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Manhattan District Attorney's Office closing criminal case into Cuomo's alleged mishandling of COVID-19 nursing home deaths

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has closed its investigation of how the Cuomo administration handled nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is closing the criminal case into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's alleged mishandling of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

Cuomo's former attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, was told Monday that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has closed its investigation of how the Cuomo administration handled nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was contacted today [Monday] 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. 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," Abramowitz said in a provided statement.

Investigations by the New York Attorney General and the State Assembly found Cuomo's administration misrepresented how many nursing home residents actually died from the virus. 

Since taking office in August, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has stressed that transparency will be the hallmark of her administration. On her first day in office back in August, Hochul said the state has had nearly 12,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than Cuomo told the public.

Haley Viccaro, Gov. Hochul's senior advisor for communications, released the following statement back in August:

“Governor Hochul is deeply committed to transparency and restoring trust in government. Upon advice from and consultation with the Department of Health, starting on day one of the Hochul Administration, we began including an additional data set from the CDC in the daily reports to be as open and transparent as possible. This data set, which is death certificate numbers that have been reported to and compiled by the CDC, was not included before in the State's daily reports. We will always prioritize open communication with New Yorkers as we work together to battle the pandemic."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

 

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