New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) is calling for a “full accounting” of what occurred following news of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) administration covering up data pointing to the number of coronavirus-related deaths in NYC nursing homes and long term care facilities.
Describing the report as both “disturbing” and “troubling,” de Blasio said it is crucial to gather more information and called for a “full accounting of what happened.”
“We’ve gotta know more,” de Blasio said during a Friday appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show. “We now need a full accounting of what happened.”
“Think about seniors … their lives were in the balance and their families just desperate to get them the help they needed. We need to know exactly what happened here,” he continued. “We need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.”
His remarks followed Thursday evening’s New York Post story, which unveiled the private conversation Melissa DeRosa, New York’s secretary to the governor, had with Democrat state lawmakers, essentially admitting that the administration withheld nursing home data out of fear of a federal investigation from the Trump administration.
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” DeRosa said of Trump. “He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer,” she said, telling the lawmakers that they “froze.”
“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 said, noting that the uncertainty of an investigation “played a very large role into this” and ultimately offering an apology for the political optics.
“So we do apologize,” she told the Democrats. “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.”
Top New York lawmakers are also calling for action in the form of investigation by the Department of Justice.
“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,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement, adding that Americans “deserve accountability from the U.S. Department of Justice that will be independent and not swayed by the desperate political pressure from Governor Cuomo.”
Nearly 15,000 long-term residents have died of the Chinese coronavirus in New York facilities, up thousands from the state’s original report.
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