Will ‘Cover-up Cuomo’ be marching to ‘Jail to the Chief’?

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has probably long thought that one day he would be – indeed, should be – entering a room to the sound of “Hail to the Chief.” Now it looks more likely that music will be “Jail to the Chief.”

There is growing Democratic criticism of the governor’s handling – or should we say “mishandling”? – of the coronavirus pandemic, in which perhaps thousands of seniors in New York nursing homes died needlessly due to Cuomo’s ill-fated policies, followed by a cover-up.

Now Democrats are accusing Cuomo of strongarming them for raising concerns. Even New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is supporting an investigation into his nursing home fiasco.

Democratic criticism gives the mainstream media permission to investigate Cuomo, which they are finally beginning to do.

For example, there has been widespread media coverage of comments made by his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, who reportedly apologized to Democratic lawmakers for the governor’s cover-up. Reports quote her as saying, “And basically, we froze. Because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation.” 

Isn’t obstruction of justice a crime?

In addition, the media are picking up on the accusation of sexual assault by a former top Cuomo aide, Lindsey Boylan. She made the accusation in December. But now she has written about it, and the newly unchained media appear ready to cover the issue.

When asked about the accusation, most leading Democrats I’ve heard have responded with something along the lines of the “claims should be fully investigated,” which sounds much more nuanced than their Brett Kavanaugh mantra of “believe all women.” But they also aren’t dismissing the claims.

Who knows, maybe the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will retract the Emmy Award it gave Cuomo last November for his daily televised COVID-19 briefings — or just make it an award for fiction. Call it “cancel culture” justice. 

Even New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has released a report alleging that Cuomo could be undercounting nursing home deaths by 50 percent.

Seniors died, Cuomo lied — to paraphrase a popular liberal slogan used against President George W. Bush with reference to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

How did the man who would be president find himself in such a mess? By turning a pandemic crisis into a social justice effort.

Last March 25, the New York Department of Health released this directive to nursing homes: 

“No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission. [Emphasis in original]” 

Cuomo did not want nursing homes to discriminate against patients with COVID-19.

Standard medical practice has long been to quarantine patients with deadly, contagious diseases. Healthy people aren’t allowed to enter the quarantined area, and patients aren’t allowed to leave until they are well.

Cuomo threw “follow the science” to the wind and prohibited New York nursing homes from even testing a patient if that patient was considered stable. 

That action led to widespread nursing home infections and a disproportionate number of deaths compared to other states. 

Ironically, this all comes at a time when the top political buzz word is “transparency.” Everyone is for transparency — unless, of course, it could lead to an investigation that could land you in the Big House instead of the White House.

Merrill Matthews is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @MerrillMatthews.