Cuomo aide admits they hid nursing home data so feds wouldn’t find out
By Bernadette Hogan, Carl Campanile and Bruce Golding
February 11, 2021 | 6:51pm | Updated
Governor Cuomo’s top aide privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 — telling them “we froze†out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us†by federal prosecutors, The Post has learned.
The stunning admission of a cover-up was made by Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders in which she said the Cuomo administration had rebuffed a legislative request for the tally in August because “right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,†according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting.
“He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,†DeRosa said. “He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer.â€
In addition to attacking Cuomo’s fellow Democratic governors, DeRosa said, Trump “directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us.â€
“And basically, we froze,†she told the lawmakers on the call.
more
https://nypost.com/2021/02/11/cuomo-aide-admits-they-hid-nursing-home-data-from-feds/