Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s rivals in this year’s Democratic mayoral primary wasted no time in lambasting the frontrunner over reports that President Trump’s Justice Department opened a new investigation into him following Congressional Republicans’ accusations that he lied to them last year.
The contours of the investigation, revealed in a Tuesday report by The New York Times, still remain largely unclear, but it follows Republican lawmakers referring Cuomo to the DOJ for criminal investigation in October over allegedly lying in his testimony before a Congressional committee about his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, they charge that Cuomo lied when he denied having reviewed a report by the state Health Department that undercounted the number of COVID-19 deaths in New York’s nursing homes, while later clarifying that he did not “recall” doing so. Cuomo resigned in 2021 following uproar over his handling of coronavirus in nursing homes and nearly a dozen accusations of sexual harassment that he denies.
News of the probe comes just over a month after Trump’s DOJ succeeded in dropping a separate corruption investigation of Mayor Eric Adams opened under former President Joe Biden. Adams is vying for re-election as an independent after bowing out of the Democratic primary because his case was not dropped until early last month.
‘Election interference, plain and simple’
Cuomo’s spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, said his team had “never been informed” of the investigation, questioning its timing as the June 24 Democratic primary approaches.
“This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple—something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Azzopardi said, appearing to reference the DOJ citing the proximity of Adams’ indictment to the mayoral race as one of the reasons to drop it.
Azzopardi also defended Cuomo’s Congressional testimony, saying he “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 Times reported that former interim Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Ed Martin opened the probe in April. Martin left the job after failing to win US Senate confirmation this month. Martin is being replaced by Fox News contributor and former Westchester County DA Jeanine Pirro, an outspoken Trump supporter.
Cuomo’s competitors, who have been trailing him in the polls since even before he entered the race in early March, were quick to use news of the inquiry as a cudgel against the front-runner.
City Comptroller Brad Lander, in a statement, contended Cuomo is taking it easier on Trump than other candidates because of the probe.
“Andrew Cuomo, believing he may need a pardon for committing perjury, explains his incessant kissing up to Donald Trump,” Lander said. “New Yorkers cannot afford another corrupt mayor beholden to Trump — Cuomo should announce immediately that he will not seek or accept a pardon from the President.”
Cuomo has called Trump an “existential threat” and a “bully,” while presenting himself as the best-prepared candidate to take on the president after tangling with him as governor.
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie echoed Lander’s attack, accusing Cuomo of remaining “silent” as Trump has moved to slash funding for critical services, allowed billionaire Elon Musk to fire federal workers and hollow out agencies, and on his alleged influence over Adams.
“Now, New Yorkers know why: Cuomo was attempting to keep his failed legacy of nursing home deaths and COVID mismanagement off the front pages,” Myrie said in a statement.
Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, who is running in second place to Cuomo, took a different tact.
“Andrew Cuomo’s career has been defined by corruption and deceit, and his lying to Congress about his COVID response is no exception,” Mamdani said. “But Donald Trump cannot be trusted to pursue justice. While I believe New Yorkers should reject the disgraced ex-Governor at the ballot box, the Trump administration’s actions are dangerous.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Cuomo’s campaign released a new video ad touting the probe as evidence that Trump says the former governor as a threat.
“They’re attacking Andrew Cuomo to interfere with New York City’s election. Why? Because Andrew Cuomo is the last person they want as mayor,” says a narrator. “If Donald Trump doesn’t want Andrew Cuomo as mayor, you do.”
