ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER.

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after Republicans recommended that he be charged with lying to Congress over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington launched the investigation shortly after Republican Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the Justice Department to prosecute Cuomo. A spokesperson for Cuomo said Tuesday that the former governor, who is now running for New York City mayor, was never informed of any such investigation and called the probe “lawfare and election interference.”