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The Department of Justice has dropped investigations of COVID related nursing home deaths in four Democrat run states that flouted Federal guidelines in 2020.
The states, led by New York, experienced some of the highest death rates of nursing home seniors anywhere in the country. During one period, Governor Andrew Cuomo ignored Fed recommendations and forced nursing homes to re-admit COVID positive residents who had been to the hospital. COVID ran rampant among vulnerable elderly populations as a result, and thousands died.
But under a friendly Democrat regime in Washington D.C., those blue states are now getting a pass, even as the administration accuses other states of and even social platforms like Facebook of “killing people” for not pushing experimental vaccines aggressively enough.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Legislative Affairs notified US Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA ), the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, in a letter sent Friday that New York was exempt from any breaches of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey also have been given a pass.
Reaction was swift from politicians including now Congressional leadership member Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who in 2020 decried policies that seemed almost designed to increase death numbers during a time of lockdown and panic. Stefanik said in a statement:
“This decision from President Biden’s Department of Justice makes President Biden complicit in the criminal corruption scandal and coverup of deaths of thousands of vulnerable seniors. New Yorkers deserve answers and accountability. I was the first member of Congress to call for an investigation into Governor Cuomo’s corrupt criminal coverup and I will continue to fight for the families who lost loved ones because of the cruelty and corruption of our Governor.”
Stefanik called for the DOJ Inspector General to look into the matter, calling it a “blatantly criminal cover-up”, and pointed to a recent White House meeting between Cuomo and Biden where a deal may have been struck.
In 2020, the Justice Department under then President Donald Trump had sought information from four states on suspicion that rules for nursing facilities enacted early in the health crisis may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of seniors, in violation of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
Far from being held to account for a disastrous directive forcing nursing homes to re-admit COVID positive residents, Cuomo was held up as a media darling during much of 2020, earning praise for his daily press conferences. He eventually rescinded his order, and the mainstream press allowed the story to die, even as NY’s nursing home death number stats significantly outstripped states that followed Federal guidelines. Only accusations from multiple female employees that Cuomo had sexually harassed them deflated the Governor’s popularity.
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New York wasn’t the only state that made tragic mis-steps in handling COVID cases of nursing home residents. But those policies might now receive no inquiry under Attorney General Merrick Garland, although federal prosecutors are still looking into some issues, at least in the case of New York. The Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI still have an open investigation into whether Cuomo’s administration intentionally covered up the total number of COVID related nursing home deaths.
Joe Biden recently earned derision for claiming that Facebook was “killing people” by not completely purging negative info about experimental COVID vaccines from its platform.
By that standard, the Governors of blue states that ignored Federal advisories and forced nursing homes to re-admit COVID-19 positive residents have a lot of deaths to answer for.
As for the Civil rights related case, senior House Republican Steve Scalise also strongly condemned the DOJ’s decision:
“Where is the justice for nursing home victims and their grieving families? These deadly orders contradicted the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s] guidance, and needlessly endangered the most vulnerable among us to the deadly COVID-19 virus.
“Even worse, Governor Cuomo in New York intentionally tried to cover up the true death toll resulting from his mandate. Grieving families deserve answers and accountability. It’s unconscionable that Biden’s Department of Justice refuses to investigate the deadly actions that went against CDC’s medical guidance taken in these states.”