Senate Minority Whip Joseph Pennacchio (R-Montville) says that the firing of a top state Department of Health official who was responsible for emergency preparedness “paints a disturbing portrait of the Murphy Administration’s COVID performance.”
Pennacchio wants Christopher Neuwirth, who was ousted yesterday as assistant commissioner for Public Health Infrastructure, Laboratories and Emergency Preparedness, to be one of the first witnesses called by the Senate’s select committee to review the state’s performance in battling the coronavirus pandemic.
“With the revelation that the fired assistant commissioner of health claims he was being ‘scapegoated,’ and recent statements by the commissioner herself that she and the Governor had yet to have a ‘one on one meeting,’ a picture begins to emerge,” Pennacchio said.
The Morris County Republican alleged that the state Health Department was “in over their heads” and accused the Murphy administration of playing “follow the leader with New York.” He called it “an administration that became comfortable managing this mess instead of looking for ways to lead us out.”
“The souls of 6,000 dead in our nursing homes and their families deserve answers now,” Pennacchio stated.
Pennacchio wants the Senate to convene its special committee as soon as possible.
“The only way we’re going to get to the bottom of this mess is with a thorough and immediate investigation,” he said.
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November 13, 2019 -
