NY Times reports that top Cuomo aides rewrote a report to remove nursing home death count

As embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faces allegations of sexual harassment and scrutiny over issues pertaining to nursing home deaths in the Empire State, the New York Times is reporting that top Cuomo aides rewrote a report to remove the number of nursing home deaths.

The report had been written by state health officials and contained the number of nursing home residents who passed away in the pandemic. But that figure of more than 9,000 was not public information by that time in June, according to the Times, which reported that according to interviews and documents they had reviewed, the aides rewrote the report to remove the death count.

"The extraordinary intervention, which came just as Mr. Cuomo was starting to write a book on his pandemic achievements, was the earliest act yet known in what critics have called a monthslong effort by the governor and his aides to obscure the full scope of nursing home deaths," the Times said.

The outlet reported that Beth Garvey, special counsel and senior advisor to the governor, said in a statement that "the out-of-facility data was omitted after D.O.H. could not confirm it had been adequately verified," and that she also said that the additional data did not alter the conclusion of the report.