Several prominent New York lawmakers have called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after allegedly covering up nursing home COVID-19 deaths in his state and became the center of multiple sexual harassment complaints. Cuomo now faces allegations that his family had special access to COVID-19 testing kits when the tests were not widely available to New Yorkers.
New York’s state Constitution bans government officials from using their office to privilege themselves or family. The new allegations point to Gov. Cuomo and New York Health Commission Director Howard Zucker directing the state’s health department to prioritize Cuomo and his family for early COVID-19 tests.
The Cuomo family tests were processed at a time when the state had very few tests available for regulars citizens and facilities could process less than 1,000 tests per day. So-called VIP samples came from CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, former First Lady Matilda Cuomo and at least one of Gov. Cuomo’s sisters.
Gov. Cuomo and his team have dismissed the allegations, saying that there was no wrongdoing in the administration of COVID-19 tests.
It is unclear if the governor’s VIP samples will be investigated by Attorney General Letitia Jones who is currently overseeing a general investigation of Cuomo’s conduct. Should Cuomo be found guilty of wrongdoing, New York state legislators from both parties have indicated they will move to impeach the governor.
