“It was written so poorly, we [NY State Department of Health] can’t implement it.”
“When Cuomo was getting that investigation, he didn’t have a lot of political power,” admitted Jacob Wilkinson, a Senior New York State Health Department Attorney, on hidden camera to an undercover OMG journalist. “His political power went down, right? And so, he was pushed to sign this group of legislation,” Wilkinson said, describing the pressure-filled environment surrounding Cuomo in 2021, when the former governor was under scrutiny for a series of sexual misconduct allegations, some of which Wilkinson openly questioned.
“Some of the allegations are 100% fake,” Wilkinson said. “Those girls who were, like, in the allegations, were sitting on his lap taking selfies with him at events.” When asked whether Cuomo had been blackmailed, Wilkinson responded, “He kind of was. He apparently didn’t give them what they wanted. That’s why they exposed him.”
One of the outcomes was a package of legislation presented as “nursing home reform.” The bill included mandates that nursing homes spend 70% of their revenue on direct resident care, with 40% of the revenue going to services directly involving patient interaction. However, Wilkinson admitted that the law has been nearly impossible to execute in practice. “It was written so poorly,” adding, “we can’t implement it.” Expressing frustrations with the legislation, Wilkinson noted, “Like, our Department of Health, we’re trying… we can’t do it.”
According to Wilkinson, the legislation was not drafted by policy experts, but by lobbyists. “The Nurses Association wrote it,” he said, confirming they were also the group lobbying for its passage. “They didn’t understand all the things for that process.”
When asked by the undercover journalist why Cuomo went along with the plan despite its flaws, Wilkinson explained, “He didn’t have a lot of political power. He said it looked really obvious…” When pressed on whether Cuomo was forced to sign the legislation, Wilkinson responded, “Yeah, pretty much.”
O’Keefe Media Group has reached out to the Andrew Cuomo campaign and the New York Department of Health for comment regarding Wilkinson’s statements.
