Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean and John B. Daukas, former assistant attorney general in the DOJ civil rights division, weigh in on the Cuomo nursing home scandal.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
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.
Transcript generated on 2021-03-08.