If the Justice Department investigates the Cuomo’s refusal to hand over data on nursing home deaths, there would be a huge conflict if the case were transferred to the powerful federal prosecutor in Manhattan.
That’s because Audrey Strauss, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, is the mother-in-law of top Cuomo assistant Melissa DeRosa, the figure at the center of the emerging scandal.
The uproar that an investigation into the cover of thousands of deaths increased after The Post reported DeRosa’s stunning confession that the Cuomo government had withheld the information from state legislators this summer, fearing federal prosecutors would use it “ against us. ” ‘.
The Justice Department had begun an investigation into deaths in nursing homes in New York and elsewhere in late August.
“And actually we stood still,” DeRosa, who is secretary to the governor and his closest confidant, admitted to state legislators during a conference call.
“We weren’t sure if what we would give to the Justice Department or what we would give you and what we are starting to say would be used against us and we weren’t sure if there was an investigation,” she said during a conference call on Wednesday.
DeRosa’s admission prompted an observer to say, “Please keep quiet before or after calling your mother-in-law.”
Cuomo has been heavily criticized for his mandate at the start of the pandemic that poorly equipped nursing homes accept convalescent coronavirus patients discharged from hospitals, even though the elderly are among the most vulnerable to the deadly disease.
Among those calling for a federal investigation on Friday was former Governor George Pataki, who called the cover-up “reprehensible”.
Congressman Elise Stefanik, a DeRosa high school classmate, said: “Gov. Cuomo, the governor’s secretary, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately – both by the Attorney General of New York State and the United States Department of Justice. “
Strauss, 73, became the highest prosecutor in Manhattan after President Trump said he fired Geoffrey Berman in June 2020 and Berman agreed to resign as long as Strauss, who had been his deputy, would become the acting US attorney.
Berman called her “the smartest, most principled, and effective attorney I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.”
DeRosa, 38, has been married to Strauss’ son, Matthew Wing, 37, a former Cuomo spokesman, since 2016.
While the Southern District is prosecuting many high profile crimes, the case could be handled by the Northern District, which includes Albany.
Cuomo spokesperson Peter Ajemian, contacted by The Post, declined to comment on the potential conflict of interest and instead issued a statement about the Cuomo’s ultimate disclosure of information to the FBI and state legislators.
“We informed the legislator that we had to pause their request for information while prioritizing a request from the federal DOJ,” he said. “We provided the federal DOJ with the information they asked for extensively, and then we could start complying with the state legislature’s request, to which we have now responded.”
DeRosa did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Saturday.
James Margolin, spokesman for the Southern District, declined comment.
Additional reporting by Dana Kennedy