Members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic are pushing one of former Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aides for information about the state’s widely maligned COVID-19 nursing home policies.
The committee seeks testimony and documents related to Ms. DeRosa’s role in the March. 25, 2020, New York Department of Health (NYDOH) order forcing nursing home operators to accept residents who had tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the House subcommittee, Ms. DeRosa’s attorney claims she has no documents or expertise to contribute on this matter.
Mr. Wenstrup and Ms. Malliotakis argue this is directly contradicted in Ms. DeRosa’s tell-all book about her experiences during these years as Mr. Cuomo’s aide.
“As you described in your book, you were ’the most senior member of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s team leading the nation through a once-in-a-century pandemic, making life-or-death decisions, projecting our administration’s competence to an admiring world,” Mr. Wenstrup and Ms. Malliotakis said.
“You publicly discussed and defended the Cuomo Administration’s nursing home Order, arguing that it was consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines.”
In a media statement, Ms. DeRosa’s attorney, Greg Morvillo, disputed the entire premise of the committee’s inquiry, calling it “factually wrong.” He also implied none of the subcommittee members had read the book.
“There is nothing in Ms. DeRosa’s memoir that says this, in fact, the Committee members claim to have read Ms. DeRosa’s book, but anyone who has actually read the book would know that this comment is clearly and factually inaccurate,” Mr. Morvillo said.
Mr. Wenstrup and Ms. Malliotakis say Ms. DeRosa is obligated to provide the inquiry with whatever information they require, and it’s not up to her or an attorney to decide whether she can contribute.
“You owe answers to the thousands of families who lost loved ones in New York nursing homes. Any assertion that you were not involved in issues regarding the order grossly mischaracterizes publicly available information and your own representations,” Mr. Wenstrup and Ms. Malliotakis said.
“In fact, you were in a position to understand the Cuomo Administration’s policy regarding nursing homes from the very beginning.”
