President Trump’s Justice Division is reportedly investigating New York Metropolis mayoral race frontrunner Andrew Cuomo over allegations that he lied to Congress about official actions he took as governor in the course of the COVID pandemic.
The Cuomo probe, which is sparking accusations of election interference, was launched a few month in the past by the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Washington, D.C., the New York Instances first reported late Tuesday.
The probe got here in response to a prison referral Home Republicans made to the Justice Division in October 2024 accusing Cuomo of mendacity whereas testifying earlier than Congress about his controversial 2020 order directing New York nursing properties to confess residents recognized with COVID, a coverage that resulted in lots of of deaths. The referral — which President Biden’s administration decided wasn’t grounds for prosecution — claimed Cuomo lied when he testified he didn’t recall being concerned in drafting a State Well being Division report about nursing residence COVID deaths.
The initiation of the Cuomo probe came visiting a month after he formally kicked off his marketing campaign for mayor. Cuomo, who has a historical past of feuding with Trump, is polling because the clear favourite to win June’s Democratic mayoral major, and his spokesman, Wealthy Azzopardi, characterised the launch of the investigation as an try by Trump’s workforce to sabotage the ex-gov’s run for Metropolis Corridor.
“We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now? The answer is obvious: This is lawfare and election interference plain and simple — something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against,” Azzopardi mentioned.
The probe additionally began simply weeks after Trump’s Justice Division secured a controversial dismissal of Mayor Adams’ corruption indictment, which accused him of taking bribes and unlawful marketing campaign money from Turkish authorities operatives in alternate for political favors.
Trump’s DOJ quashed Adams’ case with the understanding it could allow him to help the president’s “mass deportation” agenda, an uncommon association that has led many to imagine the mayor is beholden to Trump. In in search of the dismissal, Trump’s DOJ additionally mentioned Adams’ case wanted to be killed as a result of it unfairly hampered his efforts to get reelected. Adams denies any wrongdoing or quid professional quo with Trump,
Adams dropped out of the June 24 Democratic mayoral major after the dismissal of his case. However he’s in search of reelection as an unbiased in November’s common election, which means he may face off in opposition to Cuomo in that contest if the ex-gov wins the Democratic major.
Cuomo resigned as governor in 2021 whereas going through possible impeachment over sexual harassment accusations he denies.
“Donald Trump cannot be trusted to pursue justice. While I believe New Yorkers should reject the disgraced ex-governor at the ballot box, the Trump administration’s actions are dangerous,” mentioned Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, who has constantly polled because the runner-up to Cuomo within the mayoral major.
Initially Printed: Could 20, 2025 at 11:32 PM EDT
