The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, focusing on allegations he lied to Congress about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inquiry, first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Fox News, stems from Cuomo's 2020 directive that sent COVID-positive patients into nursing homes — a policy critics say worsened outbreaks and led to thousands of deaths.
According to a source familiar with the case, the investigation began about a month ago after senior DOJ officials pushed to drop a separate corruption case against current New York City Mayor Eric Adams — Cuomo’s political rival and a candidate in the upcoming mayoral race.
Cuomo, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for mayor, is accused of making “multiple criminally false statements” during testimony before the House Oversight Committee last year. Republicans on the committee, led by Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), allege Cuomo misrepresented data and decisions surrounding the nursing home scandal.
“This wasn’t a slip-up – it was a calculated cover-up by a man seeking to shield himself from responsibility for the devastating loss of life in New York’s nursing homes,” Comer said Monday, calling on the DOJ to prosecute Cuomo “to the fullest extent of the law.”
Cuomo’s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called the investigation politically motivated, saying, “We have never been informed of any such matter… this is lawfare and election interference plain and simple.”
At the center of the controversy is a March 2020 executive order that barred nursing homes from rejecting COVID-positive patients. Over 9,000 such patients were transferred to these facilities during the height of the pandemic. A later report by the New York State Comptroller found Cuomo’s administration understated nursing home deaths by as much as 50% at various times.
Cuomo has long defended the policy, saying it followed federal guidance from the CDC and CMS. But Republican lawmakers say the directive and Cuomo’s subsequent testimony to Congress merit criminal charges.
Former Rep. Brad Wenstrup, who chaired the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, previously referred Cuomo for prosecution to the Biden DOJ in 2024 — a referral Comer says went ignored until now.
The DOJ has not commented publicly on the scope or timeline of the investigation. However, both the Justice Department and the House Oversight Committee have signaled they are prepared to cooperate as the case unfolds.