The Justice Department has launched an investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s testimony to Congress during the COVID-19 pandemic, two officials familiar with the matter told CBS News on Tuesday.
The investigation comes months after the Justice Department dropped charges against current New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Both Adams and Cuomo are candidates for mayor in the upcoming election.
The news was initially reported by The New York Times.
CBS News contacted the Justice Department, which declined to comment.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in a statement that the former governor has not been contacted by law enforcement about the case or served with any subpoenas related to it.
“We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now?” Azzopardi said. “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.”
For months, Congressional Republicans have urged the Justice Department to investigate Cuomo, accusing him of lying to Congress during an investigation into coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, an issue that critics have long accused Cuomo of mishandling.
A House panel on the COVID-19 pandemic made a criminal referral last year, alleging Cuomo was involved in drafting and editing a 2020 state report on nursing home deaths, but he testified to the committee in June 2024 that he was not. The referral alleges that Cuomo violated a law prohibiting false statements to Congress.
The referral was not taken up by the Justice Department during the Biden administration. However, after President Trump returned to office, Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, urged federal prosecutors to investigate the case, claiming Cuomo was “caught red-handed lying to Congress.”
“Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee — but from the beginning this was all transparently political,” Azzopardi told CNN.
Mr. Trump’s Justice Department has been criticized for its handling of criminal cases involving Democrats.
Months before the Cuomo investigation became public, the Justice Department faced criticism for dropping a criminal case against Adams, one of Cuomo’s mayoral rivals, for alleged bribery and campaign finance violations. According to one of the department’s top leaders, the charges hampered Adams’ ability to run for reelection or govern the city, as well as his ability to cooperate with the federal government on crime.
Several members of the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office resigned in protest, accusing the administration of a quid pro quo, effectively absolving Adams in exchange for his cooperation with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The Trump administration and Adams have both denied any form of payment in exchange.
Federal prosecutors charged Rep. LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, with felony assault following a confrontation at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark. Prosecutors allege she assaulted a federal law enforcement officer, but she claims the charges are “purely political.”
The Trump-nominated head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency referred New York Attorney General Letitia James for criminal prosecution last month, after her office sued Mr. Trump for fraud. The office accused James of falsifying documents to obtain a lower mortgage rate, which James called “baseless.” It is unclear whether the Justice Department will choose to file charges.