Topline
Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running in this year’s New York City mayoral race, accused President Donald Trump’s administration of engaging in election interference following reports the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks outside the West Side Institutional Synagogue in New York … More
Key Facts
According to the New York Times, which first reported the story, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington opened an investigation into Cuomo’s testimony he gave to Congress about his handling of the pandemic, where several GOP lawmakers have accused him of lying.
In a statement shared with multiple outlets, a spokesperson for Cuomo said: “This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”
The spokesperson said Cuomo’s team has not been informed about the investigation and asked why someone would “leak it now,” implying it was being done to impact the New York Mayoral race.
He then added that the former governor “testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the subcommittee.”
A Marist poll of the Democratic Mayoral Primary released last week showed Cuomo leading by a significant margin.
A former key aide for Cuomo, Melissa DeRosa, said about the reported probe, saying: “Trump wants a mayor who will bend the knee (or be up his butt)…Andrew Cuomo is his nightmare come true…enter law-fare…and a galvanized democratic base.”
What Do We Know About The Reported Probe?
Cuomo, who was the governor of New York State at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, came under fire from Republicans over his handling of the virus’s impact on the state’s nursing homes. Last year, the Republican-led House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic referred Cuomo to the Justice Department, calling for his prosecution for allegedly lying to Congress about his handling of deaths in nursing homes. After Attorney General Pam Bondi took office earlier this year, the House oversight committee’s GOP chair once again referred Cuomo to the DOJ, accusing him of lying to Congress. According to the Times’ report, the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, then led by Ed Martin, began the investigation in response to the second letter. Earlier this month, Trump pulled Martin’s nomination for the D.C. office after he failed to garner adequate support and tapped Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. In 2006, Pirro ran against and lost to Cuomo in the New York attorney general election. During the pandemic, the Fox News host repeatedly attacked Cuomo over his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic and accused him of a cover-up.
Tangent
News of the investigation into Cuomo comes a few months after the DOJ moved to seek the dismissal of a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The DOJ argued that the case, which was brought against the mayor by the Biden administration, would impact Adams’ chances in the mayoral primary and limit his cooperation with the Trump administration on carrying out the president’s immigration policies. Last month, a federal judge dismissed the case “with prejudice,” which means Adams cannot face any future prosecution on those charges. After the dismissal, Adams announced he would not participate in the Democratic Party’s mayoral primary and run as an Independent instead. Adams’ bid to bypass the primary comes at a time he has faced criticism and pushback from Democrats over his embrace of Trump and his policies. If Cuomo wins the Democratic primary, he will face Adams in the Mayoral election later this year, which could be impacted by the DOJ’s handling of their two cases.
Big Number
74%. That is the percentage of New York City Democratic primary voters who want a candidate who “will try to oppose President Donald Trump as much as possible,” according to the Marist Poll.
Further Reading
Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Cuomo, Singling Out Another Political Target (New York Times)
Judge Dismissed Eric Adams Corruption Case ‘With Prejudice’—Denying Trump’s DOJ Request (Forbes)
