Cuomo admits to seeing COVID nursing home death report, says he may have altered it
Ahead of the second New York City mayoral debate, former New York Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted that, despite previous testimony to Congress to the contrary, he did see the report detailing the number of COVID nursing home deaths and that he may have altered the report.
Speaking with local outlet PIX 11 News on Wednesday, Cuomo said, "I did not recall seeing the report at the time. I did see the report, it turns out."
He also said, "I'm sure that if I read the report. I made language changes."
Despite this, Cuomo said the published report "was accurate" and that "this has been politicized from day 1."
Cuomo, who resigned his governorship in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, is the leading candidate running for New York City mayor. However, he continues to face criticism over the misconduct allegations as well as claims that he altered a report to undercount the number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
During the first New York mayoral debate last week, fellow Democrat opponents blasted Cuomo for allegedly lying to Congress, an allegation pushed by Republicans that the Trump administration is currently investigating.
The Trump Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation in May to get to the bottom of whether Cuomo lied to Congress about the decisions he made during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as governor.
Cuomo repeatedly dismissed questions throughout the debate about whether he lied to Congress about his role in drafting a New York State Department of Health report that officials determined had undercounted the number of nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Cuomo blasted the current investigation as a symptom of partisan politics and insisted the report in question "did not undercount the deaths."
Though he admitted on Wednesday to incorrectly testifying about not seeing the report and possibly making changes, Cuomo continued to maintain the accuracy of its numbers.
"Let's just be clear for the record, because a lot of misinformation has been spread, New York always followed the federal guidance on what to do with nursing homes from the best federal medical minds available," he said.
He noted that the federal guidance "changed over time as the federal officials learned more," saying that "the state and other states followed the federal guidance."
"When all is said and done, New York state is No. 38 in the rate of nursing home deaths. Think about that, 38 out of 50 states. Only 12 states had a lower rate of death than New York," he said.
Cuomo is expected to again face intense questioning from opponents and moderators about the report during the second mayoral debate on Thursday night.
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