Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has been subpoenaed to appear before a House subcommittee to answer for his administration’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic, reigniting a flashpoint that could further damage his chances at a political comeback.
The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic accused Mr. Cuomo of “recklessly” exposing nursing home residents to the virus “with deadly consequence.”
The subcommittee chairman, Representative Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, said in a letter sent Tuesday to Mr. Cuomo that there was “troubling evidence suggesting the Cuomo administration at best downplayed” the effects of its nursing home policies “and at worst covered them up.”
The subpoena is the latest in a multiyear saga surrounding the former governor’s decision to require nursing homes to accept residents who had tested positive for Covid-19 in the spring of 2020. The decision, which presaged a virus outbreak in those facilities leading to thousands of deaths, has drawn broad scrutiny from state and federal investigators.
In January 2021, the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, a Democrat, concluded that the state had “severely” undercounted deaths in nursing homes — charges that were validated when the state later revised its figures upward some 40 percent. But while her office’s report found that returning residents to their facilities “may have put residents at increased risk,” it stopped short of blaming the governor’s policy for nursing home outbreaks, acknowledging that the policy was consistent with federal guidance at the time.
The former governor, also a Democrat, has repeatedly denied that the policy led to additional deaths.
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo called the subpoena “an obvious press charade,” noting that the claims at issue had been investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, both of which declined to bring criminal charges.
“This is an election-year stunt; they’re a bunch of clowns,” the spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, said.
The matter was also investigated by the State Assembly Judiciary Committee, which launched a broad probe into Mr. Cuomo’s handling of Covid and nursing homes, as well as the allegations of sexual harassment that would later force his resignation.
The Assembly investigation did not directly evaluate whether Mr. Cuomo’s order had led to the deadly outbreaks in nursing homes. But it did find that the administration had selectively reported statistics from those facilities to avoid criticism.
At issue was New York State’s method of categorizing nursing home deaths. The state did not include in its tally nursing home residents who died in hospitals or other facilities from Covid, effectively reducing the reported mortality rates for nursing home residents.
In its letter to Mr. Cuomo, the House subcommittee accuses the former governor of delaying its inquiry, detailing monthslong back-and-forth conversations about scheduling an interview.
Mr. Cuomo’s representatives insisted that they have been cooperative, offering both written responses and a series of dates in August for an interview.
The subpoena will require Mr. Cuomo to appear on May 24.
“Former Governor Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr. Wenstrup said in a statement.
The subcommittee has also sought information on the administration’s handling of nursing homes from the former secretary to the governor, Melissa DeRosa, a senior aide who, according to documents and interviews, was involved in rewriting a Health Department report to obscure the number of nursing home deaths.
Two House Republicans from New York cheered the subpoena as a long overdue measure of accountability.
“His testimony is crucial to helping us prevent a tragedy like this from occurring ever again,” Representative Nicole Malliotakis, who sits on the subcommittee, said in a statement, which was echoed by Representative Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking House Republican.
Democrats did not immediately leap to the defense of Mr. Cuomo, a onetime party stalwart who was thought to have an outside shot at the presidency. A representative for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Mr. Cuomo has been increasingly at odds with his party following his resignation in August 2021 amid the sexual harassment allegations. He has denied wrongdoing.
