Republicans in the New York state Assembly on Thursday moved to begin an impeachment process for Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid the controversy over his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A proposed resolution would create an impeachment commission to also look into Cuomo's efforts to conceal data surrounding fatalities of nursing home residents. A 60-day deadline would be set for the commission to conduct its work and release findings to lawmakers.
''The Cuomo Administration's nursing home cover-up is one of the most alarming scandals we've seen in state government,'' Minority Leader Will Barclay said in a statement Thursday, Politico reported.
''Intentionally withholding critical information from the public, underreporting fatality numbers by 50 percent and the recent revelation they hid the truth to avoid a federal Department of Justice investigation are among the factors that raise the serious possibility of criminality. It is incumbent upon the Legislature to undertake a comprehensive, bipartisan review of the Cuomo Administration's policies, decisions and actions on this matter and render a decision on what steps must be taken to hold the governor accountable.''
Cuomo has acknowledged his office should have moved faster to release data on nursing home deaths during the pandemic, but said it first had to respond to a federal inquiry last year.
Democrats hold supermajority control of the state Senate and Assembly, though Cuomo's support among rank-and-file lawmakers has taken a toll in recent weeks as details of the nursing home data controversy emerged.
Only one governor, William Sulzer in 1913, has been impeached and removed from office in New York history, Politico noted.
The impeachment move comes as the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn reportedly begin an investigation into how the Cuomo administration handled the state's nursing home crisis during the pandemic.
"As we publicly said, DOJ has been looking into this for months. We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to," Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said in a statement, Fox News reported.
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