Cuomo aide says administration 'froze' amid federal nursing home probe

[IceWizard]

Cuomo aide says administration 'froze' amid
federal nursing home probe


In meeting with lawmakers, DeRosa apologizes for political backlash

Capitol Bureau
Feb. 12, 2021

Updated:
Feb. 12, 2021 11:31 a.m.



Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa at a state briefing
in New York City on June 8, 2020.
(Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


ALBANY — A top aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told state lawmakers in a
Wednesday conference call that the administration's months-long refusal
to release full data on COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents was due
to Cuomo's team's belief that they were facing a politically motivated probe
by former President Donald J. Trump's Justice Department.

The revelation of the remarks by Cuomo's secretary Melissa DeRosa, first
the reported by the New York Post on Thursday night, prompted fresh demands
from lawmakers in both parties for a robust investigation of Cuomo's stonewalling
and possible obstruction of a federal request, and calls from Republicans that
the governor should resign or be impeached.

The Post reported that it had obtained a full recording of DeRosa's meeting
with a half-dozen lawmakers earlier this week. On Friday morning, the
Executive Chamber released a partial transcript of DeRosa's comments.
(They appear at the bottom of this story.)

In the meeting, DeRosa explaining why Cuomo's team had rebuffed the
Legislature's request for the complete data a month after the state health
department had in early July issued a self-exonerating report, which concluded
Cuomo's March order that care facilities couldn't turn away COVID-positive
residents didn't play a significant role in the virus' devastating spread through
many of those facilities. (The order was rescinded in May.) That report, however,
only counted deaths of residents at the facilities, and not the deaths of those
who were shifted to hospitals and then died.

In a statement Friday, DeRosa said her comments were taken out of context.

“I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily
set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first. We informed
the houses of this at the time," she said. "We were comprehensive and transparent
in our responses to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on
the second wave and vaccine rollout. As I said on a call with legislators, we could
not fulfill their request as quickly as anyone would have liked. But we are committed
to being better partners going forward as we share the same goal of keeping
New Yorkers as healthy as possible during the pandemic.”

But in the meeting, DeRosa made it clear that the administration viewed the federal
inquiry as a political attack.

DeRosa told the lawmakers that Trump in late August “turns this into a giant political
football. He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes, he starts
going after (New Jersey Gov. Phil) Murphy, starts going after (California Gov. Gavin)
Newsom, starts going after (Michigan Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer” — all Democrats.

And then, she said, Trump “directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation
into us. He finds one person at DOJ who since has been fired because this person is
now known to be a political hack who sends letters out to all of these different governors.”

"Basically, we froze," she told the lawmakers. "Because then we were in a position
where we weren't sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice
or what we give to you guys and what we start saying was going to be used against
us and we weren't sure if there was going to be an investigation. ...
That played a very large role into this.”

DeRosa apologized to the lawmakers — not for the stonewalling itself, but for the
political pressure placed on them by the administration's refusal to provide the data.

"We do apologize," she said. "I do understand the position that you were put in. I
know that it is not fair. It was not our intent to put you in that political position with
the Republicans."

The explanation did not go over well with Assembly Health Committee Chairman
Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, one of the lawmakers who had demanded the full
data in August. He responded to DeRosa's apology by saying, “I don’t have enough
time today to explain all the reasons why I don’t give that any credit at all."

DeRosa's remarks were contradicted by the fact that reporters and elected officials
had begun requesting the full data immediately after the release of the health
department's much-maligned July report.

Cuomo was forced to detail the full tally of nursing home deaths after last month's
release of a scathing report from state Attorney General Letitia James' office and
a subsequent court decision in a legal action brought by the Empire Center, a
fiscally conservative think tank, that ordered the administration to hand over the
data this week.

The new revelations unleashed a fresh torrent of criticism from Republicans on
the eve of Cuomo's planned visit to the White House to join other state leaders
for a Friday meeting with President Joe Biden, a longtime Cuomo ally.

State Sen. Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, said in a statement that the Post's report
of DeRosa “admitting to a cover-up in hiding the nursing home data sought by
the Justice Department and my state legislative colleagues ... is shocking. Rather
than apologize for the cover-up and any role the Cuomo Administration may have
played in the deaths of 15,000 New Yorkers from the coronavirus in nursing homes,
Ms. DeRosa instead gave a mea culpa for putting the Democratic legislators in
an inconvenient ‘political position.'”

“It’s disgusting and absolutely shameful,” Tedisco said. He demanded state and
federal investigations, including the Legislature's use of its subpoena powers to
compel testimony from administration members involved in the decision to hold
back the information. He also said lawmakers should immediately strip Cuomo
of his emergency powers conferred at the start of the pandemic.

"If this information that’s been reported is accurate, then Gov. Cuomo has totally
lost the trust of the people he represents and has violated his oath of office,"
Tedisco said. "He should then resign or face impeachment and removal from office.”

But other critical comments were posted on social media from Democrats including
progressive state lawmakers include Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou and state
Sen. Julia Salazar, from the Legislature's progressive wing.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, issued a scathing statement in response
to the DeRosa's remarks.

She said the governor, DeRosa and his "senior team must be prosecuted
immediately — both by the attorney general of New York state and the U.S.
Department of Justice. This bombshell admission of a coverup and the remarks
by the secretary to the governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal
investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power."

The congresswoman, who is often at odds with Cuomo and his administration,
characterized the situation as "more than a nursing home scandal, this is a
massive corruption and coverup scandal at the highest level of New York state
government implicating the governor, the secretary to the governor, the
New York state health commissioner and the governor’s staff."

State-level Republican lawmakers also are seizing on the administration's admission.

State Sen. Minority Leader Robert Ortt said he will "demand" an investigation of
Cuomo's administration and is calling for the Legislature to rescind the emergency
executive powers that were granted to Cuomo a year ago.

Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, issued a more conciliatory statement on Friday.

"My takeaway from the conversation was that (the health department) is now working
in earnest to provide the requested information and that we will continue to have a
dialogue that leads to accountability," he said. "I am committed to getting answers
to the many outstanding questions and discerning the facts we need to make informed
decisions on next steps. Anyone who lost a loved one in a nursing home deserves these
answers and my colleagues and are I committed to ensuring full transparency on this issue."



Transcript:
Cuomo's secretary Melissa DeRosa remarks

The following transcript was provided by Gov. Cuomo's office and appears unedited.

Senator Skoufis: Commissioner, I'm speaking more generally that just that
one question. The Senate letter that we sent had, I think 17 questions. I think
there was an Assembly letter with as many questions. So, yes, there is a question
of what the data and the audit and you're not going to convince me that you could
not have done this audit faster than 6 months time. I believe you started the audit
a few weeks ago when this all started to bubble over.

I'm speaking more generally than just the nursing home death numbers.

Melissa DeRosa: Senator, I can take this question. I don't know that this is
going to satisfy you, but it's the truth and the truth works almost every time. The
letter comes in at the end of August and right around the same time,
President Trump turns this into a giant political football. He starts tweeting that
we killed everyone in nursing homes, he starts going after Murphy, starts going
after Newsome, starts going after Gretchen Whitmer.

He directs the Department of Justice to do an investigation into us. He finds one
person at DOJ who since has been fired because this person is now known to be
a political hack who sends letters out to all of these different governors.
Basically, we froze because then we were in a position where we weren't sure
if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give
to you guys and what we start saying was going to be used against us and
we weren't sure if there was going to be an investigation.

That played a very large role into this. We went to the leaders and we said to
the leaders, can we please pause on getting back to everybody until we get
through this period and we know what's what with the DOJ? We since have come
through that period. All signs point to they are not looking at this. They dropped it.
They never formally opened an investigation. They sent a letter asking a number
of questions and then we satisfied those questions and it appears that they're
gone. That was how it was happening back in August.

In the intervening period, the second wave happened. The vaccine rollout started
and all of our attention shifted elsewhere. I know that's not the answer you want
to hear and you guys should be the only priority that we have as we're moving through this -

Senator Skoufis: I'm not so sure that you're ---

Melissa DeRosa: No, no, no - I'm sorry, I didn't mean that to be snarky.
I'm saying this sincerely and I've communicated this to Shontell and Louann.
I want to make you guys more of a partnership. I want to answer your questions
on a rolling basis. I've offered to do something weekly or bi-weekly with you guys
to get questions and more often times we can have candid conversations where
it doesn't feel like everyone is sniping at each other through the press and it
isn't really about the policy and it isn't really about the information, it's about
this political back and forth.

That is what happened. On the audit, now that I am knee deep in this and I
understand all of this. On April 17, and we don't need to get too far on a tangent,
but just so you guys understand part of all this. On April 17, DOH sent out a
notification to all of the nursing homes it regulates and says [retro]spectively,
tell us anyone that died in the facility, anyone you think died of COVID in the
facility - like presumed has a medical context and definition - but just saying
presumed in the nursing home [inaudible] I'm going to look backward and guess
essentially that you believe was confirmed COVID in a hospital and that you
think was presumed in a hospital.

All of a sudden, at the end of April, you get a massive data dump from 600
nursing homes where they're reporting back to January and saying presumed
COVID. DOH, in the middle of what was still the height of the pandemic,
when we were scrambling on a daily basis to make sure that hospitals weren't
overwhelmed and collapsing. When we were trying to make sure that people
were getting the care that they needed. We were still making major decisions
about what sectors of the economy would be safe to reopen or close, when
there was still massive PPE shortages and while we were being shot at on a
daily basis from Donald Trump - that we needed to go through these reams
of data. 14,000 people. Then it wasn't 14,000, it was like 6,000 or whatever
the number was.

None of it was reliable. It was based on initials. It was based on the data that
they thought they died in the hospital because they didn't know for sure. It was
based on co-morbidities that the list of the co-morbidities are pneumonia,
cancer, HIV/AIDS - and they're guessing that because it was around that time,
maybe it was COVID. This was a massive undertaking and it was happening
while we were still at the height of the pandemic.
That's when that data dump happened.

I'm just asking for a little bit of appreciation of the context. Your point is very
well taken, Senator, and we are going to do better and you have my promise
that we're going to try to do better on a rolling basis to answer you guys if it
means Shontell or Louannarrange one-offs and Zooms and phonecalls or
weekly meetings, or whatever - I'm open to it.

We do apologize. I do understand the position that you were put in. I know
that it is not fair. It was not our intent to put you in that political position with
the Republicans.

Senator Skoufis: Okay. Thank you.

Assembly Member Gottfried: We don't have enough time today to explain
all the reasons why I don't give that any credit at all.

Senator May: I'd like to jump in here too because and just follow up to
James and I, I'm not sure about anyone else in our colleagues here, but also
the other thing going on that we were in difficult re-election campaigns and
getting hammered about this every single day and apparently my worthwhile
opponent who [inaudible] today attacking me on this issue too.

The issue for me, the biggest issue of all, is feeling like I needed to defend or
at least not attack an administration that was appearing to be covering something
up. In a pandemic when you want the public to trust the public health officials
and there is clear feeling that they're not being forthcoming with you, that is
really hard. It remains difficult. I think I want to ask you to figure out how do
you do this messaging in a way that makes it clear to people - I mean, if you
could explain some of these things to people in real time instead of just feeling
like you're not telling people the real story that would make it easier on you
and easier on us at the same time.

Assembly Member McDonald: Can I just chime in? Secretary, I appreciate
your summary of what happened the last few months. So just to summarize and
get back on the agenda, just to simplify what's been said, it sounds like there's
been multiple data points that had to be matched if that's what I'm hearing.
There was a number of extenuating things that were occurring at the same time
that prevented the nursing home data to be matched with the hospital data.
Whatever. Where are we now? Can we just get to this point?
Did we resolve all the data matching? Have we resolved it?

Melissa DeRosa: I'm happy to take this, Assemblyman. Sorry, doctor,
if it's okay. I was briefed from the data team right before we came in. So, on page -
I actually don't know which page it is - but the upshot is, yes and no. Yes, meaning
the confirmed in-hospital we believe is resolved. They're going to go back and
audit it again to make sure and they're going to line it up with death certificates
once this is all over. That number we believe is firmly resolved. There was the
category of probable out of facility. Either in a hospice or a hospital. The nursing
home people at DOH went back to the nursing homes and said what did you
base this on? Their answer was we based it on what we thought retrospectively.

[Charon]

Not one word of apology to the families whom lost loved ones in NY.

This was murder really. We had the jacob javits center set up. two ships set up outside NY. Another facility. and we all wondered why cuomo never used the supplies trump sent. Nor the military. Cuz he was so busy with his attempt to hide the real number of deaths. And keep his frigadelic emmy.

And not one insipid female whom swooned over this pigster of lies and threats, will speak up and say a word. You still all have mad crushes on cuomo?

God is bringing to light much.