(NEW YORK) — The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will not file criminal charges in connection with the handling of coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes during the tenure of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his representative said Monday.
“I was contacted today by the head of the Elder Care Unit from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who informed me they have closed its investigation involving the Executive Chamber and nursing homes,” said Elkan Abromowitz, an attorney who represented the governor’s office. “I was told that after a thorough investigation – as we have said all along – there was no evidence to suggest that any laws were broken.”
The DA’s office had no comment.
Cuomo had come under fire for a policy early in the pandemic that returned nursing home residents to their facilities upon discharge from the hospital, even if they hadn’t tested negative.
He came under additional scrutiny when the New York attorney general found his office undercounted nursing home deaths.
Cuomo said last February that nearly all nursing homes that accepted recovering patients already had COVID cases.
And he said at that time that his handling of the fatality data created a “void” filled by misinformation and conspiracies.
“The void we created by not providing information was filled with skepticism and cynicism and conspiracy theories which fueled the confusion,” Cuomo said then. “The void we created disinformation and that caused more anxiety for loved ones.”
The state assembly considered whether it could be grounds for Cuomo’s impeachment before deciding to take no action.
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