On Wednesday, Republican members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent a letter to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and four other state attorneys general, calling on them to investigate deaths in nursing homes related to the virus.
“These governors are withholding information from the public and House Democrats are letting them get away with it with their partisan refusal to join our investigation. As a result, we are now calling on the attorneys general of these states to investigate the orders behind these avoidable tragedies,” Republican Whip and Select Subcommittee Ranking Member Steve Scalise (LA) said in a news release.
“Grieving families of those who died as a result of these orders deserve answers about why they were put in place and the full extent of their impact, and there is no amount of stonewalling, name-calling, or blame-shifting that will make us give up on getting them.”
The Republicans wrote in part:
In your current review of Michigan nursing homes actions during the coronavirus pandemic we request that you include in your investigation the following topics:
1. The deliberative process of all State-issued guidance, directives, advisories, and executive orders regarding hospital discharges to nursing homes or any other types of assisted living facilities, including the orders subsequently superseded;
2. An analysis of any State-issued guidance, directives, advisories, or executive orders regarding hospital discharges to nursing homes or any and all other types of assisted living facilities which adversely affected the nursing homes’ efforts to contain or respond to the pandemic; and
3. The data collection practices of the State including:
a. the total number of patients infected with COVID-19 who were admitted or readmitted to nursing homes or assisted living facilities each day between January 1, 2020 and present;
b. including the name of the facility of admittance or readmittance; and
c. the number of nursing home or assisted living deaths that occurred in either the patient’s place of residence or in a medical setting.
The Republicans requested “all information, documents, and communications” between Nessel, the Office of the Governor, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services related to any investigation of the nursing home deaths.
“Instead of threatening barbershop owners, Attorney General Nessel should be protecting seniors and investigating Governor Whitmer’s decision to place covid-19 positive patients in senior care facilities,” Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), one of the signers, told Breitbart News.
“It is a tragedy that 3% of Michigan’s entire nursing home population has died during this pandemic,” he added.
The Michigan state legislature is attempting to end the practice of placing coronavirus patients into nursing home facilities.
The Senate passed a bill this week championed by state Sen. Pete Lucido (R-Macomb County) which would force an end to Whitmer’s policy.
Lucido told Charlie LeDuff on the No BS News Hour, “What our governor has done is literally cold-blooded killed the most injured parties that are out there. The ones that have compromised immune systems—cold-blooded.”
He added, “Science and data do not support infecting healthy people who have to be protected at all costs,” referring to elderly patients in the nursing homes.
Lucido said that those facilities had to fight with hospitals for personal protective equipment, and hospitals had “first dibs,” and that ventilators, doctors, and other things found in hospitals were not present in the nursing homes.
LeDuff was irate and urged Whitmer to “swallow your pride” and change the policy. Or as he said, “Get the goddamn shit fixed.”
Lucido, a candidate for Macomb County Prosecutor, vowed if he’s elected he will prosecute the governor for nursing home deaths in his county.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.