"It's a crime to make false statements to the federal government. It's also a crime to conceal information and otherwise obstruct government investigations.

"New York may have engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and its agencies and possibly obstruct justice, among other crimes," he stressed.

"Even if it cannot be proved that the Cuomo administration knowingly provided false information to Justice and [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services], New York's willful failure to provide information may itself constitute a criminal offense — particularly if the intent was to thwart a federal investigation — which, after all, is exactly what Ms. DeRosa reportedly said the administration did," he wrote.

21 February 2021: President Biden Still Seems Okay with Cuomo COVID Nursing Home Deaths

Psaki sidesteps questions on Cuomo's leadership during pandemic

This article demonstrates the difficulty the Biden-Harris administration is having in honestly addressing Governor Cuomo's scandals.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki avoided answering questions on Sunday on whether President Biden still believes New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) represents the "gold standard" when it comes to leadership during the coronavirus pandemic.

On ABC's "This Week," host Jonathan Karl played a tape from last April of Biden saying Cuomo was "sort of the gold standard" as New York battled with skyrocketing cases in the early months of the pandemic, adding that the governor "has done one hell of a job." Cuomo's office's handling of coronavirus outbreaks in the state's nursing homes is now the subject of a federal investigation by the FBI and the U.S attorney in Brooklyn, who is probing unidentified members of Cuomo's administration.

When asked if Biden still believes Cuomo represents the "gold standard," Psaki insisted that Biden would continue to work with Cuomo, as he would with all governors....

When Karl pressed again whether Biden still believes Cuomo is the gold standard on leadership during the pandemic, asking her to answer "just a yes or no," Psaki said, "It doesn't always have to be a yes or no answer, Jon."

Psaki's less-than-forthright responses suggest, at a minimum, that she is less than capable of communicating the Biden-Harris administration's position regarding Governor Cuomo's nursing home fatality-related scandals. At worse, her comments suggest the Biden-Harris administration may be tolerant of them.

21 February 2021: Cuomo COVID Nursing Home Death Toll May Be Bigger

NY nursing home resident: State tally of 1 COVID death at my facility is BS

This article calls the New York Department of Health's latest tally of COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes into question:

As COVID-19 ravaged nursing homes, killing thousands of elderly residents, state tallies showed one Long Island home experienced something of a miracle — just a single death.

Even when the Cuomo Administration, under court order, this month released more complete data to include nursing home residents who died in hospitals, the tally for the Grand Rehabilitation and Nursing at South Point rose by just three.

But a resident of the Nassau County home claims that even four deaths is baloney, insisting two or three residents died each day at the height of the pandemic — making for so many victims, the facility's beauty parlor was turned into a makeshift morgue.

"The people just disappeared," said Jeffrey Fischler, 51, who has been at the 185-bed home for two years. He said his roommate died — although he does not know the cause — and the corpse sat in their room for eight hours because there was no place to put the body.

The village of Island Park, where Grand Rehabilitation is located, issued 35 death certificates for those who died at the home from March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020. That is compared to just three during the same period in 2019, according to records obtained by The Post.

To the extent that such undercounting exists at other New York nursing home and assisted care facilities, the number of COVID-19 nursing home resident deaths may be worse than the Cuomo administration has acknowledged.

20 February 2021: Cuomo's Main Defense in COVID Nursing Home Deaths Crumbles

Government memo crushes Cuomo's defense in COVID nursing home scandal

What did the Cuomo administration know and when did it know it?

Governor Cuomo has frequently claimed that the 25 March 2020 directive forcing New York's nursing homes to blindly admit patients without testing to determine if they were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was based on guidance from the federal government. This report identifies what that guidance actually was and confirms that Governor Cuomo's nursing home policy did not comply with it, demolishing Governor Cuomo's repeated claims in the process.

Gov. Cuomo has repeatedly defended his administration's directive for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients as the product of federal "guidance" — even though one of those government documents says only that infected seniors "can" be admitted to the facilities.

Here is what the federal document actually said in providing guidance in a "Q&A" section for nursing home care providers:

"When should a nursing home accept a resident who was diagnosed with COVID-19 from a hospital?" it says.

"A nursing home can accept a resident diagnosed with COVID-19 and still under transmission-based Precautions for COVID-19 as long as the facility can follow CDC guidance for Transmission-Based Precautions. If a nursing home cannot, it must wait until these precautions are discontinued."

Very few nursing home facilities in New York were capable of meeting that standard. They could have worked around those limitations by establishing dedicated nursing homes for patients with COVID-19, but New York's Department of Health did not establish any such facilities until November 2020, some eight months later.

The report also describes how the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive was immediately challenged by health care providers:

The DOH directive — which cited an "urgent need to expand hospital capacity" — came under immediate fire from three health-care industry groups: AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Medicine, the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living. In a March 29 statement, the organizations said they were "deeply concerned" with the underlined portion of the order.

"This is a short-term and short-sighted solution that will only add to the surge in COVID-19 patients that require hospital care," they said.

A former federal Health and Human Services official also told The Post that it was a potential recipe for disaster.

"[Cuomo] made this blanket requirement and some nursing homes may have not been prepared to have these patients and may have caused cross-contamination," the ex-official said.

Much of that is evident from the contemporary reporting on the problems nursing homes were facing in the period the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive was in effect, from 25 March 2020 through 10 May 2020.

20 February 2021: Cuomo Accused of Corruption in Gifting Legal Immunity to Nursing Homes For COVID Deaths

Andrew Cuomo Caved to Donors As He Shielded Nursing Home Bosses, Ron Kim Says

This interview with New York Assemblyman Ron Kim focuses on the role that immunity from prosecution for negligence that Governor Cuomo delivered to his campaign contributors from the nursing home industry may have played in contributing to the spread of COVID-19 within New York's nursing homes. Here's a key excerpt of the Q&A:

In April, Governor Cuomo put a provision into the state budget that granted legal immunity to all health care facilities, including nursing homes, and including the executives of those facilities. How did the corporate immunity order affect the situation, and how does it connect to the Cuomo administration underreporting nursing-home data?

Up to 9,000 COVID patients were being sent to nursing homes. And the nursing homes were telling the administration—which now the AG's report shows—that we can't take these people in. Like, "Half of our staff got COVID, they're out. We don't have enough staff, we don't have the PPE." And at that moment, Cuomo decided to give them legal immunity. That was their solution to that crisis, to the industry asking to be included in broad legal immunity.

They decided to protect the business interests of those who should have done everything possible, spent every dollar, to save people's lives. But the moment they got the legal immunity, it was clear that they felt like they didn't have to invest anymore in PPE, or hire more staff members. They completely shut down. They had a license to kill. That's what the immunity was.

The problems that nursing homes were having in obtaining personal protective equipment (PPE) were well known at the time Governor Cuomo opted to provide legal immunity for the nursing home industry on 20 April 2020 via the Emergency Disaster Treatment Protection Act (EDTPA). You can find out more of that history in this entry for 3 May 2020. If you check the entry for 20 April 2020, you'll find that Governor Cuomo was claiming he didn't know coronavirus-infected patients were being transferred from New York's hospitals to nursing homes to free up bed space.

19 February 2021: Inside the Numbers - How Many COVID Nursing Home Deaths Are Attributable to Cuomo's Deadly Directive?

Report links controversial nursing home directive to COVID-19 deaths

This report describes the correlation the nonpartisan Empire Center for Public Policy found between COVID patients admitted to New York nursing homes and subsequent COVID deaths of nursing home residents:

The Empire Center analysis found that each new admission of a COVID-positive patient correlated with .09 additional deaths, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.05. It also found that admitting any number of new COVID-positive patients was associated with an average of 4.2 additional deaths per facility, plus or minus 1.9.

Statewide, the findings suggest that the 6,237 COVID-positive admissions between late March and early May were “associated with several hundred, and possibly more than 1,000, additional resident deaths.”

The effect was more pronounced upstate, Empire Center’s Hammond said, which is possibly due to the virus being so prevalent in New York City compared to the rest of the state early in the pandemic.

The analysis focused on two key variables: newly admitted COVID-positive patients to nursing homes between March 25 and May 8, which totaled 6,327; and the residents in each facility who died between April 12 and June 4, which totaled 5,780. It excluded the 2,279 patients who were readmitted to nursing homes where they were already residents and controlled for the varying size of nursing homes as well as where a facility was located.

The CDC reports the median time from initial exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to death from COVID-19 ranges for an individual Age 65 or older is 17 days. The Empire Center's analysis in correlating deaths with potential exposure events with COVID deaths 18 days later is consistent with that finding, though slightly conservative, so it will err in slightly undercounting the total deaths attributable to the Cuomo administration's deadly directive. We think the Empire Center's approach in estimating the additional COVID deaths resulting from the Cuomo administration's deadly directive is both reasonable and reliable.

19 February 2021: NY DOH Commissioner Zucker Confirms Deadly Directive Originated in Panic

New York health chief defends state's decision to make nursing homes take Covid patients

This report confirms the Cuomo administration's disastrous policies originated in an environment of panic:

New York Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker on Friday defended the state's decision in March to make nursing homes take residents from hospitals that had the coronavirus, blaming most of the virus' spread on staff members.

The directive, issued on March 25, prohibited nursing homes from denying admission or readmission to residents infected with Covid-19. The directive also banned nursing homes from testing patients before entry, NBC News reported. The policy was later reversed in May.

Zucker said on Friday that, at the time, New York's coronavirus hospitalization rate was growing "at a staggering pace" and capacity in the state's intensive care units was running thin. By allowing the residents to return to the nursing homes, it helped protect the health-care system from collapsing, he said.

"You can only review a decision with the facts that you had at the time," Zucker said during a press briefing alongside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "And with the facts that we had at that moment in time, it was the correct decision from a public health point of view."

The confirmation the state would not exceed its hospital capacity came in early April, using the facts they had at the time, and yet the Cuomo administration continued enforcing its 25 March 2020 directive into mid-May 2020.

19 February 2021: Andrew Cuomo's Tragic Change of Political Fortune

Cuomo, once heralded, now faces a political crisis over Covid death criminal probe, bullying complaints

The article reflects on Governor Cuomo's sudden change in political fortune as a result of the confirmation of his administration's coverup of the full extent of COVID-19 deaths among New York nursing home residents.

19 February 2021: AOC Learns of Cuomo COVID Nursing Home Death Scandal, Wants Investigation

Ocasio-Cortez calls for full investigation of Cuomo's handling of coronavirus in nursing homes

This article reports on what may be one of the first indications that social media savvy U.S. House of Representatives member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has recently become aware of some sort of issue with Governor Cuomo's policies involving COVID-19 and nursing homes in the state of New York. She has responded by issuing a statement calling for an investigation of the Cuomo administration.

19 February 2021: Biden DOJ Now Wants COVID Nursing Home Deaths Data

Nursing-Home Death Data Was Sought From Cuomo by U.S. Prosecutors

This article independently confirms U.S. prosecutors are seeking to obtain data on the deaths of New York nursing home residents after the Cuomo administration failed for months to respond to earlier DOJ requests:

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn sought data this month on nursing-home deaths from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration, people familiar with the matter said, after state officials took months to respond to a separate inquiry by the Justice Department.

The prosecutors' request seeks the number of New York nursing-home deaths due to Covid-19 and when and where they occurred, as part of a broader inquiry into the state's handling of the pandemic in those care settings, the people said.

19 February 2021: Governor Cuomo Blames Critics for Spreading "Lies" and "Misinformation"

Rattled Andrew Cuomo rants about nursing home scandal 'lies,' won't take responsibility

This article reports on Governor Cuomo's latest attempt at damage control:

A defensive Gov. Andrew Cuomo went on a 15-minute rant Friday in which he vowed to counter what he claimed were "lies" and "misinformation" about his handling of nursing homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic — and accused his critics of "causing pain" to the relatives of residents killed by the disease.

During a virtual news conference from Albany, Cuomo said, "I'm not going to let you hurt New Yorkers by lying about what happened. Surrounding the death of a loved one."

"So, I'm going to take on the lies and the unscrupulous actors, especially when they cause pain and damage to New York," he said.

"I should have done it before. And I should have done it more aggressively."

"This is different," he said.

"This is causing the pain to families who lost a loved one."

His remarks, which appeared to have been scripted and were accompanied by slides reinforcing his message, came a day after the New York Law Journal reported that the FBI and the Brooklyn US Attorney's Office had launched a probe of his COVID-19 task force in the wake of The Post's report.

18 February 2021: NY Republican Rep Holds Cuomo Accountable for All COVID Nursing Home Deaths

Reed says Cuomo is to blame for every nursing home death over past year

Despite Governor Cuomo's claims to the contrary, there has always been a bipartisan effort to force the Cuomo administration to come clean on the impact of its 25 March 2020 directive forcing nursing homes to blindly admit patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, despite knowing that introducing the infection into these settings would lead to the viral infection spreading like wildfire in dry grass.

That doesn't mean that hasn't been any partisanship aimed at the Cuomo administration from his political opposition, as this article demonstrates:

Republican Rep. Tom Reed says that all 15,000 Covid-19 nursing home deaths in the state over the past year can be blamed on controversial guidance from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration.

On a briefing call with reporters on Wednesday, Reed said at least eight times that Cuomo was responsible for every one of the 15,000 deaths.

Based on the data we've seen, we consider Reed's claim to be highly exaggerated, which is par for the course in our current age of political hyperbole. Keeping in mind that the opposite extreme is Governor Cuomo's claim that none of the COVID-19 deaths among New York nursing home patients were the result of his administration's policies, the truth almost certainly falls somewhere in between.

18 February 2021: Nonpartisan Think Tank Says Cuomo's Deadly Directive Killed Over 1,000

Cuomo policy may have led to over 1,000 nursing home deaths, watchdog says

How many more elderly, sick residents of New York's nursing homes and assisted care facilities died from COVID-19 than would have otherwise if not for the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive that forced these residences to admit patients known to have coronavirus infections while forbidding them from testing the patients to determine if they were still contagious?

The answer to that question is why serious media outlets and public policy groups have been seeking New York's public data on the COVID-19 deaths of New York's nursing home residents. Keeping them from being able to answer that question is why the Cuomo administration obstructed the release of the state's public data for months on end.

And now, we have a preliminary estimate based on the incomplete data that has emerged in recent weeks, as this report indicates:

The Cuomo administration's controversial directive for nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients amid the pandemic likely did lead to a spike in resident deaths, an analysis of its own data revealed Thursday.

The study by the nonprofit Empire Center for Public Policy tied "several hundred and possibly more than 1,000" fatalities to the since-rescinded March 25, 2020, order that critics have blamed for spreading the coronavirus among vulnerable seniors.

The analysis also suggests the controversial mandate is "associated with" more than one in six of 5,780 nursing deaths statewide between late March and early May.

"The findings contradict a central conclusion of the state Department of Health's July 6 report on coronavirus in nursing homes, which said, among other things: 'Admission policies were not a significant factor in nursing home fatalities,' and 'the data do not show a consistent relationship between admissions and increased mortality,' " according to a draft report prepared by the Empire Center.

We'll take a closer look at the Empire Center's analysis in the near future.

18 February 2021: CNN Bans Cheerleader Chris Cuomo From Covering Brother Governor Andrew Cuomo

CNN says it reinstated a ban on Chris Cuomo covering his brother, Gov. Cuomo

This article reveals that CNN is being forced to address the clear conflict of interest the network and its prime time news show host Chris Cuomo have had in covering news involving his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo. In allowing Chris Cuomo to act as a non-impartial activist promoting his brother's interests, both on camera and in its newsroom, CNN has severely damaged the credibility of all its news coverage.

18 February 2021: Biden DOJ Wasn't Investigating Cuomo Until DeRosa Admission

Federal Prosecutors Opened Criminal Investigation After Cuomo Aide Admitted Withholding Nursing Home Death Data from State Legislators: Report

This report indicates that President Biden's DOJ officials only opened its criminal investigation after the New York Post broke the story of Cuomo deputy Melissa DeRosa's comments.

... the New York Law Journal's Jane Wester reports that acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme's office opened a criminal probe into "Gov. Andrew Cuomo's coronavirus task force and its handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes" only after news of the DeRosa call went public.

It would seem DeRosa wasn't off base in thinking the Biden DOJ was planning to sit on their hands when she made her comments.

17 February 2021: Cuomo's Pandemic Leadership Book Proclaims Importance of Transparency

Andrew Cuomo, Accused of Nursing Homes COVID Cover-Up, Extolled His Transparency in Book

This article exposes Governor Cuomo's hypocrisy, as found in his book extolling his leadership during the coronavirus pandemic. In his book, he proclaimed the value of transparency in sharing information with other officials and the public. Here's an excerpt from the book, which was published in October 2020:

"The main challenge for me was to communicate this data to the public in a way that would establish my credibility for providing timely information with transparency while also instilling confidence."

As has since been confirmed, Governor Cuomo and his administration had been stonewalling data requests from elected officials and the media for the state's public data on the COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents for months by the time of the book's publication.

17 February 2021: Cuomo Accused of Obstruction of Justice

Democrats accuse Cuomo of 'obstruction of justice' over nursing home scandal

This article reports several Democratic members of the New York Assembly have accused Governor Cuomo and members of his administration of federal obstruction of justice. Here's an excerpt:

Nine Democratic members of the New York State Assembly on Tuesday accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of federal obstruction of justice in a letter seeking support to strip him of his COVID-19 emergency powers.

The move followed last week's exclusive Post report that revealed Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa admitting to Democratic lawmakers that Cuomo's administration covered up data about the total number of nursing home residents killed by the coronavirus.

The letter, sent Tuesday to members of the Assembly, said, "It is now unambiguously clear that this governor has engaged in an intentional obstruction of justice, as outlined in Title 18, Chapter 73 of the United States Code."

17 February 2021: Op-Ed: How Governor Cuomo's Policies Killed a Mother in Brooklyn

My Mother Got Covid in a New York Nursing Home

This op-ed appeared in the Wall Street Journal, in which, Kieran E. Morris describes the tragedy that befell his mother, who was exposed to COVID at a Brooklyn nursing home where she was recuperating from a broken vertebra. Morris faults several policies Governor Cuomo pursued for their contributions to his mother's death from COVID-19, which he describes as "entirely preventable".

17 February 2021: Governor Cuomo's Attempted Intimidation of Lawmakers Backfires

Cuomo said 'he can destroy me': NY assemblyman alleges governor threatened him over nursing homes scandal

This is a very rare news story from CNN on the topic of Governor Cuomo's nursing home scandal, which has otherwise been in Governor Cuomo's pocket. Here are some significant excerpts:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been pleading with lawmakers for support and even threatening political retribution against Democrats who have criticized him in an aggressive effort to contain political fallout from revelations that his administration had concealed the full extent of nursing home-related deaths during the Covid pandemic.

One of the people threatened includes Assemblyman Ron Kim:

"Gov. Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience," Kim said. Cuomo proceeded to tell the assemblyman that "we're in this business together and we don't cross certain lines and he said I hadn't seen his wrath and that he can destroy me," according to Kim.

Governor Cuomo has been actively engaging in similar behavior with other New York legislators:

Kim is not the only lawmaker to have received fierce pushback and even threats from Cuomo and his top aides since last week, according to three additional Democratic New York lawmakers. All spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity because they were afraid of retribution from the governor.

They said the administration had aggressively lobbied legislators to speak up in support of his handling of the nursing homes-related deaths, and that threats were made against those who are considering a vote to strip Cuomo of his emergency powers.

All three legislators said they were aware of outreach from the governor in which he clearly suggested or explicitly threatened political retaliation if they did not stand by him. One of them, a New York state senator who said they had not been contacted by Cuomo but heard directly from multiple colleagues whom Cuomo had reached out to, said the governor threatened those colleagues with retaliation -- including warning some that he could ruin their political careers if they supported weakening Cuomo's executive powers.

Governor Cuomo's attempted coverup would appear to be getting closer and closer to constituting criminal obstruction of justice.

17 February 2021: FBI, Biden DOJ Starting Investigation of Cuomo Coverup

FBI, U.S. attorney in Brooklyn probing Cuomo administration on nursing homes

A federal investigation has been initiated, according to this report by the Times Union:

ALBANY — The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn have launched an investigation that is examining, at least in part, the actions of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's coronavirus task force in its handling of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities during the pandemic, the Times Union has learned.

The probe by the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of New York is apparently in its early stages and is focusing on the work of some of the senior members of the governor's task force, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who is not authorized to comment publicly.

While this action is long overdue, the questions now are "how independent is the investigation?" and "how serious is the investigation?"

16 February 2021: President Biden Seems Okay Enough with NY COVID Nursing Home Deaths to Meet with Governor Cuomo

Biden did not discuss NY nursing home deaths with Cuomo, White House says

This article describes the odd relationship that now exists between President Biden and Governor Cuomo. Long allied, we think it likely the lack of discussion on the topic would have been pre-arranged to avoid political embarrassment for the President. What happens next however is entirely up to President Biden, since whether or not he allows a truly independent federal investigation of Governor Cuomo's multiple scandals to take place will say volumes about the President's personal ethics.

16 February 2021: Reactions to Governor Cuomo's Tone-Deaf Press Conference

There are a lot of ways to describe Governor Cuomo's tone-deaf statements from his 15 February 2021 press conference. None of them involve words like "honest", "forthright", or "successful".

Churchill: Cuomo's near-apology misses the mark

Times-Union columnist Chris Churchil puts his finger on why Governor Cuomo's press conference went badly:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday almost apologized for stonewalling the release of full and accurate information on the COVID-19 deaths of New York's nursing home residents.

But not quite — and his excuse for what he described as a mere "delay" failed the smell test.

Churchill continues to dismantle the excuses offered by Governor Cuomo during his 15 February 2021 press conference. It's well worth reviewing to learn more about some aspects of the scandal that we've only touched upon.

NY governor made 'mistake' hiding care home deaths

There's no new news here, but we've opted to include a link to this article because Governor Cuomo's nursing home scandal is now being reported on internationally, as demonstrated by this article from BBC News.

Fellow Democrats not buying Andrew Cuomo's nursing home explanation: 'All of it is BS'

This article describes the criticism of Governor Cuomo's acknowledged stonewalling in releasing public data on New York's nursing home deaths by members of his political party. State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblyman Ron Kim's comments were particularly scathing:

"If the Governor had actually informed the legislature months ago that his office was withholding the data they had on total nursing home deaths, there would've been no need for them to have a call with a group of legislators last week to inform them of this for the first time," Salazar said on Twitter. "Governor can claim (as he's done) that they withheld the data bc they thought it would be used against them by the DOJ(!). But claiming they informed the legislature is a lie on top of a lie. If he'd been honest in the first place, he may have had one bad news cycle. But now?"

Assemblyman Ron Kim was even blunter in his assessment of Cuomo's explanation, saying "all of it is BS."

It's the sort of thing that might negative affect Governor Cuomo's job approval ratings. Oh, wait....

New York Gov. Cuomo's Job Approval Dips Over Nursing-Home Deaths

This article is exactly what the headline says.

In the grand scheme of things, what matters most is not how Governor Cuomo or members of his administration responded to his COVID nursing home death coverup scandal. What matters most is he and his administration implemented policies that caused COVID nursing home deaths.

15 February 2021: Governor Cuomo Claims "There's Nothing to Investigate"; Backlash to Cuomo's Virtual Press Conference

Cuomo blames 'politics,' fails to address nursing home cover-up admission

After days of silence, Governor Cuomo held his first press conference following the bombshell confirmation he and his administration covered up the full extent of COVID-19 deaths at New York's nursing homes while his 25 March 2020 directive was in effect. Would he be contrite? Would he offer sincerity? This article describes what he was:

An unapologetic Gov. Cuomo doubled down on a litany of past excuses Monday as he blamed "politics" for the spiraling scandal that's engulfed his administration since The Post revealed his top aide admitted they hid from elected officials and the public the true number of nursing-home residents killed by COVID-19.

During a virtual news conference at which he declined to take a question from The Post, Cuomo claimed that "there's nothing to investigate" regarding the cover-up to which Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa confessed during a video conference call with Democratic lawmakers last week.

Cuomo never directly addressed DeRosa's recorded remarks in which she admitted "we froze" over whether to come clean to the Legislature — or the public — about nursing home deaths in the face of a Justice Department inquiry.

Governor Cuomo would seem to be banking on the whole thing blowing over and going away, counting on the media outlets over which he has sway to carry him through.

Here's a sampling of other coverage of the press conference:

• Cuomo apologizes for 'void' in information, not for nursing home decision
• 'We should have provided more information faster': Cuomo acknowledges data void in N.Y. nursing home COVID deaths
• Cuomo Acknowledges Withholding New York Nursing Home Pandemic Death Toll From Lawmakers, Public
• 'There is nothing to investigate': Gov. Andrew Cuomo defends New York's handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes
• Cuomo slams fellow Dems who eyed threat of subpoenas as budget leverage

15 February 2021: Families of COVID Nursing Home Victims Say "It Looked Like Murder"

'It looked like murder': Families of nursing home victims demand Cuomo probe

This article describes the reactions of the New Yorkers who have lost family members to COVID-19 in New York's nursing homes:

New Yorkers who lost loved ones to COVID-19 in nursing homes blasted Gov. Andrew Cuomo's attempts to cover up the real death toll — saying he needs to be investigated for "killing" their family members.

"Nothing is going to bring my parents back but we want to know why, because to us, looking at it, it just looked like murder — it looks like you were a serial killer, there are thousands of seniors dead," said Donna Johnson, who lost both of her parents to COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic last year after they contracted the virus at senior care facilities.

"He killed a lot of people, I mean people don't have grandmas and grandpas and moms and dads anymore because of one man's decision."

Will Andrew Cuomo become known as "The Governor Who Kills Grandmas"?

15 February 2021: NY Dems Call Governor Cuomo a Liar; Cuomo Cheerleader MSNBC Says Governor's Defense of Actions "Incriminating"

Democrats slam 'lying' Cuomo over COVID-19 nursing home 'cover-up'

This article gives a sense of how Governor Cuomo's comments at his 15 February 2021 press conference were taken.

MSNBC's Ari Melber Slams Cuomo for Comments About Nursing Home Deaths: 'A Little Bit of an Incriminating Defense'

At this point, what other kind of defense does Governor Cuomo have? it's not like he and his administration hasn't already been trying to do all they can to divert attention away from the Governor's nursing home scandals, including covering it up.

14 February 2021: Cuomo Reputation Damaged by Nursing Home Death Coverup; News Media Complicit in Coverup

Nursing home disclosures taint Cuomo's pandemic performance

The Associated Press has been one of the few major news outlets that has actively reported on Governor Cuomo's nursing home scandals. In this article, they describe the impact of the Governor's coverup scandal on his reputation:

"He stepped in it, more than a little bit. It would be bad enough if this had come out and he had not been publicly sort of celebrating, and been celebrated, for his handling of the pandemic," said Jeanne Zaino, political science professor at Iona College. "But putting that aside, it doesn't get more serious than this. You're talking about the deaths of 15,000 people."

Pimping a book promoting his leadership and accepting Emmy awards while deliberately concealing human misery can be expected to carry a political toll.

And Cuomo — who says he will run again in 2022 — is now facing criticism that is increasingly coming from members of his own party.

"The governor's lack of transparency and stonewalling regarding his administration's nursing home actions is unacceptable," said state Sen. John Mannion, one of 14 Democratic state senators who said Friday that Cuomo's expanded emergency powers should be repealed as soon as possible.

The higher death tolls were only divulged hours after a report late last month from Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James examining the administration's failure to include nursing home residents who died at hospitals. The updated numbers backed up the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that concluded the state could have been understating deaths by thousands.

It gets worse, as the AP reports:

Debra Diehl, 62, who lost her 85-year-old father, Reeves Hupman, to presumptive COVID-19 in May at a nursing home outside Albany, wants to know why Cuomo and the state didn't do more to separate residents who may have had the virus, perhaps by putting them in field hospitals.

"They had people coming up, sent from downstate hospitals up here," Diehl said. "It just seemed like Typhoid Marys, just spreading it further. He did not know what he was doing, or he did not care."

As we now know, New York's Department of Health waited until November 2020 to set up dedicated facilities for providing care to COVID-19 nursing home patients to prevent introducing coronavirus infections to nursing homes where they might spread "like fire through dry grass". It's no accident the Cuomo administration kept silent on this long delayed action, because announcing it would have contrasted sharply with its previous policies.

Cuomo Didn't Protect Seniors From COVID-19. But it Was the Media That Covered it Up | Opinion

This op-ed picks up on the failures of broadcast news media to seriously investigate or to cover Governor Cuomo's coronavirus nursing home scandals. CNN and MSNBC's performances are singled out, particularly for the fawning coverage they chose to provide instead.

One media outlet's performance still to be addressed: The New York Times. We've been following the story for months and have found its coverage to be strangely lacking. It seems odd that the newspaper's editors and reporting staff have almost completely failed to break any of the news taking place in its own proverbial back yard.

13 February 2021: Emmy Awards Association Silent on Scandal

Academy still silent on Cuomo Emmy award following nursing home scandal

The "Academy" in this case is the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which awarded Governor Cuomo with an international Emmy "in recognition of his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and his masterful use of TV to inform and calm people around the world". The Academy's silence now that information he used to "inform and calm people" was based on lies of omission is an interesting footnote in Governor Cuomo's unfolding scandal. It is also a black mark on the credibility and reputation of the members of the Academy, whose ethics appear highly questionable.

It's their trophy. If they care enough, they could rescind the award. Do they care enough?

13 February 2021: U.S. DOJ May Not Be Able to Conduct Impartial Investigation

Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo aide in nursing home cover-up, is related to top fed prosecutor

This article may help explain how Melissa DeRosa knew that "all signs point to they are not looking at this, they've dropped it" when discussing the potential for facing a federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. It also indicates the clear conflict of interest that Biden-appointed attorneys would have in investigating Cuomo administration officials, which argues strongly in favor of appointing a special prosecutor to conduct a federal investigation.

13 February 2021: Coverup Scandal Consumes Team Cuomo; President Biden Seems Okay With NY Nursing Home Deaths

Coverup claims engulf Cuomo as scandal over nursing home deaths grows

This article presents a good overview of the reactions to Governor Cuomo's coverup:

The administration's handling of nursing homes is now a full-blown scandal — a stunning reversal for Cuomo, whose early handling of the pandemic and high-profile daily press briefings earned him soaring approval ratings, an Emmy and a book deal.

Now, many fellow Democrats want to write an epilogue.

As Cuomo headed to Washington Friday to meet with President Joe Biden on pandemic response, at least 14 Democrats from the left flank of the state Legislature called for a repeal of the governor's emergency powers — enacted nearly 11 months ago — that have given him nearly unilateral authority during the pandemic. And momentum appears to be growing in the Legislature to exert more oversight.

"It is clear that the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate," lawmakers said in a statement issued Friday morning.

Cuomo was already facing mounting backlash for his handling of the nursing home crisis. The Wednesday call with DeRosa was designed to repair relationships with frustrated Democrats who said Cuomo was shutting them out of the state's response.

It didn't quite go as planned. The article also indicates that President Biden's administration is so-far tolerant of Governor Cuomo's scandal, although it is holding short of endorsing Governor Cuomo.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked during a Friday briefing if Biden, who has touted the importance of transparency for the nation's recovery, felt confident in Cuomo's administration in light of the recent report.

"The president hosted Gov. Cuomo and a bipartisan group of governors and mayors to the White House today to get their perspective from the front lines, not to give anyone a stamp of approval or to seek their stamp of approval," she said.

If President Biden were genuinely interested in promoting unity, initiating federal investigations into the Cuomo administration's policies and practices involving nursing homes in the state would be a good place to start.

12 February 2021: Cuomo Administration Coverup of COVID Nursing Home Deaths Confirmed as Scandal Blows Up

Melissa DeRosa's admission on nursing home coverup sparks calls for probe — and Cuomo's prosecution

The reaction to the acknowledgment that Governor Cuomo and his administration engaged in a coverup of the full extent of COVID-19 deaths among New York's nursing home residents is starting to come in. This report focuses on the calls for new investigations and potential prosecution:

The stunning admission by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top aide that the administration withheld the state's nursing home death toll out of fear that the damning numbers would "be used against us" by the feds has sparked bipartisan calls for a thorough probe — and prosecution of the governor.

"Governor Cuomo, the Secretary to the Governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately – both by the Attorney General of New York State and the U.S. Department of Justice," US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) wrote in a statement.

"This bombshell admission of a coverup and the remarks by the Secretary to the Governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power," Stefanik continued.

The article continues to report on the reaction of Governor Cuomo's political opponents in the state, which are less restrained than Representative Stefanik's statement. Here's a roundup of additional reactions:

• Disturbing, criminal, corrupt: NY leaders rip Cuomo nursing home disclosures - This article details the highly critical reaction of members of Governor Cuomo's party to the confirmation that his administration engaged in a coverup of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents.
• Cuomo faces calls to resign amid allegations of hiding nursing home Covid deaths - This article describes the bipartisan outrage over Governor Cuomo's coverup, in which some have begun calling for his "resignation, impeachment, or removal from office".
• Gov. Cuomo ducks reporters after Biden WH meeting amid nursing home scandal - This article reveals Governor Cuomo's initial response to the exposure of his coverup scandal suggests he's hoping to wait out hard questions from the media.
• Report Of Possible Cover Up On New York Nursing Home Deaths Spurs Calls For Probes Of Cuomo, Aides - This report reveals the calls for investigations into the coverup will extend to other officials in the Cuomo administration.
• Some New York Democrats Break With Cuomo as 14 State Senators Call to Strip Him of Emergency Powers - This article reveals that members of Governor Cuomo's political party will seek to remove the emergency powers he was granted during the coronavirus pandemic as part of the response to the nursing home death coverup scandal.
• Sec. to Governor Cuomo releases statement, transcription of call following nursing home deaths report - This report details Melissa DeRosa's attempt to perform damage control following her bombshell admission.

Cuomo lied and covered it up — we need a federal investigation to find the truth

The New York Post has owned the story of Governor Cuomo's disastrous nursing home directive and now his coverup of its extent from almost the beginning. In this editorial, they note several problems that only a federal investigation can address at this point:

A federal investigation may be the only way to get the full truth of Team Cuomo's order to nursing homes, populated by those most vulnerable to the virus, to take in COVID-positive patients. Not just the "what" of how many lives it cost, but the "why" behind this madness, and the months and months of coverup.

Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, made the stunning statement on a video call with Democratic state lawmakers as she "explained" why the administration ignored since August their demands for nursing-home death data. It began when then-President Donald Trump "directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us," she said. "And basically we froze."

"Because then we were in a position where we weren't sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren't sure if there was going to be an investigation," she said.

Suppressing evidence for fear of federal prosecution — what did the administration have to hide?

Another problem: The state started hiding the info months earlier, long before Trump tweeted a thing.

Later in the call, she said the Biden Justice Department isn't as interested in Team Cuomo's malfeasance. "All signs point to they are not looking at this, they've dropped it," she said.

The Post's editors point to that last statement and the close association between Governor Cuomo and President Biden in calling for a special counsel to conduct a federal investigation. Even now, the Cuomo administration still fails to provide sufficient transparency into the COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents. Without that information, it is not possible to assess his administration's claims regarding the impact of his 25 March 2020 directive that forced nursing homes to blindly admit coronavirus-infected patients without testing to determine if they were still contagious.

11 February 2021: Team Cuomo Claims They Hid Data to Avoid Trump DOJ

Cuomo aide admits they hid nursing home data so feds wouldn't find out

As bombshells go, this is a big one:

The stunning admission of a cover-up was made by Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders on 10 February 2021 in which she said the Cuomo administration had rebuffed a legislative request for the tally in August because "right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football," according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting.

"He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes," DeRosa said. "He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer."

In addition to attacking Cuomo's fellow Democratic governors, DeRosa said, Trump "directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us."

"And basically, we froze," she told the lawmakers on the call.

"Because then we were in a position where we weren't sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren't sure if there was going to be an investigation."

If true, this admission is nothing less than the confirmation Governor Cuomo and members of his administration engaged in a coverup to avoid facing the legal liability associated with their policies. Then again, this rationale rings false because it seems really stupid and paranoid, but who can tell with these people?

11 February 2021: Over 9,000 Patients with COVID Dumped from Hospitals into NY Nursing Homes

AP: Over 9,000 virus patients sent into NY nursing homes

This report gets into the extent of the state's undercount of the number of COVID-19 patients who were sent back to nursing homes after being treated for the infections at hospitals:

More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks, according to new records obtained by The Associated Press.

The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes.

"The lack of transparency and the meting out of bits of important data has undermined our ability to both recognize the scope and severity of what's going on" and address it, said Richard Mollot, the executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, a residents advocacy group.

But wait, it gets worse:

In its reply to an AP Freedom of Information request from May, the state health department this week released two figures: a previously disclosed count of 6,327 admissions of patients directly from hospitals and a new count of 2,729 "readmissions" of patients sent back from a hospital to the nursing home where they had lived before.

Having undercounted the extent of Governor Cuomo's forced admission directive by such a large number, the findings of the New York Department of Health's 6 July 2020 report exonerating itself and the Cuomo administration of responsibility for excess nursing home resident COVID-19 deaths looks even more bogus.

11 February 2021: NY DOH Sneakily Established COVID-Only Nursing Homes Months After Most Needed

N.Y. quietly established 'COVID-only' nursing homes to care for recovering seniors: health commissioner

Another day, another damning admission forced out of the Cuomo administration:

In a letter to lawmakers, New York's top health official revealed that the state has quietly established 19 "COVID-only" nursing homes to care for seniors recovering from the deadly virus.

Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said the state set up the facilities in November "to allow the transfer of MEDICALLY STABLE, BUT persistently positive COVID-19 nursing home eligible patients" out of hospitals.

Zucker wrote to lawmakers Wednesday, answering questions posed over six months ago, and said the sites contain a total of 1,941 beds "to meet the needs of this special population."

He did not specify where the facilities are located.

The letter, released by Senate Democrats after a closed-door meeting with Cuomo officials, also revealed that more than 15,000 long-term care residents have died of COVID-19 in the state, a dramatic number that includes seniors who died after being transferred to hospitals.

Note the month New York's DOH established these facilities: November 2020. What does it say about the quality of the Cuomo administration's leadership and management skills when they waited so long to both consider and implement an obvious policy that would minimize the risk of exposure among the state's most vulnerable population to coronavirus infections. This action is the political equivalent of closing the barn after all the horses have escaped.

10 February 2021: What's New and Missing in the NY DOH's Nursing Home Death Data?

The Latest On NY's Nursing Home COVID Deaths From The Think Tank Suing For The Records

The Empire Center's Bill Hammond has played a major role in forcing the Cuomo administration to release public data on COVID-19 nursing home resident deaths. In this article, he emphasizes the importance of the data that New York's Department of Health has not yet made public.

9 February 2021: NY Dems Start Turning on Governor Cuomo

New York Democrats holding Cuomo accountable over nursing home deaths

In a sign of how badly Governor Cuomo has managed the coronavirus epidemic among the state's nursing home residents, and also how badly his efforts to stonewall investigations of his scandal now appear, members of his political party are launching accountability measures in the New York legislature.

8 February 2021: NY COVID Death Data for LTC Facilities Comes Out; Cuomo "We're No. 46" Claim Is Now Entirely False

New York Reveals Another 1,516 COVID-19 Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities

The Empire Center's lawsuit against the New York Department of Health was instrumental in forcing that agency to finally begin acknowledging the full toll of COVID-19 among nursing home residents. In this article, the Empire Center reports New York's Department of Health was also undercounting COVID-19 deaths at New York's assisted care facilities, increasing that total by 1,516 from what the state had first reported on 6 February 2021. New York state's official COVID-19 death toll among elderly, sick New Yorkers residing at nursing homes or assisted care facilities is now at least 14,932, which means over 2 out of every 5 deaths attributed to COVID-19 in New York occurred among the residents of these facilities.

What to make of New York's revised nursing-home coronavirus numbers

The Washington Post provides a service that helps visualize part of the reason why the Cuomo administration has sought to hide the full extent of COVID-19 deaths among New York's nursing home residents. The following chart from the newspaper's analysis shows how New York's relative position jumped from near the bottom to above average as it was forced to use a more similar system of accounting as all other states have used throughout the pandemic:

The chart does not reflect the additional 1,516 COVID-19 deaths of assisted care facility residents that New York's Department of Health acknowledged after 6 February 2021.

Before Judge O'Connell's ruling forced him to come clean, Governor Cuomo was claiming that New York outperformed most other states in the measure of COVID-19 nursing home deaths. After properly accounting for the at-risk population however, the Washington Post's analysis puts paid to that particular claim from the Governor's 29 January 2021 press conference.

7 February 2021: Cuomo Administration Still Hiding COVID Nursing Home Death Data

Even a lawsuit doesn't get Team Cuomo to come clean on nursing-home deaths

This editorial affirms the shortfalls in the Cuomo administration's latest reporting of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents.

6 February 2021: Stonewalling Common Practice by Team Cuomo; NY Nursing Home Death Data Starts Coming Out But Incomplete

Cuomo administration's stonewalling goes far beyond nursing home deaths

This article describes how stonewalling, the unethical delay in reporting or supression of information, is a common practice of Governor Cuomo and his administration.

Cuomo releases data on COVID-19 deaths among nursing residents who died outside facilities

Governor Cuomo and his administration are following the "hide the bad news" playbook with a classic weekend news dump, which is aimed at getting bad news out when the fewest people are paying attention. It is no accident the state's information on COVID-19 deaths among infected New York nursing home residents, regardless of where the deaths occurred, is being released on the Saturday before the SuperBowl, rather than on the Monday after, which was the deadline set by Judge O'Connor.

That said, this article reports the total confirmed and presumed coronavirus-related deaths among residents of New York's nursing homes is 13,163, with 4,067 deaths taking place outside the facilities where they resided. Through 5 February 2021, the COVID Tracking Project reports New York has seen 35,920 COVID-19 deaths, where deaths of nursing home residents would make up 36.6% of this total.

The report also tallies death data for the residents of Assisted Care Facilities (ACF) in New York, finding the total confirmed and presumed COVID-19 deaths at these residences would add another 219 deaths to the state's total.

Nursing Home and ACF COVID Related Deaths Statewide, Data through February 04, 2021

This is the first New York State Department of Health's detailed report to indicate the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 both inside and outside their nursing home. The data is broken down by county and by nursing home facility.

However, this report does not indicate the dates of these deaths, which is critical for assessing the impact of the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive. The conduct of Governor Cuomo and his administration suggests many of these deaths are likely concentrated in the period in which the directive was in effect.

5 February 2021: NY Leads Nation in COVID Nursing Home Deaths; A Successful Lawsuit

NY tops California in COVID nursing home deaths after Cuomo scandal

California has nearly double the population of New York, which gives a point of comparison of how much deadlier COVID-19 has been among New York's nursing home residents.

How the Empire Center is Dragging Nursing Home Data into the Sunlight

This local newspaper article provides background on the Empire Center's successful lawsuit against the Cuomo administration.

4 February 2021: Editorial - NY Health Department Should Immediately Comply with Ruling

The Editorial Board: Health Department should immediately comply with ruling on nursing home deaths

The editors of the Buffalo News join the calls from media outlets in New York for the Cuomo administration to release its public data on COVID-19 deaths of New York's nursing home residents.

3 February 2021: Judge Rules Against Team Cuomo Nursing Home Death Data Stonewall

Cuomo Dealt Another Blow on N.Y. Nursing-Home Death Controversy

After months of inaction, New York Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Donnell finally ruled in favor of the Empire Center for Public Policy's claim against the state of New York, finding the Cuomo administration broke the law by withholding the state's public data on the coronavirus-related deaths of nursing home residents.

Cuomo Health Dept. illegally withheld COVID nursing home death toll: judge

This article better describes the judge's ruling:

In a 16-page decision, acting Albany Supreme Court Justice Kimberly O'Connor blasted the DOH for repeatedly telling the Empire Center for Public Policy "that it was unable to respond to the [Freedom of Information Law] request" since it was filed six months ago.

"DOH does not, in the Court's opinion, offer an adequate explanation as to why it has not responded to that request within its estimated time period or to date," O'Connor wrote.

"Its continued failure to provide petitioner a response, given the straightforward nature of the request … goes against FOIL's broad standard of open and transparent government and is a violation of that statute."

O'Connor ordered the DOH to turn over the records within five business days.

The numbers may be higher than the Cuomo administration has admitted, even after the recent 'adjustment' following the state attorney general's report.

2 February 2021: Dem NY Lawmakers Call NY DOH Commissioner Zucker a Liar

Democrats blast Cuomo's health chief Howard Zucker as 'liar,' 'puppet'

This article focuses on information that was leaked from a conference call between the Cuomo administration's top public health official and members of Governor Cuomo's political party in New York's legislature:

Embattled state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker was blasted by Democratic lawmakers in a virtual meeting amid continuing controversy over the state's nursing home death toll from COVID-19, The Post has learned.

Several members of the state Assembly called Zucker a "liar" during the video conference call — and he was even referred to as Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "puppet," sources said Tuesday.

"A lot of members are up in arms about this whole nursing home thing," said one lawmaker who took part in the Monday afternoon meeting.

"We've been asking for this information for months — 6, 7, 8 months … The attorney general drops a report and then four hours later you receive the information from the Health Department."

The Assembly member added: "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out — they were lying — after the attorney general released their report."

It remains to be seen if the leaked information from the conference call is for show or if the Democratic lawmakers really care.

1 February 2021: NY Public Health Officials Resignations Stacking Up; NY Senate Dems Block Subpoena; No Recall Option for NY Governor

9 Top N.Y. Health Officials Have Quit as Cuomo Scorns Expertise

The New York Times has begun reporting on Governor Cuomo's micromanagement of the state's Department of Health during the coronavirus pandemic after noticing lots of high-ranking people have been resigning during the last eight months. Here's the money quote:

In Albany, tensions worsened in recent months as state health officials said they often found out about major changes in pandemic policy only after Mr. Cuomo announced them at news conferences — and then asked them to match their health guidance to the announcements.

That was what happened with the vaccine plan, when state health officials were blindsided by the news that the rollout would be coordinated locally by hospitals.

But it also occurred earlier with revisions in a host of state rules from the fate of indoor dining and businesses like gyms to capacity limits on social gatherings, according to a person with direct experience inside the department.

Left unsaid, and so far unasked: "Was Governor Cuomo similarly dictating the state's policies for nursing home residents?" After all, what the article describes is not some new management practice that Governor Cuomo suddenly adopted in July 2020.

NY Senate Democrats block subpoena for COVID-19 nursing home death data

This article describes the actions of Governor Cuomo's political allies in the upper body of New York's state legislature to circle the wagons to prevent further disclosures of the full extent of the Governor's nursing home COVID-19 death coverup.

New Yorkers Furious At Cuomo Over Nursing Homes Report, But There's No Path to Recall Governor

This article describes the frustration that some New Yorkers have in not being able to force Governor Cuomo out of office in a recall election because of his COVID-19 nursing home death scandals.

29 January 2021: Governor Cuomo Claims Administration Did "Best They Could"

Cuomo Says Staff Handled Nursing Homes as 'Best They Could'

This article describes the Cuomo administration's Nixonian 'mistakes were made'-style public relations approach to the revelation of the full extent of how bad COVID-19 was in the state's nursing homes. This particular article demonstrates significant pro-Cuomo bias on the part of the journalists and their publication however, as it completely omits the most significant statement Governor Cuomo made about his confirmed scandal at the news conference. [To be fair, there are worse and more corruptly-biased media outlets.]

Cuomo callously addresses COVID nursing home report: 'Who cares!'

This article focuses straight on the most significant statement Governor Cuomo made about his administration's attempted coverup of the extent of COVID-19 deaths among New York nursing home residents:

"Who cares [if they] died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died."

That's how Gov. Cuomo callously responded Friday to the damning state attorney general's report that revealed his administration downplayed the total number of nursing home residents killed by COVID-19.

During his first remarks on the spiraling controversy, Cuomo said, "If you look at New York state, we have a lower percentage of deaths in nursing homes than other states."

"A third of all deaths in this nation are from nursing homes," he said.

"New York state, we're only about 28 percent — only — but we're below the national average in number of deaths in nursing homes."

"But who cares — 33 [percent], 29 [percent] — died in the hospital, died in a nursing home? They died."

Even the very left-leaning Washington Post was taken aback by Governor Cuomo's apparent callousness. At this point, it seems unlikely Governor Cuomo or members of his administration will escape political consequences from their policies.

New York Daily News Calls Out Andrew Cuomo's 'Obstinacy' for Undercounted Nursing Home Deaths

This article is strange in that its about another publication's editorial, which takes Governor Cuomo's attempts to mischaracterize the extent of COVID-19 among New York's nursing home residents during the period his controversial policies that could only contribute to the spread of coronavirus infections among the state's most at-risk population to task.

Curing Cuomo's obstinacy: Under pressure, state officials finally release a nursing-home death tally; big questions remain

This is the Daily News' editorial. In 2018, the editors endorsed Andrew Cuomo in his campaign for a third term as New York's governor.