The head of the congressional panel investigating the pandemic slapped Gov. Kathy Hochul with a subpoena Tuesday while accusing her office of withholding crucial documents regarding COVID-19-related nursing home deaths.
Those materials include Blackberry messages exchanged during the deadly outbreak between key state officials and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who was grilled by members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Tuesday.
“Although you promised to be ‘fully transparent’ regarding COVID-19 in nursing homes, the Executive Chamber’s decision to withhold responsive documents—without notice to the Select Subcommittee—is anything but transparent, has unjustifiably delayed our investigation, and falls squarely on your shoulders,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chairman of the panel, in a letter to Hochul.
Wenstrup, in the subpoena cover letter, complained that the governor’s office “failed to produce any documents until February 2024” — more than eight months after the subcommittee’s original request.
“While the Select Subcommittee has since received three separate productions amounting to 373,999 documents, it is apparent that the Executive Chamber has not been fully cooperative with our requests and not produced pertinent documents for potentially erroneous reasons,” he told the governor.
“There are responsive documents the Select Subcommittee knows exist—through public reporting and witness testimony—that were not included in the productions. This is unacceptable.”
Such documents could shed light on Cuomo’s direct role in the controversial March 25, 2020 directive for nursing homes to admit or re-admit patients “determined medically stable” without prior testing — and in the low-balling of COVID-19-related nursing home deaths, including the editing of a July 6, 2020 report.
The chairman also referenced a “privilege log” that likely was “inappropriately redacted and withheld responsive documents” by broadly invoking “attorney-client” privilege.
“We shouldn’t need subpoenas for information that rightfully belongs to the public,” Wenstrup said in closing the panel’s grilling of Cuomo during the about two hour-long hearing on his administration’s response to the pandemic.
The damning letter shows that the Republican-led panel is not letting Hochul — who was lieutenant governor during the worst of the outbreak — off the hook for New York’s response to the COVID outbreak even though her predecessor, Cuomo, was in charge.
A spokesperson for Hochul said her office will comply with the House subpoena for more records related to the Cuomo-Hochul administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While today’s action is surprising, given the Subcommittee’s previous comments expressing appreciation for the State’s prompt and extensive cooperation, we fully intend to comply with the law in this matter,” the rep said in a statement.
The subpoena letter noted that Cuomo communicated with top aides via BlackBerry PIN messaging — but said that none of those exchanges were turned over.
“The Executive Chamber has not produced any BlackBerry PIN messages or text messages responsive to the Select Subcommittee’s request. It’s inconceivable that there were no communications other than emails responsive to our requests,” Wenstrup wrote.
Wenstrup added that additional documents subpoenaed would help to settle conflicting testimony given during the subcommittee’s investigation.
“The Executive Chamber is also improperly withholding documents needed to evaluate the veracity of witness testimony already received by the Select Subcommittee,” he wrote in the letter.
“For example, former Governor Andrew Cuomo testified to Select Subcommittee staff that he did not have any role in the drafting of the NYDOH July 6 [NYS Department of Health on COVID nursing home deaths] Report.”
But the chairman noted that Cuomo confidante Jim Malatras, told the panel, “that the former Governor was involved, and that his edits were communicated through Executive Chamber staff.”
Wenstrup also complained that Hochul’s office “withheld all documents and communications” related to deliberations of preparing the much-criticized state report on nursing home deaths.
The subpoena letter also said the governor’s office withheld emails from McKinsey & Company — the consultant heavily involved in the state’s COVID response and preparing of pandemic data — and Michael Dowling, the CEO of Northwell Health, the state’s largest hospital and health care network.
“To further our investigation, the Select Subcommittee requires the production of all responsive documents in the custody of the Executive Chamber. Accordingly, please find attached a subpoena compelling production of the requested documents,” Wenstrup told Hochul.
— Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
