Andrew Cuomo has hit back at reports that the Justice Department is investigating him following a criminal referral by House Republicans.
The investigation into the former New York governor—whom Republicans accuse of lying in congressional testimony about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic—is being conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, people familiar with the matter told the New York Times.
That office is headed up by former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, a Cuomo critic who unsuccessfully ran against him for state attorney general in 2006.
A spokesperson for Cuomo, who is running for New York City mayor, offered a searing statement saying the Democrat had not been notified of the probe.
“We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now?” Rich Azzopardi said in a statement to the Daily Beast.
“The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple—something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”
He added, “Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee—but from the beginning this was all transparently political.”
The inquiry was opened about a month ago when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia was still being led by Ed Martin, according to the Times, which was the first to report the news.
Pirro’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. The DOJ declined to comment to the Times.
House Republicans have been calling on the DOJ to investigate Cuomo for months. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, referred the matter to federal prosecutors last month for a second time, alleging that Cuomo gave false testimony during a 2024 congressional hearing about his administration’s handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes.
In March 2020, Cuomo ordered nursing homes to admit recovering COVID patients, a move criticized for endangering vulnerable residents.
Republicans contend that Cuomo lied to Congress about how he handled the aftermath of that decision.
The development comes at a time when the Trump DOJ has signaled an increasing willingness to go after Democratic officials.
On Monday, the department announced an assault charge against Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, who was embroiled in a scuffle with ICE agents earlier this month while visiting a detention facility in her home state. Democratic Newark mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during the incident but the charge has since been dropped.
President Donald Trump has long threatened to pursue and punish political rivals, calling for investigations into opponents.
In February, the Justice Department ordered prosecutors to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who is seeking reelection as an independent. Cuomo is the front-runner for next month’s Democratic primary in the mayoral race.
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