Adam Gray/Reuters
Former governor Andrew Cuomo has consistently led the crowded Democratic field since joining the race to be New York City’s next mayor earlier this spring. But as the June 24 primary draws nearer, the veteran politician may have to contend with a new challenge courtesy of the Trump administration. The New York Times reports that the Justice Department has opened an investigation into Cuomo’s 2024 closed-door testimony before Congress on his handling of the COVID pandemic. Here’s what we know.
Why is the DoJ investigating Cuomo?
According to the Times, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. first opened the investigation last month following a criminal referral from House Republicans alleging that Cuomo lied to Congress. The office is currently being led by Jeanine Pirro, the former Westchester County judge and prosecutor, who was tapped to be interim U.S. attorney after Trump’s first choice, Ed Martin, left the role after being unable to clear Senate confirmation. Pirro, a Trump loyalist best known for her numerous Fox News programs, once challenged Cuomo in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to be state attorney general in 2006.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, denounced the federal inquiry in a statement to the Times. “We have never been informed of any such matter, so why would someone leak it now?” he 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.”
Notably, the investigation comes after the Justice Department sought the dismissal of a federal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, a controversial move that sparked resignations of department officials including the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan in protest of the order. Since his case was dismissed, Adams has continued to seek reelection but has opted to run as an independent rather than a Democrat.
What happened at the congressional hearing that prompted the investigation?
In October 2024, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic referred Cuomo to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution following testimony that he gave before the panel in June. In the criminal referral, committee chairman Brad Wenstrup wrote to then–U.S. attorney general Merrick Garland that the panel concluded the former governor lied about his involvement with a July 2020 state-government report on nursing-home infections and deaths from COVID-19. Wenstrup said that Cuomo stated he wasn’t involved in the drafting or review of the report, statements he alleges were proved false by supporting documents.
“Mr. Cuomo provided false statements to the Select Subcommittee in what appears to be a conscious, calculated effort to insulate himself from accountability. The Department of Justice should consider Mr. Cuomo’s prior allegedly wrongful conduct when evaluating whether to charge him for the false statements described in the attached,” he wrote.
The referral ultimately went unanswered in the waning days of the Biden administration but was later renewed in April as House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer sent a new letter to U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi, asking her to review the referral. “To our knowledge, the Biden Administration ignored this referral despite clear facts and evidence. Accordingly, we request you review this referral and take appropriate action,” he wrote.
In its referral, the committee included emails from executive-chamber staff that appeared to contradict Cuomo’s assertions to the panel that he wasn’t involved in the report. In one example, Farrah Kennedy, an executive assistant, wrote in a June 2020 email to other staffers, “Governor’s edits are attached for your review,” noting page numbers and where his additions were made. In her own testimony, Kennedy also appeared to confirm that handwritten notes made on a draft of the report were Cuomo’s handwriting.
How have the other mayoral candidates responded to the Cuomo probe?
Comptroller Brad Lander shared a link to the Times’ reporting on social media, writing, “New Yorkers can’t afford four more years of a compromised Mayor kissing Trump’s ass.”
In his own post, Brooklyn state senator Zellnor Myrie invoked Adams’s tumultuous tenure at City Hall, writing, “We cannot trade one compromised mayor for another.”
Queens assemblymember Zohran Mamdani struck a slightly different tone, echoing the Cuomo criticism of his rivals but raising concerns about the Trump administration’s motivations in investigating the former governor. “Andrew Cuomo’s career has been defined by corruption and deceit and his lying to Congress about his COVID response is no exception. But 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,” he said in a statement.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Adams referenced his own experience contending with the justice system, saying that he’s going to let the matter play out and refrain from weighing in. “I’m going to let the investigation take its course. I’m not going to do to him what others did to me,” he said.
