Melissa DeRosa, secretary to Governor Andrew Cuomo, tried to reverse an earlier admission that the state had deliberately withheld death records from the COVID-19 nursing home, insisting on Friday that the governor’s office was “ comprehensive and transparent ” in the responding to Trump’s Justice Department requests for documents.
During a phone conversation with Democratic New York lawmakers on Thursday, DeRosa reportedly said that the Cuomo government feared that the data on COVID-19 deaths could be “ used against us ” by the Justice Department in the midst of the federal government. investigation that had been started against four states regarding nursing. dead at home, including New York.
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“We were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Justice Department, or what we were giving you, what we’re starting to say, would be used against us when it wasn’t. an investigation was coming, ”DeRosa told lawmakers, according to the New York Post, which first reported the information.
But on Friday, DeRosa attempted to clarify her comments by saying that she “explained that when we received the DOJ investigation, we had to temporarily set aside the legislature’s request to consider the federal request first.”
“We notified the houses of this at the time,” DeRosa said in a statement posted on Twitter by Rich Azzopardi, a senior Cuomo adviser. “We were comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and needed to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.
As I said in a call with lawmakers, we were not able to fulfill their request as quickly as someone would have liked. But we are determined to be better partners in the future as we share the same goal of keeping New Yorkers as healthy as possible. during the pandemic. ”
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The statement did little to dull the ire of Republican lawmakers, some who are now calling for criminal charges against Cuomo and top staff for their mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Representative Tom Reed, RN.Y., told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Friday that he would file a criminal complaint with local and federal law enforcement for DeRosa’s arrest.
DeRosa’s inclusion also sparked anger over an earlier discovery by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in late January that an investigation by her office found that Cuomo’s government had increased the COVID-19 death toll associated with nursing homes. as much as 50% had underestimated. .
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On Wednesday, the state revealed that the number of deaths was in fact 15,049 residents in aged care facilities (nursing homes and assisted living / adult care facilities) – nearly 10,000 more than the state health department reported on January 27, 2021 – according to a letter of the State Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker to the Democrats in the Senate.