Feds Expand Cuomo Probe, Will Look at Whether He Gave Family ‘Priority’ Access to Covid Testing

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Prosecutors have reportedly expanded a probe of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to look at allegations that he provided “priority access” to Covid-19 testing for “close associates,” including members of his family, at the height of the pandemic.

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, which has been investigating Cuomo since February, has been scheduling interviews with officials who led the state’s testing program, according to a Thursday report in The Wall Street Journal. Previous reporting indicated Cuomo had provided special access to family members including his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, in March and April 2020, when the virus was just beginning to take a heavy toll on New Yorkers. The CNN anchor contracted Covid-19 in March of that year and recovered the following month.

Individuals who came into contact with the governor around that time were tested prior to visiting, a fact that Cuomo’s office has noted.  Separately, senior Cuomo adviser Rich Azzopardi responded to the allegations by saying the administration went “above and beyond” to get certain people tested. “Among those we assisted were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers, and their families,” Azzopardi said.

The U.S. attorney’s office has declined to comment on the case. CNN initially defended any allegation the governor’s brother might have received priority testing, with a spokesman telling Mediaite in March, “It is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century pandemic when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would.”

The federal investigation is also looking at allegations that Cuomo’s administration intentionally misreported the number of deaths in nursing homes linked to Covid-19. As part of another matter, Joon Kim, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is leading a probe into claims that Cuomo harassed two current and three former aides in his office. And last month, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli (D) asked Attorney General Letitia James (D) to launch a criminal investigation into Cuomo’s use of state resources to write his 2020 book about leadership.