The case of deaths in the nursing home of Andrew Cuomo from COVID-19 could give rise to federal criminal charges, a former assistant attorney general has warned.
In one Op-ed for Wall Street Journal, John Douca – who was serving as attorney general for the Department of Justice’s civil rights division under President Trump – emphasized that the multi-agency investigation was “merging serious, perhaps federal criminal charges.”
Daukas said that Cuomo’s executive order last March required New York’s nursing home to admit hospitalized patients who tested positive for COVID-19 “causing many tragic and unnecessary deaths to the public.”
“And his administration is engaged in a coverup designed to ignore the federal government’s efforts,” Duacas wrote in an Ed posted late Sunday night.
“Apparently inaccurate statements about deaths in nursing homes in New York misled public-health officials across the country when they were trying to develop a strategy to fight a deadly epidemic,” he wrote .
“Ms. Ducosa has been informed that the Cuomo administration’s conduct was not negligent, but deliberate and perhaps criminal,” Douca wrote.
“Many federal criminal laws may apply,” he warned.
“It is a crime for the federal government to make false statements. Concealing information and obstructing government investigations is also a crime.
“New York may be involved in a conspiracy to defraud America and its agencies and possibly obstruct justice, among other crimes,” he emphasized.
“Even though it cannot be proved that the Cuomo administration knowingly provided justice and wrong information to [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services]”Failure to provide information in New York could itself constitute a criminal offense – especially if the intention was to thwart a federal investigation – which, after all, was allegedly stated by Ms. Deosa as administration,” he wrote.
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