White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that the Justice Department will decide whether to investigate an investigation into the role of Governor Andrew Cuomo in the deaths of COVID-19 nursing homes.
The Cuomo administration probably accounted for 50 percent of the heavyweight of residences, according to a report Thursday by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The death toll was boosted by an order from the state Department of Health in March that required nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients.
A journalist asked Psaki at a White House briefing, “Would President Biden support a federal investigation into what happened and the role of Governor Andrew Cuomo?”
Psaki said: “I have seen these reports. I would say that any investigation would point to the Department of Justice. “
Pressed by the reporter on whether the White House believes further review is needed, Psaki said, “Once again, any investigation would be directed by the Justice Department. We are in a new era where they are independent and will determine which path to take to move forward.” .
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The state attorney general reviewed data from 62 nursing homes and found that 1,914 residents died of COVID-19, 56 percent more than the 1,229 reported by the state.
The data suggests that the death toll in New York nursing homes could be over 13,000. The official state figure is 8,711 and does not count patients taken to a hospital before they die.
James’ report would mean that nearly a third of New York’s more than 42,000 coronavirus deaths were related to residences, which undermines Cuomo’s claim to effectively manage the crisis.
New York still has the highest number of deaths in the United States from the respiratory insect, which takes the lives of the elderly disproportionately. The second highest number of deaths is in California, with fewer than 40,000 fatalities, although California has more than double the number of COVID-19 diagnoses.
Former President Donald Trump’s Justice Department was reviewing the situation in New York City nursing homes. In October, The Post reported that the Justice Department was requesting more information from the state after an initial review of the data indicated there was a significant decline.
Federal sources told The Post that a first federal review of two dozen New York state nursing homes found that about 400 residents died from COVID-19, a third more than the approximately 300 deaths reported at Control Centers. and Disease Prevention.