Disgraced former New York Governor Andrew “Governor Death” Cuomo continues to be under fire for his disastrous, cruel, and controversial handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes, which killed thousands of vulnerable seniors.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic requested Cuomo’s testimony at a hearing in September.
Earlier this year, Mr. Cuomo appeared before the Select Subcommittee for a grueling seven-hour, closed-door, transcribed interview. Among those interviewed were the former Secretary to the Governor, Melissa DeRosa, and the former New York Health Department Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker (who stepped down in 2021.)
During the congressional investigation, a disturbing new document suggests Cuomo attempted to ‘inappropriately influence’ a witness, Jim Malatras, who testified before the subcommittee.
Malatras, who resigned in December 2021, said Cuomo made him feel “uncomfortable.”
The House COVID panel revealed in a memo earlier this month that Cuomo had reached out to Malatras to “check in” at least once during the course of their investigation.
But in an addendum to that memo released Wednesday, text messages and a letter from Malatras show Cuomo reached out to his ex-aide three times since early 2021 — and always “within 48 hours of the Select Subcommittee taking a specific action in its nursing home investigation.
“This includes one action that was not public and only known by Mr. Cuomo and his counsel,” the addendum states. “The evidence in this Memo supports the finding that former Governor Andrew Cuomo acted in a manner consistent with an attempt to inappropriately influence the testimony of a witness and obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation.”
A May 18, 2023 text message read, “Hello Jim, Andrew Cuomo here. It’s been a long time. I just want you to know I think about you often. I am very sorry for the pain you went through. I am sorry that I was the lightning rod that hurt you. I always knew politics was a nasty business but the level surprised even me.”
He added, “I hear you are doing well and if there’s anything I can ever do to help you of course I will. I know it getting knocked on your ass hurts but it’s the getting up that makes the man.”
On Feb. 18, 2024, nine months later, and only two days after the subcommittee invited Malatras, Cuomo again texted him again.
“Hello Jim, now that the dust has settled, and the truth is being revealed, I wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing. I am sure that you will do well because quality and talent always wins in the end. All the best, Andrew.”
Malatras sent a follow-up letter to the COVID panel and characterized the second text as “a type of flare — or signal — alerting me that he was aware that the House Select Subcommittee had requested that I testify on issues related to the administration’s handling of the Covid-19 response.”
Cuomo also reached out to Malatras by phone to specifically discuss the nursing home mandate.
“As part of the conversation he spoke about nursing homes, specifically describing how the story in New York was much better than I even knew it to be and mentioned several facts and datapoints to demonstrate his point,” Malatras wrote.
“I interpreted the call as an effort to make me aware of the positive information about which he intended to testify.”
“I only listened and did not respond to his discussion on nursing homes, because I was uncomfortable having to potentially contradict or disagree with Governor Cuomo on the call, or somehow prejudicing the upcoming Select Subcommittee hearing by discussing it at all.”
The Oversight Committee notes:
Notably, Dr. Malatras was the only New York nursing home investigation witness to testify that Mr. Cuomo was directly involved in the New York State Department of Health’s July 6, 2020 Report. This Report alleged that nursing home staff — not the now infamous March 25 Directive — caused excess COVID-19 deaths. The Cuomo Administration repeatedly used the July 6 Report to deflect blame for and combat public criticism of the March 25 Directive. If Mr. Cuomo personally edited the July 6 Report — as Dr. Malatras’s testimony and new New York Times reporting indicates — Mr. Cuomo’s pattern of communication with Dr. Malatras suggests that Mr. Cuomo attempted to inappropriately influence witness testimony to hide wrongdoing.
Cuomo killed thousands of elderly residents in nursing homes with his edict, forcing COVID-infected individuals back into the elderly care facilities.
Not only did Cuomo kill thousands of elderly, he covered up the data and hid it from the feds.
