(ReliableNews.org) – On January 28, New York Attorney General Letitia James reported Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration under-reported the COVID-19 nursing home deaths in the state by as much as 50%. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker denied the Health Department undercounted deaths. But now, a judge has agreed with the AG’s findings and issued a blistering ruling in a case against the department.
NY Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O’Connor handed down a ruling on February 3, that found the Department of Health broke the law by refusing to provide the Empire Center for Public Policy, a watchdog, with an updated COVID-19 nursing home death toll. The judge said state officials never gave an “adequate explanation” as to why it had not responded to a Freedom of Information request. She went on to say the “continued failure to provide the petitioner a response” is illegal.
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: State Supreme Court rules in favor of @empirecenter & my lawsuit on Cuomo Nursing Home COVID cover-up. Judge gives DOH 5 business days to release full COVID-19 nursing home data, grants my amicus curiae status, orders state to pay Empire Center's legal fees.
— Senator Jim Tedisco (@JamesTedisco) February 3, 2021
The state has five days to hand over the updated death toll data, and it must also pay court costs for the plaintiff. Although this case is settled, the question remains: Why was the Cuomo administration hiding the information in the first place? And what else is being hidden?
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