Did Politics Fuel Leaks on Trump's Nursing Home Probes?

Imagine this: just days before the 2020 election, some big shots in the Justice Department under Trump's first term spilled the beans on secret investigations into Covid-19 deaths at nursing homes in Democratic states like New York and New Jersey. Why? Well, an inspector general's report suggests it might have been a political move. The report, obtained through a CNN Freedom of Information Act request, reveals that several top officials shared details that weren't meant for the public eye. They seemed to have an agenda, as these states' leaders weren't exactly best friends with President Trump during the pandemic. The report also shows there were lots of back-and-forth discussions about if and how to announce these probes. Three officials were accused of this hanky-panky, but their names were hidden in the report.

One of them even wrote in an email that they planned to leak info to the New York Post as their "last play" before the election. This wasn't cool, as it broke the Department's rules on confidentiality. The inspector general also thought there might be some partisan politics at play, so they alerted the Office of Special Counsel, which looks into Hatch Act violations. Funny thing is, the states with the worst nursing home metrics weren't even the targets of these investigations. Some draft press releases were also questioned for being misleading or lacking evidence. In the end, the New Jersey investigation letter was leaked to a journalist before it was even sent to the governor's office.

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