NEW YORK — The FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office started an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes amid the ongoing pandemic, according to reports.
Cuomo has been slammed in the last week with accusations that he covered up New York’s nursing home death toll. Families on Wednesday called for a federal probe.
The state’s reported death toll ballooned from around 9,000 – a number that excluded nursing home residents who died of coronavirus at hospitals – to just over 15,000 after a state attorney general report.
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Cuomo on Monday said the state didn’t cover up deaths, but should have moved faster to release information.
“We should have done a better job of providing information,” Cuomo said. “I accept responsibility for that. I am in charge.”
According to The Times Union, the probe by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York is in its early stages. A spokesperson told PIX11 they had no comment.
“As we publicly said, DOJ has been looking into this for months,” Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said. “We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to.”
14 state senators call for Cuomo to lose emergency powers over nursing home report
The DOJ gave Cuomo’s administration 14 days to share data on nursing home deaths on Aug. 26.
Cuomo slammed then United States Attorney General William Barr at the time.
“He’s lost credibility in this position,” Cuomo said. “He doesn’t even feign to be impartial or a real attorney general.”
PIX11 has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI. They have not yet responded to requests for comment.
