Assemblyman John Lemondes (R,C,I-Lafayette) is joining his legislative colleagues in calling for a subpoena for Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker following the scathing report on the COVID nursing home policies published by Attorney General Letitia James. Lemondes said not holding leadership accountable would be a disgrace to all those who lost friends and family members as a result of this short-sighted policy.

A subpoena is a legal document that commands a person or entity to testify as a witness at a specified time or place, most commonly in a deposition, trial, or hearing, and/or to produce documents or other tangible objects in a legal proceeding. Subpoenas are time-sensitive with court-imposed deadlines.

“I can’t remember the last time leadership had this much power, while at the same time having so much disregard for how they wielded it,” Lemondes said. “The hallmark of any leader is accountability; that’s true wherever anyone works. For this state leadership to continue to deny, deflect and act uncooperatively to the real needs of the people of this state shows a true lack of humanity and empathy for those who lost people to this pandemic.”

Legislative Law of Section 62-A highlights how a majority of members on a given committee can sign a petition and have the authority to issue a subpoena for an individual to appear before said committee to answer questions. On the Assembly Oversight Committee, there are 5 Majority members and 2 Minority members. Only two more Majority politicians are needed to issue a subpoena and call on Dr. Zucker to answer questions; authority is then given for that committee to issue a subpoena for an individual to appear before that same committee to answer questions.

Following the release of the report from AG James, Assembly Minority sent letters and petitions to their colleagues across the aisle calling for a united front to subpoena Health Commissioner Zucker. As of this moment, no Assembly Majority members have signed on.

The letter and petition may be viewed here.