ALBANY — Gov. Paterson has privately accused Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — his would-be replacement — of “wiring up” President Obama’s unprecedented attempt to get him out of office next year, The Post has learned.
Paterson made the charge to several associates in recent days and “definitely believes Andrew Cuomo wired this up, set this whole thing in motion,” said a well-known Democrat with strong Washington connections.
“The governor believes that Andrew’s friend Jennifer Cunningham went to [Obama political director Patrick] Gaspard, who went to Obama and convinced him to do this thing.
“He thinks this was all arranged by Andrew and that in the end President Obama fell for it,” the source continued.
A second source, within the governor’s own administration, said “Paterson definitely blamed Andrew.”
Another source said Paterson told several people that “Cuomo made the case that unless the White House intervened to get David out, [former Mayor Rudy] Giuliani was sure to run, and could win.”
While Paterson claimed through a spokesman that he never accused Cuomo of being behind the Obama attacks, he suggested just that during a public appearance in Syracuse.
“A number of people connected to [Cuomo] certainly did that,” said Paterson. “I’m sure it didn’t bother him.”
A spokesman for Cuomo denied that the attorney general was involved.
In his conversations with associates, Paterson never offered any proof, other than Cunningham’s ties to Cuomo and Gaspard, sources said.
Cunningham, a Cuomo friend, Gaspard denied playing a role in Obama’s actions.
Last week, Gaspard told Paterson that Obama did not want the governor to run for election next year because of fears his record-low standing with the public would lead to widespread GOP victories.
Additional reporting by Brendan Scott and David Seifman