Congressional probe finds Cuomo, top aides drafted nursing home report

On a Sunday morning last February, James Malatras received a cryptic text message from former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. It was one of the few times in roughly three years that they had communicated. 

“Now that the dust has settled and the truth is being revealed, I wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing,” Cuomo wrote. “I am sure you will do well, because quality and talent always wins in the end. All the best, Andrew.”

The timing of Cuomo’s outreach to Malatras, his former director of operations who in 2020 had been appointed to New York’s coronavirus task force, was peculiar: It came two days after Malatras had been invited to testify before a congressional subcommittee investigating the circumstances leading to the deaths of more than 15,000 New York nursing home residents during the pandemic.