On the recordJuly 29, 2021
I learned on Friday that the Department of Justice has opted not to pursue a civil rights investigation into government-run nursing homes in several States about their response to the COVID-19. Earlier this year, I urged the Department to pursue this investigation, and I, today, call on the Attorney General to reconsider this decision that I learned about last Friday. I do that in light of media reports suggesting that the obstruction of justice may have occurred in at least one of these jurisdictions. Close to 1 year ago, the Department sought information from four States. Those four States are New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The information sought was about the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in their public nursing homes. The Department's request for this information came on the heels of media reports suggesting that State officials in these jurisdictions had pressured nursing homes to accept patients, regardless of their COVID-19 status. It was reported that officials in New York also may have engaged in a coverup by actively concealing from the public the actual number of COVID-19-related fatalities in that State's nursing homes. Serious questions remain to this day about whether the Governors in New York and these three other jurisdictions helped fuel the COVID-19- related death tolls in nursing homes through the issuance of their own executive orders that went against the advice of geriatricians.…





