Former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has been subpoenaed to appear before a House subcommittee to answer for his administration’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic, reigniting a flashpoint that could undermine his chances of winning a political comeback could be further damaged.

The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic accused Mr. Cuomo of “recklessly” exposing nursing home residents to the virus “with deadly consequences.”

Subcommittee chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio said in a letter sent to Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday that there was “troubling evidence indicating that the Cuomo administration was at best downplaying the effects of its nursing home policies” and at worst concealing them.

The subpoena is the latest in a multi-year saga surrounding the former governor’s decision to require nursing homes to accept residents who tested positive for Covid-19 in the spring of 2020. The decision, which predicted a virus outbreak in those facilities that would lead to thousands of deaths, has received widespread attention from state and federal investigators.

In January 2021, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, concluded that the state had “seriously” underestimated the number of nursing home deaths — allegations that were validated when the state later increased its figures by some 40 percent adjusted upwards. But while her office’s report found that returning residents to their facilities “may have placed residents at increased risk,” it stopped short of blaming the governor’s policies for nursing home outbreaks, acknowledging that it policy at the time was consistent with federal guidelines.

The former governor, also a Democrat, has repeatedly denied that the policy led to additional deaths.

A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo called the subpoena “an obvious press charade” and noted that the claims in question had been investigated by both the Justice Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, both of which declined to institute criminal proceedings.

“This is an election stunt; they are a bunch of clowns,” said the spokesman, Richard Azzopardi.

The case was also investigated by the State Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, which launched a broad investigation into Mr. Cuomo’s handling of Covid and nursing homes, as well as the sexual harassment allegations that would later force his resignation.

The Assembly investigation did not directly evaluate whether Mr. Cuomo’s order led to the deadly nursing home outbreaks. But it did find that the government had selectively reported statistics from those facilities to avoid criticism.

At issue was New York State’s method of categorizing nursing home deaths. The state did not include nursing home residents who died of Covid in hospitals or other settings in its overview, effectively lowering reported death rates for nursing home residents.

In its letter to Mr. Cuomo, the House subcommittee accused the former governor of delaying its investigation, detailing months of discussions about scheduling an interview.

Mr. Cuomo’s representatives insisted on cooperating, offering both written answers and a range of dates in August for an interview.

The subpoena requires Mr. Cuomo to appear on May 24.

“Former Governor Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mr. Wenstrup said in a statement.

The subcommittee also sought information on how the administration handles nursing homes from the former secretary to the governorMelissa DeRosa, a senior assistant who, according to documents and interviews, was involved in rewriting a Department of Health report to cover up nursing home deaths.

Two New York House Republicans applauded the subpoena as a long-overdue measure of accountability.

“His testimony is critical to helping us prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who sits on the subcommittee, said in a statement, which was echoed by Rep. Elise Stefanik, the Fourth Republican of the House of Representatives.

Democrats did not immediately jump to the defense of Cuomo, a former party colleague who was thought to have an outside shot at the presidency. A representative for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Mr Cuomo has become increasingly at odds with his party following his resignation in August 2021 amid the sexual harassment allegations. He has denied wrongdoing.

The Justice Department concluded that former New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and his leadership exposed female employees to a “sexually hostile work environment,” and then retaliated against some people who complained, according to a settlement filed Friday was announced.

The findings appear to largely substantiate the investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who concluded that Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women amid a culture of fear and intimidation. Mr Cuomo, who denied sexually harassing anyone, resigned in August 2021, shortly after the publication of Ms James' report.

Since leaving office, Mr. Cuomo has been involved in a multi-pronged campaign to discredit the report and Ms. James as politically motivated, and is slowly maneuvering toward a return to political life.

But Mr. Cuomo's efforts could be seriously jeopardized by the Justice Department's findings that he repeatedly subjected women who worked for him to unwanted sexual contact, comments and stares, and that he gave some women preferential treatment based on their physical appearance.

The report adds that Executive Chamber staff enabled this behavior and retaliated against a number of people who filed complaints. The Justice Department characterized the chamber's response as “designed solely to protect Cuomo from further accusations, rather than to protect employees from sexual harassment.”

Rita Glavin, a lawyer for Mr. Cuomo, questioned the methodology of the Justice Department's investigation and noted that Mr. Cuomo had not been contacted. “This is nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation,” Ms. Glavin said, adding, “Governor Cuomo has not sexually harassed anyone.”

The Justice Department's findings were included in a settlement it reached with the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who succeeded Mr. Cuomo.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Hochul administration initiated a series of reforms aimed at preventing future misconduct, including new capabilities for external reporting and investigations, an expansion of the Chamber's human resources department and the removal of employees from who were found to have facilitated the settlement. Mr. Cuomo's misconduct.

Ms Hochul said in a statement that she was pleased that the Ministry of Justice had recognized her government's efforts, adding: “The moment I took office, I knew I had to confront the culture of intimidation that previously the Executive Chamber ravaged, had to eradicate and implement strong measures. policies to promote a safe workplace for all employees, and has taken immediate action to that end.”

Last week, Mr. Cuomo filed a lawsuit to force Ms. James' office to release investigative material that he claimed would vindicate him. He has also aggressively defended himself against civil lawsuits from women who claim he sexually harassed them.

In 2021, Mr. Cuomo was accused of groping a former executive staffer named Brittany Commisso. The case was dismissed after the Albany County District Attorney's Office determined there was not enough evidence to proceed. District attorneys in Westchester, Nassau, Manhattan and Oswego counties also investigated the conduct in Ms. James' report but opted not to file charges against the former governor.

Brittany Commisso, a former aide to New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo who accused him of groping her in late 2020, is suing him under the state’s Adult Survivors Act for what she described as “general abuse,” according to court documents. .

In the papers, Ms. Commisso accused Mr. Cuomo of “ongoing sexual harassment” and of retaliating against her after she rejected his advances and reported his behavior.

Ms. Commisso’s allegations against Mr. Cuomo are not new, and he has long denied them.

In 2021, she filed a formal criminal complaint against Mr. Cuomo with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated and filed charges against him. Albany County prosecutors decided not to prosecute, saying that while they were “deeply troubled” and found Ms. Commisso “cooperative and credible,” they concluded they could not meet their burden of proof at trial .

The court papers filed by Ms. Commisso on Tuesday were used to initiate a lawsuit and will be followed by a complaint, according to court rules.

The legal action came just days before the expiration of the state’s Adult Survivors Act, which gave people who said they were sexually assaulted in New York a year to sue their alleged attackers, even if the statute of limitations had expired.

This week, New York Mayor Eric Adams was accused in a similar lawsuit of assaulting a Florida woman 30 years ago. Mr Adams has denied the allegation and said he could not remember ever meeting the accuser.

Rita Glavin, a lawyer for Mr. Cuomo, said in a statement Friday: “Ms. Commisso’s claims are demonstrably false, which is why the Albany District Attorney dismissed the case two years ago after thorough investigation.

“Ms. Commisso’s transparent attempt to take money will fail,” said Ms. Glavin. “We look forward to seeing her in court.”

The legal action comes as Mr. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in August 2021 following a series of sexual misconduct allegations, is said to be once again considering a return to public office, sparking fierce debate among Democrats.

“I am disgusted that Andrew Cuomo is even considering running for public office,” Ms. Commisso said, adding that he had refused “to accept responsibility or even acknowledge his sexual harassment against me, aside from numerous other victims, while the governor of our state.”

According to Ms. Commisso’s court papers, the ongoing harassment she suffered included “unwelcome sexual advances, serial comments about appearance and personal matters,” hugs, kisses, sexual touching of her buttocks and forcible touching of her breasts.

She says she faced professional retaliation, including being reassigned to the “humiliating job of answering phones in the lieutenant governor’s office,” a decision she says was made by then-lieutenant. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is now governor.

Avi Small, a spokesman for Ms. Hochul, said Friday: “The allegation regarding then-Lieutenant Governor Hochul is clearly a mistake as she had no control over the Executive Chamber’s personnel decisions.”

Ms. Hochul is not named as a defendant, merely quoted in a summary of the allegations in Ms. Commisso’s lawsuits.

Mr. Cuomo told Politico in October that he might run for office again, but a spokesman indicated last week that the former governor, who was touring Sicily with his daughters, had no firm plans.

New York Democrats have noted an online poll circulating this month that appears to be linked to Mr. Cuomo. The poll tested messages related to the sexual harassment allegations against him and his performance in office, according to screenshots shared with The New York Times.

For years they overlapped in New York politics, two brash sons of Queens who ascended through the worlds of real estate and government as Donald J. Trump donated to Andrew M. Cuomo’s campaigns and made a virtual appearance at his bachelorette party.

Then they were adversaries, with Mr. Cuomo, a powerful Democratic governor of New York, embracing opportunities to serve as an antithesis to the divisive Republican president.

Now out of power after Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election and Mr. Cuomo stepped down in disgrace, they are in a moment of alignment, all opposing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over his handling of the coronavirus.

“Even Cuomo did better,” Mr. Trump said said in a recent video.

“Donald Trump is finally telling the truth,” Mr. Cuomo on Twitter this week, though he distanced himself from the former president’s vague eulogies on a podcast on Thursday.

Assessing the success or failure of each state’s response to the pandemic is a complex task.

New York — known for a time as the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the pandemic — and Florida, two large and populous states, both had higher death rates per 100,000 people than many other states.

Florida had a slightly lower death rate than New York from the start of the pandemic until March this year, according to a New York Times tracker.

Both governors received a lot of attention and criticism for their stewardship of the pandemic, with Mr. Cuomo remaining particularly heated about his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic.

For his part, Mr. DeSantis, who has emerged as Mr. Trump’s main Republican rival, has beaten his pandemic record — including his decision to reopen his state’s economy relatively early, even in the face of the spikes in the coronavirus and hospitalizations – a focal point of his campaign.

He has used the issue as a way to draw his own contrasts with Mr. Trump, who, he suggests, went too far in reinforcing Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert during the pandemic.

“Do you want Cuomo or do you want free Florida?” Mr. DeSantis said in Iowa this week. “If we just decided the primaries on that, I’d be happy with that verdict from Iowa voters.”

Representatives for Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis did not respond to requests for comment Thursday afternoon.

In New York, former Governor David A. Paterson, a Democrat, said the relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cuomo was at times less rancorous than that between Mr. Trump and many other Democrats.

“The bitterness that existed between the president and others was much greater than theirs,” said Mr. Paterson, who said he recently had dinner with Mr. Cuomo.

“The positive interaction now is that it’s a tricky path,” he said, even though he noted that he didn’t expect it to be a “prelude to a partnership.”

In his podcast on Thursday, Mr Cuomo made it clear that he had no intention of hugging Mr Trump, noting that the former president had been highly critical of Democratic governors at the height of the pandemic, but that his tone seemed to change. – making a “total 180” – while focusing on a primary rival.

“Now the politics have changed for Mr. Trump, who is going up against Mr. DeSantis, and now Mr. Trump is saying, ‘Cuomo has done better than DeSantis,'” Mr. Cuomo said. “I’m very proud of the way New York handled it.”