ALBANY — The Paterson administration was thrown into crisis last night as the embattled governor suspended a top aide — and asked Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate not only the adviser, but Paterson himself.
The extraordinary events included a phone call from Paterson to Cuomo — who’s expected to run against him — just after 9 p.m., a source told The Post.
Paterson asked his political rival to probe aide David Johnson, who allegedly used his position to silence a woman who’d accused him of a brutal attack, the source said.
Paterson issued a statement saying, “Any allegation of improper influence must be investigated thoroughly.” He said he had suspended Johnson without pay.
GOV DODGES QUESTIONS ON AIDE SCANDAL
Paterson asked that the investigation to include the actions of the State Police — and himself — for allegedly trying to intimidate the Bronx woman, the source said. Cuomo agreed.
The woman, who hasn’t been identified, alleged that state cops harassed her to get her to drop a request for an order of protection against Johnson — who went from driver to scheduler for Paterson and is now his senior adviser.
The source pointed out she’d testified last fall that Johnson, 37, had assaulted her — and returned two more times to court where she accused cops of trying to get her to drop the matter.
A source told The Post that Paterson was “shocked” cops had been in touch with the woman; he didn’t find out until yesterday afternoon.
Paterson spoke to the woman as well, an official told The Post.
“She called on Super Bowl Sunday and told the governor that she had heard that she was being accused of spreading stories about him, about women at the [governor’s] mansion, and that she wanted to let the governor know that that was totally false,” the official said.
Cuomo’s probe is reminiscent of the Troopergate scandal of 2007, which probed allegations that then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer had used State Police to intimidate then-Republican Senate leader Joe Bruno.
According to the source, the Johnson attack occurred last Halloween in the apartment where he lived with the woman and her 13-year-old son for four years.
The source said records show the woman told cops Johnson choked her, ripped off much of her clothing and tossed her against a piece of furniture.
She got a temporary order of protection in Bronx Family Court.
At subsequent appearances, she claimed she was being pressured.
“The State Police contacted me because they didn’t want me to get an order of protection or press charges or anything,” she told the court, according to the source.
The woman later failed to show up at a crucial hearing — so the case was dismissed.
State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt said the officer who met the woman only did so to tell her of her options — including counseling, the source said.
The source said the state cop was a member of the governor’s security detail.