Stefanik to Subpoena Cuomo Over Nursing Home Scandal

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) on Monday promised to subpoena former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his involvement in the nursing home scandal during the pandemic if Republicans retake the House majority in November.

At a “Justice for Victims” press conference in Rensselaer County, Stefanik announced House Republicans intend to investigate Cuomo’s involvement in covering up nursing home deaths and the total number of those deaths as part of House Republicans’ “Commitment to America.”

“There must be accountability. And there must be transparency and answers,” she said about Gov. Cuomo’s “fatal executive order” that “did not abide by CMS’s guidance” and “forced Covid-positive nursing home patients into nursing homes across this state.”

Stefanik, the third most senior-ranking House Republican, said Democrats from New York state and Washington, DC, have been curiously uninterested in investigating the deaths.

“Not a single Democrat member of Congress has focused on this important issue that has led to the loss of 15,000 seniors’ lives in New York state. House Republicans will,” Stefanik said. “So while all the Albany Democrats have refused to conduct a full scale investigation, while Washington Democrats have refused to conduct a full scale investigation, House Republicans will.”

“I’ve talked to numerous family members who lost their loved ones as direct result of the fatal nursing home executive order that Gov. Cuomo and then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul put into place,” she continued. “I’m proud to both lead that effort to both sound the alarm of the illegal actions of Gov. Cuomo and Lt. Gov. Hochul but also since then, demanding an investigation.”

Critics of Cuomo’s handling of Covid-positive seniors during the pandemic have called the act “criminal” and a “public fraud.”