House coronavirus panel presses NY Gov. Hochul on nursing home deaths

House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., on Monday demanded that New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul provide the panel with information related to Albany's nursing home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, the Empire State imposed a "must admit" COVID-19 nursing home mandate that critics have blamed for a litany of elderly deaths during the pandemic. The Republicans' letter follows repeated attempts by the panel to get Hochul to produce materials related to the policy.

"This Select Subcommittee expects your response to this letter, not another deflection of responsibility. These deflections are especially concerning considering your promise to 'be fully transparent' regarding the data surrounding COVID-19 deaths and nursing home readmissions," they wrote. "We are simply requesting that transparency. Accordingly, the Select Subcommittee will not tolerate any further unjustified delay."

The pair set a Nov. 13 deadline for Hochul to produce documents from key New York officials related to the policy and any communications between them about the effort.

In a separate letter, the pair request similar materials from New York State Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald and imposed the same deadline.

"Instead of fulsomely producing documents—especially those in the custody or control of the Governor’s Office—the Governor deflected responsibility to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). While the NYSDOH has produced limited responsive documents, to date, it has yet to answer all of the Select Subcommittee’s questions," the pair wrote to McDonald.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.