Cuomo Aide ADMITS Nursing Home Cover-Up So Feds Wouldn’t Find Out

One of Governor Cuomo’s top aides has come forward.

Melissa DeRosa claims that Cuomo’s administration purposefully COVERED-UP nursing home data so that the federal government wouldn’t find out.

Let’s repeat that again….

New York, which has arguably had the WORST response to the pandemic, covered-up nursing home data so that no one would find out the truth.

Well, now DeRosa has come forward as a whistleblower.

And she is revealing the truth about what happened in New York.

Is worse than we initially knew… and that’s saying a lot!

More details below:

Breaking News: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide told lawmakers that New York withheld data on the virus’s toll in nursing homes to forestall potential investigations.https://t.co/QRxf4lNkTp

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 12, 2021

Reading the New York Post story about a Cuomo aide admitting on video conference they hid nursing home death data from the federal government.

You? https://t.co/SH4GWAvGba

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 12, 2021

Last week, every Senate Democrat voted against my amendment to hold states like New York accountable for misreporting data on COVID-related nursing home deaths.

Now we find out the truth.

This is unacceptable, & those involved must be held accountable.https://t.co/fnNgUGA9fP

— Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) February 12, 2021

We were told that New York had to send COVID patients into nursing homes in order to free up space in hospitals. But Trump sent a Naval hospital ship to New York to handle overflow patients and it floated mostly empty for weeks. Why didn't Cuomo use the ships?

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 12, 2021

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is a murderer.

— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) February 12, 2021

If you thought things were bad when Governor Cuomo forced COVID patients to go into nursing homes, then your perception is about to get a lot worse.

It turns out that a Cuomo aide is now on the record saying that the Cuomo administration covered up nursing home data in the midst of all the deaths.

The New York Post reports:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing home death toll from COVID-19 — telling them “we froze” out of fear that the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors, The Post has learned.

The stunning admission of a coverup was made by secretary to the governor Melissa DeRosa during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders in which she said the Cuomo administration had rebuffed a legislative request for the tally in August because “right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,” according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting.

“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” DeRosa said. “He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer.”

In addition to attacking Cuomo’s fellow Democratic governors, DeRosa said, Trump “directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us.”

“And basically, we froze,” she told the lawmakers on the call.

“Because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation.”

DeRosa added: “That played a very large role into this.”

After dropping the bombshell, DeRosa asked for “a little bit of appreciation of the context” and offered what appears to be the Cuomo administration’s first apology for its handling of nursing homes amid the pandemic.

But instead of a mea culpa to the grieving family members of more than 13,000 dead seniors or the critics who say the Health Department spread COVID-19 in the care facilities with a March 25 state Health Department directive that nursing homes admit infected patients, DeRosa tried to make amends with the fellow Democrats for the political inconvenience it caused them.

“So we do apologize,” she said. “I do understand the position that you were put in. I know that it is not fair. It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans.”

Assembly Health Committee Chairman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) immediately rejected DeRosa’s expression of remorse, according to the recording.

“I don’t have enough time today to explain all the reasons why I don’t give that any credit at all,” said Gottfried, one of the lawmakers who demanded the death-toll data in August.

State Senate Aging Committee Chairwoman Rachel May (D-Syracuse) — who was battered during her re-election bid last year over the issue of nursing home deaths — also ripped into DeRosa, saying her former opponent had launched another broadside earlier in the day.

“And the issue for me, the biggest issue of all is feeling like I needed to defend — or at least not attack — an administration that was appearing to be covering something up,” she said.

“And in a, in a pandemic, when you want the public to trust the public health officials, and there is this clear feeling that they’re not coming, being forthcoming with you, that is really hard and it remains difficult.”

Don’t forget…

Cuomo won an Emmy for his “brilliant” Covid response.

The media hailed him a hero.

But it turns out that was all a bag of LIES!

AP Exclusive: Records show more than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York were released from hospitals into nursing homes under a controversial state order. https://t.co/o6CT3bLoqm

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 11, 2021

Example number 3,257: @NYGovCuomo⁩ does not care about the elderly.

Exclusive: New York Tells Hospitals In Leaked Email That Staff 'Must' Come Before the Elderly In COVID-19 Vaccination Drive – TIME https://t.co/fDq7BFAkZD

— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) February 11, 2021

https://twitter.com/MarkSimoneNY/status/1360068873698095107

Now, Republican Elise Stefanik is calling for the “immediate criminal prosecution” of Governor Cuomo.

Fox News confirms Stefanik’s call to action:

Republican New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik demanded Thursday night that her Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his “senior team” be “prosecuted immediately” at the state and federal level.

Stefanik’s fiery statement followed a bombshell New York Post report alleging that a top Cuomo aide apologized to political damage Democrats suffered over the coronavirus’ nursing home death toll by appearing to blame the delayed release of data, in part, on the Trump administration.

“Governor Cuomo, the secretary to the governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately – both by the attorney general of New York state and the U.S. Department of Justice,” Stefanik said. “This bombshell admission of a cover-up and the remarks by the secretary to the governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power.”

Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa told top state Democrats that the Cuomo administration had withheld data on COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes to avoid federal scrutiny following a federal probe into the issue in several states, according to the Post report.

In a leaked conference call with Democratic lawmakers, she said the administration feared the data could “be used against us” by the Justice Department.

“We explained that the Trump administration was in the midst of a politically motivated effort to blame Democratic states for COVID deaths,” senior Cuomo adviser Rich Azzopardi said Thursday evening. “And that we were cooperating with federal document productions — and that was the priority. And now that it is over, we can address the state Legislature.”

But the call prompted condemnations from New York Republicans at all levels of government – with the state party chairman Nick Langworthy calling for Cuomo’s impeachment and the state Assembly’s Minority Leader William Barclay demanding subpoenas and hearings.

“Instead of apologizing or providing answer to the thousands of New York families who lost loved ones, the governor’s administration made apologies to politicians behind closed doors for the ‘political inconvenience’ this scandal has caused them,” said New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, who demanded a “top to bottom” investigation and that Cuomo’s emergency powers be stripped until it’s sorted out.

“If the governor is involved, he should be immediately removed from office,” Ortt said.

Imagine how Democrats would treat the situation if President Trump were involved.

They would probably try ANOTHER impeachment (LOL).

But with Cuomo, he became the darling of the Democrat party.

If this is how the Democrat party operates and celebrates apparent wrongdoing, we want no part of it!

🚨🚨 My Statement on the bombshell @nypost reporting on Cuomo’s cover-up 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/brOrGZjeBo

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 12, 2021

Governor Cuomo and his administration must be investigated from top to bottom and he must be stripped of his emergency powers.

Justice needs to be brought for the grieving families who have been ignored to protect Governor Cuomo and his Democrat allies in the Legislature. pic.twitter.com/N4B2c77u3w

— Rob Ortt (@SenatorOrtt) February 12, 2021