NEW YORK, NY- Disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who has his sights set on becoming the next mayor of New York City, admitted that he may have lied under oath during Congressional testimony related to COVID-19 nursing home deaths in the state, The New York Post reports.
Thursday, Cuomo admitted that he had seen the controversial reports on nursing home deaths when serving as the Empire State’s governor, but may have doctored the document, which contradicts his testimony.
“I did not recall seeing the report at the time. I did see the report, it turns out,” Cuomo told PIX-11 news, according to The Post. “I’m sure if I read the report I made language changes.”
Cuomo’s confession comes after the Department of Justice is reported to have opened a criminal investigation into whether Cuomo lied during testimony, where he denied that he drafted, reviewed, discussed, or consulted on a nursing home report on New York State nursing home deaths.
That report attempted to downplay the consequences of Cuomo’s ill-fated March 25, 2020, order that forced recovering COVID patients into nursing homes and senior care facilities without mandated testing to see if others were in danger of being infected. Senior citizens were identified as one of the most vulnerable populations for COVID-19 infection.
By the time Cuomo rescinded the directive, thousands of sick New York residents had already been either admitted or readmitted into nursing facilities. Despite that, New York underreported deaths by nearly 50%.
A congressional subcommittee obtained emails that showed Cuomo’s aides discussed his role in drafting the report, with some including Cuomo’s handwritten edits.
However, when questioned by the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024, Cuomo denied accusations that he mishandled the COVID response and attempted to blame federal guidance for interfering with his administration’s response.
Moreover, during private questioning by House members, he stated that he didn’t review a draft of the nursing home order before it was released and that he didn’t recall editing or discussing it before its release on July 7, 2020, as noted in a transcript.
“I do not recall reviewing,” Cuomo said.
When asked if he had edited the report, Cuomo denied doing so, saying, “I don’t recall seeing it.”
Thursday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) slammed Cuomo’s apparent change of heart.
“It’s remarkable that former Governor Cuomo now admits he read and edited the COVID nursing home report, only after facing a federal investigation for lying to Congress about it,” Comer said in a statement.
“Cuomo’s deadly order forcing COVID-positive patients into nursing homes led to the deaths of thousands of seniors,” Comer added. “He must be held accountable for the order, the cover-up, and the lies.”
Relatives of nursing home patients who died as a result of Cuomo’s action slammed his change of heart, calling it a “weasel answer.”
“I hope it’s a smoking gun,’ said Vivian Zayas, whose mom died from COVID-19 at a Long Island nursing home in 2021.
“I hope it’s the tip of the iceberg of the accountability that will come,” Zayas added. “Cuomo wants to be mayor, but he has selective memory.”
Meanwhile, Peter Arbeeny, whose father died in a nursing home due to Cuomo’s mandate, slammed him, saying he has “selective memory.”
“Cuomo said he wrote a 320-page book from memory, but can’t remember reading and writing a health department report,” Arbeeny told The Post, referring to Cuomo as “slick.”
“They were suppressing a narrative about nursing home deaths because they were writing a book,” he continued.
Despite Cuomo virtually admitting he lied, a spokesman claimed he had been upfront about what he called a “politicized” controversy. He said Cuomo had been “consistent” when discussing the issue in the past.
“Despite attempts to paint this otherwise, Governor Cuomo’s comments are consistent with what he has said all along,” the spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, told The Post. “He testified truly and to the best of his recollection.
“He also offered, in good faith, to review any additional documents the [congressional] committee may have had in its possession to refresh his recollection, which they declined to present,” he continued. “That’s because this was never about fact-finding. It was all politics from day one.”
Aside from allegedly sending nursing home patients to an early death, Cuomo’s term as governor included allegations of sexual harassment, which he has denied.
Cuomo served as New York’s governor for ten years but resigned in disgrace in 2021 amid the mounting sexual harassment claims and was replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who some believe has been a worse disaster than Cuomo.
Cuomo is currently considered the front-runner to succeed Eric Adams as mayor of the country’s biggest city.
Comments
2025-06-15T17:06-0400 | Comment by: Dawn
Color me shocked. Not! It was obvious from the get-go that he was lying through his teeth. He doesn't give a single flying rat about a single person in that state, much less that city, and he proved that during Covid. He's also proved REPEATEDLY that he's more than happy to lie to Congress, the press, AND the people in his state. If NYC votes for him as their next mayor, they truly deserve what they get.
2025-06-15T19:01-0400 | Comment by: Lanette
OK, well they blocked my comment, when I asked why you would vote for him! So I will be less assertive with my caps lock and hopefully this will be posted!
2025-06-15T19:39-0400 | Comment by: Sher
And what we do not need are any of his kind in office moving forward.