In light of new reports alleging New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his staff engaged in a cover-up of New York’s nursing home COVID-19 death toll, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), on Wednesday, sent a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calling for the Committee to investigate Cuomo’s COVID-19 cover-up.
He was joined by eight other members of the Committee; Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).
In the letter, the senators outlined their expectation for Judge Merrick Garland, President Biden’s nominee for Attorney General, to commit to investigating Cuomo’s COVID-19 cover-up.
“When Judge Garland testifies before this Committee, we expect him to commit the Department of Justice to fully investigating this cover-up to determine whether any criminal laws were violated and to prosecute any violations. We will also ask him whether he has the resources he needs to fully pursue an investigation, not only into the deaths that occurred in New York but the deaths that occurred in other states that adopted similar directives leading to the admission of COVID-19 infected persons into elder care facilities,” says the letter.
They are also urging Sen. Durbin to open an investigation and schedule hearings into Cuomo’s COVID-19 cover-up.
Sen. Grassley recently warned that President Biden’s largely across-the-board termination of 56 U.S. attorneys could imperil ongoing sensitive investigations – a concern also expressed by Senate Democrats.
After testimony from a top aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that the state withheld nursing home death statistics, there is concern that the terminations could impede an ongoing federal investigation into how actions by some state officials could have exacerbated the spread of the coronavirus.
GOP Senators say that an investigation could not be credibly carried out by the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who happens to be the mother-in-law of the governor’s aide who testified about the undisclosed data.
Sen. Grassley said, “The obvious alternative is Antoinette “Toni” Bacon, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, who previously served as Justice Department’s national elder justice coordinator and who currently has jurisdiction over federal public corruption crimes in the state.”
However, President Biden’s plan could remove Bacon from office at the end of the month.
“That is why we ask you to open an investigation and schedule hearings on this critical issue. The American people deserve to know the extent to which Governor Cuomo and his senior staff violated the civil rights of New York seniors, lied to the Department of Justice about their actions, and violated federal civil and criminal laws in the process.”