New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may have perpetrated one of the greatest follies in gubernatorial history when he covered up the extent of his already deadly blunder by putting elderly people with COVID-19 into unsecured nursing homes. Now, as bipartisan pressure mounts for an investigation into Cuomo’s misdeeds, Cuomo is firing back and accusing New York lawmakers of “extortion.”

According to National Review, Cuomo accused lawmakers of using the “threat” of investigation to leverage him, calling it a crime to do so.

“You can’t use a subpoena or the threat of investigation to leverage a person,” Cuomo said. “That’s a crime, it’s called abuse of process, it’s called extortion.”

Cuomo also accused nursing home staff and visitors of bringing COVID in the nursing homes, and not the COVID positive patients he ordered to be sent into the facilities.

“COVID did not get into the nursing homes from people coming from hospitals,” Cuomo said. “COVID got into the nursing homes by staff walking into the nursing home when we didn’t even know we had COVID. Staff walking into a nursing home even though they were asymptomatic because the national experts all told us you could only spread COVID if you had symptoms and they were wrong.”

“COVID may have been brought into a nursing home because visitors brought it in and didn’t know they were contagious because the guidance was you can only be contagious if you have symptoms: if you’re sneezing, if you’re coughing,” he added. “That turned out to be wrong.”

Yet despite Cuomo attempting to place the blame on New Yorkers, Cuomo still saw fit to withhold the actual number of deaths that came from his decision. Cuomo’s data said that some 8,500 died as a result but the real numbers sit somewhere around 15,000 according to ABC News:

The Cuomo administration for months dramatically underreported the statewide number of COVID-19 deaths among long-term care residents. It is now nearly 15,000, up from the 8,500 previously disclosed.

The new toll amounts to about one-seventh of the roughly 90,000 people living in nursing homes as of 2019 in New York, which has among the most care home residents in the nation.

New York lawmakers calling for the investigation to happen to include Republican GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, Democrat Rep. Antonio Delgado, and Democrat State Senator Jessica Ramos. The bipartisan push for the investigation is not a good sign for Cuomo who seems to be incre