Area state leaders are joining in the call for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the nearly 15,000 deaths that occurred in New York nursing homes during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What if any crime has occurred?” asked state Sen. George Borrello during a Zoom call with area media. “That’s why we need an investigation.”

Borrello’s discussion with area media came after Friday morning’s report that more than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks.

The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state Health Department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes.

According to Borrello, last March he was one of only four senators who voted against giving the governor unprecedented and sweeping authority at that time for more than a year. “Now we have the consequences of those decisions that were made behind closed doors and what are we going to do about it?” Borrello asked. “Myself and my colleagues have introduced several measures to curb the governor’s authority, to ask for accountability, to make him come back before the legislature and have his emergency power renewed several times and nothing has happened.”

Borrello, who serves on the Aging Committee, said this past week a ranking member of the committee introduced an amendment asking for a subpoena to be issued to have the department of health report to the committee and answer questions. The chairman of that committee said that it was “irrelevant and out of order.”

“I don’t understand how the Aging Committee, which is in charge of nursing homes and certainly the accountability that the state has in those situations is not germane, how can that not be germane for this committee?” Borrello asked. “What were the discussions that happened that led to these decisions? If the governor had said, look we made a mistake, I made a mistake and we tried to correct that mistake, I think New Yorkers would have accepted that because this pandemic has had so many unknowns.”

When asked if Washington was taking enough interest in the issue, Borrello stated, “There’s tens of thousands, if not more people in Washington who should be able to multitask,” he said. “There are plenty of things going on, COVID response, economic relief, all those things need to be addressed, but I can guarantee you that there are more than enough people in the department of justice and elsewhere in Washington that can address this specific issue and it should be addressed.”

State Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, called the latest news on the nursing homes “appalling”

“It was unconscionable that nursing homes were directed to take COVID patients when it was well known that senior citizens were the most vulnerable,” he said.

Goodell cited what he calls Cuomo’s “self-congratulatory book about COVID leadership” being written at a time when so many nursing home residents were falling ill and unfortunately passing away.

“We need to know all the facts behind the tragic loss of life affecting thousands of innocent nursing home residents,” Goodell said. “All options are on the table, including possible criminal referrals, censure, or other appropriate actions.”

Assemblyman Joseph Giglio of Gowanda is also calling for the removal of Cuomo’s executive powers. “This breach of trust is unconscionable,” he said. “Gov. Cuomo and his administration have repeatedly and intentionally misled families and the public regarding nursing home deaths in New York state. The time for real action is upon us, and the governor and his staff must be held accountable.”

Giglio added that since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor and his administration claimed that nursing homes were “top priority.”

“We now know that we have been continuously deceived. Gov. Cuomo has been quick to take responsibility for actions taken during the pandemic, choosing ‘Blame me’ as his mantra. Now is the time for him to face that blame and its consequences. I join my colleagues in both houses of the Legislature in calling for a formal investigation,” he said.