February 12, 2021
State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C,I-Big Flats) strongly reacted to last night’s New York Post report that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide admitted to legislative Democrats that the administration purposely withheld information on the COVID-19 death toll in New York’s nursing homes in attempt to steer clear of federal prosecutors. O’Mara called the administration’s actions a “massive and unconscionable cover-up.”
O’Mara said that the story makes it clear that subpoenas must be issued and a full investigation started immediately.
O’Mara, the Ranking Member of the Senate Investigations Committee, said, “This is a massive and unconscionable cover-up. We should not be finding out the truth of this tragedy in nursing homes through leaks of secret Democrat-only meetings. It becomes clearer by the day that subpoenas are warranted for all records pertaining to how Governor Cuomo and his inner circle handled this crisis. These subpoenas need to move forward immediately. All of this needs to be aired, fully and forthrightly, in public.”
In the weeks following a January 28 report from state Attorney General Letitia James that revealed significant under-reporting by the Cuomo administration on COVID-19-related nursing home deaths, O’Mara and his Senate GOP colleagues have been pushing legislative Democrats to immediately issue subpoenas to top administration officials to compel testimony and obtain all records related to the crisis.
