What questions will GOP ask on Merrick Garland?
Hunter Biden probe, Gov. Andrew Cuomo nursing home scandal expected to be subjects at the hearing before Attorney General Merrick Garland. Jamil Jaffer, Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program at George Mason University, commented.
Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland on Monday promised the Justice Department would avoid conflicts of interest in any investigation into how New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo handled the state nursing home crisis during the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York’s Eastern District is reportedly in the early stages of an investigation into the Cuomo government. The probe, first reported by the Albany Times-Union, is said to target members of Cuomo’s coronavirus task force, including Gov. Melissa DeRosa Secretary.
DeRosa is the senior Cuomo administration adviser who admitted his office withheld records of nursing home deaths for fear they could be used in a federal investigation. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pressed Garland on the situation during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, noting that Audrey Strauss, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is DeRosa’s mother-in-law.
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“In this case, the US acting attorney is the mother-in-law of the senior Cuomo government official who admitted to covering up,” Cruz said. “In any case, will you commit not to have the investigation conducted by a person with a conflict of interest?”
“Of course,” said Garland in response. “I don’t know any of the facts, but I can guarantee that a person with a conflict of interest is not the one conducting an investigation.”
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Few details have emerged about the DOJ probe in the Cuomo records. Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, said his government is working with federal officials.
As the case is reportedly led by US attorney Seth DuCharme of New York’s Eastern District, it is unclear what role, if any, the Southern District will play in the investigation. When asked about the case, Garland declined to go into details.
“With all of these investigations, the Justice Department is open to evidence of fraud, false statements and violations of law,” Garland said of the case. “They normally start the right way, in the relevant US attorney’s office. That’s like this, without commenting in particular because I don’t know the facts.”
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Critics have focused on Cuomo’s execution of a March 25 order calling for nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients in their facilities. In response to the criticism, Cuomo has said the order was made in accordance with federal guidelines at the time and was not a significant factor in the spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that New York was significantly underreporting the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing facilities. Cuomo acknowledged it was a “mistake” not to report the data earlier, but he claimed that all data was accurately reported.