Exclusive | Ex-Gov. Cuomo inappropriately influenced witness in text message as House probed COVID deaths: memo

Former Gov.Andrew Cuomo tried to “inappropriately influence” a top aide’s testimony during a congressional investigation into his administration’s disastrous mandate that forced COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, a bombshell new House document claimed.Witness Jim Malatras said the 66-year-old ex-governor made him “uncomfortable” by calling and texting him as the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic probed the March 25, 2020 “must admit” order for nursing homes, according to new evidence in a subcommittee staff memo exclusively obtained by The Post.The House COVID panel revealed in a memo earlier this month that Cuomo had reached out to Malatras to “check in” at least once during the course of their investigation.But in an addendum to that memo released Wednesday, text messages and a letter from Malatras show Cuomo reached out to his ex-aide three times since early 2021 — and always “within 48 hours of the Select Subcommittee taking a specific action in its nursing home investigation.“This includes one action that was not public and only known by Mr.

Cuomo and his counsel,” the addendum states.“The evidence in this Memo supports the finding that former Governor Andrew Cuomo acted in a manner consistent with an attempt to inappropriately influence the testimony of a witness and obstruct the Select Subcommittee’s investigation.”The Post has reached out to Cuomo’s spokesman and attorney for comment.Malatras, a former director of state operations and chancellor of the State University of New York system, was the only former member of Cuomo’s office to confirm to the COVID committee that the former governor “edited” a notorious New York Department of Health report that deflated the true nursing home death count due to the order.Malatras resigned in December 2021 and hadn’t heard from the former governor — despite having been sacked for smearing a woman who accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct — until one ...