Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York, is still trying to salvage his political career.

But before he can try and worm his way back into political office, Cuomo is being called to testify publicly about his COVID-19 failures to the House Oversight Committee. Specifically, the order to send nursing home residents who had tested positive for COVID back to their nursing homes, the cover-up of nursing home deaths by cooking the books on the numbers, and the release of the July 6, 2020 report by the New York State Department of Health that was apparently created by Cuomo’s office, allegedly edited personally by him, and then laundered through the state Department of Health. This blog covered Cuomo’s failures, the media ass-kissing (the man won an EMMY, for crying out loud), and the downfall and resignation of the ex-governor over sexual harrassment claims as they happened. The reality is that Cuomo should have resigned for his COVID fails long before his sexscapades caught up with him.

Andrew Cuomo testified behind closed doors to the committee back in June, and he reportedly was “shockingly callous” when it came to accounting for the numbers of dead. The staff memorandum that transcribes the interviews from Cuomo and several of his staff can be read here, but it’s obvious that Andrew Cuomo was trying to dodge any responsibility for the infamous March 25, 2020 policy that ordered nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients.

Cuomo has consistently denied any involvement in the 2020 policy, arguing in June during his transcribed interview with select subcommittee staff that a mid-level staffer at the New York State Department of Health issued the directive.

But the Republican memo, the culmination of more than 50 hours of testimony from former Cuomo administration officials, finds that the ex-governor and his team had a direct hand in establishing the policy.

Howard Zucker, the former commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, told select subcommittee staff during a transcribed interview in December 2023 that the Greater New York Hospital Association directly requested the nursing home order from the governor and his team.

“Greater New York Hospital Association called the governor and the team — we were all there in a conversation, a lot of us were there — and said that we have individuals who are better, they have recovered, and they are just sitting in a hospital bed,” Zucker said in December. “And the long-term care facilities were not going to take them and that we needed to do something, which generated this document.”

Zucker noted for context that hospital beds were scarce in New York in March 2020 and that it was a desperate situation.

Cuomo also told select subcommittee staff during his transcribed interview that the order was rescinded “because the public relations after April 20 had made the public so nervous and so concerned, anyone who had family in a nursing home was agitated and frightened.”

The Republican memo also found that Cuomo’s inner circle was directly involved in lowering the reported number of nursing home-related deaths by excluding all COVID-19 deaths of nursing home patients that occurred in hospitals.

Evidence uncovered by the subcommittee indicated that the methodology for counting the number of COVID-19 deaths changed as of May 2020 at the direction of the Executive Chamber, Cuomo’s inner circle of advisers.

Andrew Cuomo decided the best way to defend himself was with a couple of op-eds trying to blame the Trump administration. The New York Post editorial board was having none of it.

Andrew Cuomo is sticking to his story, no matter how many wheels fall off: He’s NEVER (emphasis in original) going to own up to his disastrous March 25, 2020, “must admit” directive that forced New York nursing homes to accept contagious COVID patients that hospitals wanted to dump, nor to his efforts to hide the resulting excess death toll.

Ahead of public testimony Tuesday to a House panel, the former gov placed not one but two columns (in the copy-hungry Daily News and Daily Beast) reiterating his utterly dishonest defenses: ‘They made me do it’ and ‘Donald Trump was out to get me.’

This, as The Post published exclusive details from the House House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic findings: The then-gov personally edited a state report that understated New York’s nursing-home COVID death toll, despite lower-downs’ warnings that the lies would become a “great debacle.”

One other person who has refused to let Andrew Cuomo walk away from his failures that killed thousands is Janice Dean, who lost her in-laws in New York nursing home care during COVID.

Trump’s name was nowhere to be found on the March 25th directive to send 9,000 sick patients into the homes of where our most vulnerable were living. That was all you. https://t.co/8sKCQOnGWH

— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) September 9, 2024

The lines had been drawn well before Andrew Cuomo was sworn in to testify. The March 25th directive was truly the key to the beginnings of the disaster. Both Cuomo and his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, denied any culpability for the memorandum, while testimony from Dr. Howard Zucker, from the New York State Department of Health, directly contradicts that testimony and the level of DeRosa and Cuomo’s involvement. How would Andrew Cuomo respond under direct public questioning from the House committee members?

Cuomo’s opening statement began by addressing those who lost loved ones, saying “I am sorry for your loss and I believe you are owed an apology, because this country should have done better.” Apparently, that apology won’t be coming from HIM. Per Andrew Cuomo, the apology should be coming from… wait for it… Donald Trump.

Fmr. NY Gov. @andrewcuomo: "Yes, I often vehemently disagreed with President Trump because from day one he willfully deceived the American people; denying COVID's very real threat…his lies and denials delayed our response, let the virus spread and this country never caught up." pic.twitter.com/yNV770doAQ

— CSPAN (@cspan) September 10, 2024

Cuomo was instantly combative, claiming that he followed the directive of Attorney General Letitia James, and that Dr. Deborah Birx was misled by the committee when she testified about what New York state allowed. Representative Wenstrup then upped the ante by announcing that Kathy Hochul would also be subpoenaed.

This is so savage

With Cuomo in Congress, @COVIDSelect just subpoenaed his successor, Kathy Hochul https://t.co/Eq0ppzPP6A

— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) September 10, 2024

The hearing and testimony is still ongoing, but it’s clear where this is headed. The Republicans want to know if Cuomo stands behind the March 25th order despite it going against CDC recommendations, and he’s pointing the finger at Attorney General James for allowing the order to stand. He’s blaming Donald Trump for being unprepared for a pandemic, and then blaming Trump for blaming him for the numbers of deaths. Cuomo is insisting that the COVID cases in nursing homes came from “community spread” and NOT because residents who tested positive were returning. Cuomo even has the audacity to claim that the United States lost LESS people than China… as if we can trust the Chinese numbers. This testimony is going to follow the pattern of Republicans trying to pin Cuomo to the wall, and him being too slimy to stick to the wall while still trying to blame Donald Trump, and the Democrats on the committee trying to provide Cuomo some comfort and cover, while still trying to get some answers.

This post will be updated with additional coverage if something deviates from the pattern of the hearing as it currently stands now.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click