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New York, NY – EXCLUSIVE: New York Assembly member Michael Montesano said he plans to ask the state legislature to consider impeaching Governor Andrew Cuomo after his senior aide bombshell admitted their office would have withheld data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths to shake up a Justice Department investigation into the matter.
“We have been asking for subpoenas and a hearing for some time,” Montesano, a Republican member of the state’s monitoring and investigation committee, told Fox News. “This news of the last few days is extremely disturbing to me and I will ask for his resignation today and I will also ask the legislature to consider, to explore the filing of articles of impeachment against the Governor if he don’t quit. ”
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Calls for a criminal investigation against Cuomo and his staff have increased after Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, told Democrats in New York on Thursday that the Cuomo administration feared data on deaths from COVID-19 to be “used against us” by the Department of Justice in the midst of its federal investigation against four states into nursing home deaths, including New York, and so the administration withheld the actual death toll .
“It’s now criminal,” said Montesano, a Republican who represents District 15. “The governor wants to talk about how political our attacks on him are. They’re not political, we’ve always felt like they’ve been covering things up, and now she’s admitted to covering things up because she knew the Department of Justice is currently actively investigating the issues of the homes. care that many of us in the Legislature, especially in the minority, have demanded.
“It obstructs an investigation. That is what makes it even more disturbing,” he added.
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“If I were to make an educated guess, I believe she realizes that the Department of Justice is investigating, that maybe things are getting closer and that she wants to get rid of any wrongdoing that she has. may have committed if she has covered something up and tries to do so. in front of him, ”Montesano said of De Rosa’s shocking confession, which she tried to revert in a statement released Friday.
U.S. Representative Tom Reed, RN.Y., told FOX Business’s Maria Bartiromo that he plans to file a criminal complaint against DeRosa to have her arrested.
Montesano said he supported the congressman’s aggressive campaign to hold Cuomo and senior officials accountable, calling their conduct “very egregious.”
Cuomo had long been criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic – in early 2020, after ordering Empire State nursing homes to accept patients who had or were suspected of having COVID-19. The decision created an attack of COVID-19 cases that have infected thousands of elderly patients and resulted in hundreds of deaths among the state’s most vulnerable population.
In late January, New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that the Cuomo Department of Health had underreported 50% of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
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The New York Department of Health reported as of January 27, 2021, there were 5,957 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes and 2,783 additional suspected deaths. In assisted care facilities, there were 160 deaths and 52 presumed deaths.
But on Wednesday, the state revealed that the death toll was in fact 15,049 residents in elderly care facilities (retirement homes and adult care centers / assisted living facilities), according to a letter from the commissioner to state health, Dr. Howard Zucker, sent to Senate Democrats.
New York lawmakers at the national and federal levels have stepped up pressure against the governor who asked him to resign.
“Resignation is one thing and I have to be blunt with you, he’s too arrogant to think about doing this. He’s for himself, not for these people,” Montesano told Fox News.
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“This is why I am asking if there is a possibility of impeachment under the New York State Constitution,” Montesano said. “It is worth the legislature to explore because it is far reaching.”
Republican MP Kieran Lalor also says he supports a Cuomo impeachment inquiry.
“Due to the massive loss of life, the cover-up of deaths in nursing homes is no worse than the crime. But the cover-up is still extremely bad,” Lalor told Fox News in a statement. “There should be an investigation into whether Cuomo and his staff obstructed the US Department of Justice.”
“The comments from Cuomo’s chief aide appear to be an admission of obstruction,” he added. “The public has a right to know how much the governor was involved in the obstruction. Unlike California, New York, unfortunately, has no mechanism for citizens to directly attempt to remove a sitting chief executive. In New York, it’s up to the people elected representatives to use the impeachment process. The impeachment should be on the table. “
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