A New York City mayoral candidate’s alleged COVID cover-up may bring accountability after thousands died in nursing homes.
On top of a report of harassment claims leveled against him, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) stepped down from office in Aug. 2021 as a scandal raged over nursing home deaths attributed to his COVID orders. Now, as the disgraced former executive seeks election to be the top executive of the Big Apple, the Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal investigation over his congressional testimony about those deaths.
According to a report from the New York Times, the inquiry into the mayoral front-runner was opened in April 2025 per a referral from Kentucky Rep. James Comer (R), chair of the House Oversight Committee, regarding Cuomo’s June 11, 2024, testimony to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
In March 2020, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to intake COVID patients discharged from the hospitals without testing if they were transmitting the virus. The order was then revoked in May 2020. The governor allegedly made “criminally false statements” when later questioned about the resulting deaths, and Comer asserted there was “overwhelming evidence” Cuomo’s July 2020 audit undercounted New York nursing homes’ fatalities by 46%.
While the committee previously referred the potential criminal case to then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, alleging the governor lied about nursing home deaths from his orders, the Times focused on the timing of the new inquiry from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as it fell two months after the DOJ sought the dismissal of the indictment brought against incumbent NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D).
“That puts the Trump administration in the unusual position of having ended a criminal case against the leader of the nation’s largest city and opened one into his chief rival in the span of a few months,” the report detailed.
Aside from the narrative that sought to implicate President Donald Trump in a scheme to influence the mayoral race, those whose lives were directly impacted by the COVID orders rejoiced at the forward progress in seeking justice.
“After years of silence, deflection, and political spin, the wheels of justice are finally beginning to turn,” began a statement from Voices for Seniors. “For over five years, our movement has been fueled by heartbreak and a single-minded demand for the truth. Over 15,000 seniors died in New York nursing homes–mothers, fathers, grandparents–while those in power played politics and manipulated the narrative.”
Our statement on the DOJ Criminal investigation of Andrew Cuomo: pic.twitter.com/JIat26301X
— VoicesForSeniors (@Voices4Seniors) May 21, 2025
“Cuomo’s alleged involvement in editing the July 2020 DOH report to conceal the real death toll is not just a betrayal of public trust–it’s a betrayal of the very lives he was sworn to protect,” the statement continued. “This investigation is not just justified; it’s overdue. The evidence paints a damning picture of a leader more concerned with image than integrity. Grieving families have waited long enough.”
Voices for Seniors cofounder Vivian Zayas, whose mother, Ana Martinez, was counted among the nursing home COVID deaths, told the New York Post, “Thank God our fight has not been in vain.”
“We’re just elated this investigation of Cuomo is going forward. It’s a long overdue victory for the nursing home families and their loved ones,” she added.
After attorney Ed Martin’s nomination was withdrawn for U.S. Attorney over stonewalling from Senate RINOs, the probe now falls under the direction of interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
Speaking on behalf of the governor, spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said of the reported investigation, “We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”
“Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier,” he went on, “and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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