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Legal experts warn New York Gov. Cuomo’s nursing home scandal may rise to federal level of criminal offense

Legal experts are warning that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s alleged undercounting of nursing-home deaths amid the COVID-19 pandemic may rise to the level of a criminal offense.

Cuomo has found himself at the center of a federal investigation into whether his administration sought to hide the true toll of the pandemic.

The New York Post reported earlier this month that Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s top aide, told lawmakers the administration had withheld the numbers for fear of them being "used against us."

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, John B. Daukas, who served as acting U.S. attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, wrote that DeRosa’s reported admissions weren't "merely negligent, but intentional and perhaps criminal."

Daukas said numerous federal statutes could apply, noting that Cuomo’s administration is accusing of both making false statements to the federal government and trying to thwart an investigation.

"Even if it cannot be proved that the Cuomo administration knowingly provided false information to Justice and the (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), New York’s willful failure to provide information may itself constitute a criminal offense—particularly if the intent was to thwart a federal investigation—which, after all, is exactly what Ms. DeRosa reportedly said the administration did," Daukas wrote. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.

In other developments:
- CNN continues to give cover to disgraced Cuomo as guest claims lack of 'hard evidence' in nursing home scandal
- Queens pol: Albany must hold hearings on COVID nursing home scandal
- Gregg Jarrett: Cuomo's nursing home scandal -- what are the crimes that may have been committed?
- Cuomo silent as damning watchdog report says policy may have led to over 1,000 nursing home deaths

Dr. Fauci: It's 'possible' Americans may still be wearing face masks in 2022
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that it is "possible" Americans may still need to wear face masks in 2022, even as the country could approach a certain "degree of normality."

While Fauci noted he can't predict when the U.S. could return to the way it operated during pre-pandemic life, he believes that, by the end of the year, the United States could have "a significant degree of normality beyond what the terrible burden that all of us have been through over the last year."

"As we get into the fall and the winter, by the end of the year, I agree with [President Biden] completely, that we will be approaching a degree of normality," Fauci said. "It may or may not be precisely the way it was in November of 2019 but it’ll be much much better than we’re doing right now."

However, Fauci stressed that it is just an estimate and that "a lot of things can happen to modify that.

"That’s the reason why we’ve got to be careful," Fauci added. "Because you have variance that you need to deal with. There are so many other things that would make a projection that I give you today on this Sunday, wind up not being the case six months from now." CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- Fauci downplays concerns over COVID-19 variants, but claims variant vaccines in development
- Dr. Fauci: US will have 600M coronavirus vaccine doses by July 2021
- Fauci warned of 'unintended consequences' of 'draconian' quarantines during 2014 Ebola outbreak
Fauci to Americans: 'When your turn to get vaccinated comes up, get vaccinated'

Mystery inscription in ‘The Scream’ may have been solved

Edvard Munch’s "The Scream" is one of the world's most enduring paintings.

Its androgynous muse appears to be in some kind of agony and bold waves of color overwhelm the spectator. But what appears on the upper left corner of the masterpiece has intrigued the art world for decades. It reads, "Could only have been painted by a madman.

There has been speculation that a vandal somehow inscribed the words on the 1893 painting, but the New York Times reported that curators at Norway’s National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design determined that the words were written by Munch himself.

Mai Britt Guleng, one of the curators, told the Times that he had been examining the inscription "letter by letter" and determined that it is "identical in every way to Munch’s handwriting."

"So there is no more doubt," he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In other developments:
- The Louvre accused of damaging massive painting by American artist
- Famed ‘Charging Bull’ sculptor Arturo Di Modica dead at 80

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TODAY'S MUST-READS:
- New York backtracks on de Blasio’s plan to close Trump-owned ice rinks
- California mom who vanished during 'pandemic road trip' 8 months ago found dead in desert
- 'SNL's' Michael Che, NBC accused of 'antisemitic trope' in 'Weekend Update' segment: 'Retract and apologize'
- Biden claimed he was once arrested for trespassing at the Capitol at age 21

THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
- FAA demands emergency inspection of select Boeing 777s after mid-air explosion ripped engine into pieces
- Activist investors attempting to take control of Kohl chain's board: WSJ
- Disney+ gives ‘The Muppet Show’ an ‘offensive content’ disclaimer before select episodes
- Kroger becomes latest victim of third-party software data breach

#The Flashback: CLICK HERE to find out what happened on "This Day in History."

SOME PARTING WORDS

Mark Levin paid tribute to his friend and colleague Rush Limbaugh on Sunday’s "Life, Liberty & Levin."
"Tonight’s program is dedicated to Rush Limbaugh – a friend to so many of us, he mentored so many of us, a leader and really an iconic figure in American history," a somber Levin told viewers.
"I put him up there with Ronald Reagan and Bill Buckley, and Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell," he added. "But for me he was a dear, dear friend as well."

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