Peter former Department of Peter Former Department of Justice official making the case for why embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo should be worried about the federal probe of the states, misreporting of covid deaths joining us right now. Former acting assistant attorney general for the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division, John Dacus, along with Janice Dean, who lost both of her in laws to covid after they were exposed in New York Nursing homes. Good morning to both of you good morning, great to be with you Janice good Morning, Steve Steve great to have you JD and John John YO wrote an op ed thats in the Wall Street Journal right now, and essentially it talks about why Cuomo should be worried about a federal probe and it all start with the fact that, once he, via executive order, said that people who had been exposed to coronavirus and had been in the hospital to be treated should go back to the nursing homes and the number of people started dying, left and right.

That was a gigantic number, but in public he was bragging about how the number there was so low. The number of people who were dying, and so your former division at the Doj started asking questions yes, Steve. On March 25th, the governor issued order that required nursing homes to accept people who could be infected still infected with covid and something thats overlooked. The order prohibited the nursing homes from testing those people to determine if they had covid. So those people were put back in with a very vulnerable population. Steve right, New York by the summer had by far the highest death rate in the country. Over thirty two thousand deaths twice the deaths of any other state. If New York were its own country, it would have been among the top ten. The governor was going around saying the nursing home deaths were very low and that didnt seem right to us at the Department of Justice. So we asked for information on

state run nursing homes, which my group, the civil rights division, has jurisdiction over and New York provided data to us that showed that they had understated the deaths in those nursing homes by one Third Steve right and now we know from the attorney general of New York state who said yeah. They were, they covered up the number they underestimated or they underreported. And then you have Melissa De Rosa, who is the governors Secretary John came out. It was revealed that it was a 2 hour, zoom meeting with a bunch of top Democrats and she was apologizing not for the number of people that died, but because the administration had put those Democrats into political peril during the reelection in November, and she was apologizing for that. That two hour zoom meeting, I would imagine, is great evidence for the Department of Justice, yeah, Steve thats, a great point.

So what happened? After we learned this information? We went to our sister division, the civil division of the Department of Justice that asked for the same information for the over six hundred private nursing homes in the state of New York and New York, stonewalled and didnt produce anything throughout the rest of the year. Perhaps waiting for a change in administration and De Rosa and shes the governors top aide said that she admitted that at that point, once the investigation was ongoing, quote we froze because then we were in a position. We werent sure what we were going to give to the Justice Department was going to be used against Us Steve. They presented that Donald Trump was going to come after them when, in fact the Doj came after them, it would be revealed that they had been lying Janice, its bad enough that you lost both of your in laws in covid after being in nursing homes, but then to have the state

of New York lie about it. Just is adds insult to injury Janice. You know what I am grateful to John Daukas and William Barr for opening up the investigation, because, if it wasnt the brave people like John to do this reporting and to feel like this was important for US families over fifteen thousand of us here in New York. I wouldnt be here today and I dont believe there would be an investigation into Cuomo and I actually think he would have been in the seat today instead of Merrick Garland as Bidens AG. So I am so grateful. John Daukas is a hero, and the reporting today in the Wall Street Journal is incredible. Its incredible for all of us all of the families that want Justice Steve toward the end of Johns article. It talks about how the you know the legal exposure, Mr Cuomo and others place, and you talk about how its a crime

to lie to the feds, its a crime to conceal information and obstruct government investigations as well. So John. Now that Joe Biden is president- and you know you have new leadership coming in at the Department of Justice, people are looking to what exactly will be done. You know I saw this story in the New York Post last week. Melissa Derosa, who admitted to those Democrats on the zoom, call that the Cuomo administration had lied about the number her mother in law. Audrey Strauss is the? U dot S attorney for the southern district of New York. People are going. Is the Justice Department going to really look into it if the attorney for the southern district is her mother in law? Many fine people that I work with many wonderful career people in the Department of Justice: four different? U dot S attorneys offices in the state of New York, any one of them can investigate this, and the news reports are

that the eastern district, which is in Brooklyn, has been investigating this. I really cant talk about what I know about an ongoing investigation, but I assume that the fine people at the Department of Justice will do what they are supposed to do and will take this wherever it leads them Steve Janice. What will justice look like to your family Janice? I want the truth and nothing but the truth. We have talked to reporters and lawmakers that say that Cuomo is the terminator and nothing can destroy him, but you know what, thanks to John Daukas and the Department of Justice that continue to try to find answers for my family. I hope it continues into the Bidens Department of Justice as Well Steve sure and while theres different leadership John to your earlier point, theres. So many honest people at the Department of Justice who are just trying to do the right thing, you feel confident. Ultimately, we

will know the truth and janices family will get justice right. I do I do this is something thats hurt, so many different people that we really need to get to the bottom of this, its not a political issue, its an issue about Justice, Steve indeed it is, if you have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal check it out John Daukas former acting attorney general for the Department of Justice, civil rights division. John. Thank you very much Janice. Thank you very much for sharing your story.