February 12, 2021
From Assemblyman Phil Palmesano:
“On Thursday evening, the New York Post broke a major story regarding a secret meeting of the governor’s staff and Democrat lawmakers. In the meeting, the governor’s top aide admits to hiding nursing home numbers from the public and Legislature out of fear of retribution from the federal government. One of the most disappointing parts about this leaked call was that the Secretary to the Governor, Melissa DeRosa, apologized to the Democrat lawmakers saying, ‘It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans.’ Where is the apology and empathy for New York families who lost their loved ones in nursing homes over the last 11 months?
“As I have said before, and will continue to say, this is not a partisan issue. Seniors of all political parties were put into dangerous situations and lost their lives due to the governor’s mismanagement, and quite frankly, blatant cover-up of his handling of nursing homes. In addition to the New York Post’s reporting, The Associated Press reported that 9,056 recovering COVID-19 patients were sent back into nursing homes following the governor’s March 25 directive. Why is this number 40% higher than what the state health department previously reported?
“The need for independent investigations, bipartisan hearings and the use of subpoena power has never been more urgent or justified than right now. The secretary to the governor flat out admitted to a cover-up. We need to get to the bottom of this to ensure another tragedy like this never happens again.”
