Metro

Andy wants top dog to root out dirty pols

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo embraced a plan yesterday to create a powerful new corruption-busting office to probe wrongdoing in the scandal-scarred Legislature as well as the executive branch.

Cuomo responded positively to state Inspector General Joseph Fisch’s proposal outlined in yesterday’s Post that would set up a super-agency with sweeping authority to investigate crime and sleaze in all branches of state and local government.

“There were conversations today in the newspaper about possible independent prosecutors and proposals for that. I believe that’s going to be part of the legislation . . . having an independent ethics watchdog and prosecutor,” Cuomo, the current attorney general, said after meeting with Attorney General-elect Eric Schneiderman.

Under current law, the inspector general is authorized to probe wrongdoing only in the state executive branch or among those under the employ of the governor and his appointees.

There is no agency that routinely investigates lawbreaking in the Legislature.

Fisch praised Cuomo’s enthusiastic backing of the establishment a corruption watchdog with broad powers.

“Andrew Cuomo is deeply committed to ethics reform and, as governor, will do so in a comprehensive, thorough and meaningful way,” Fisch said.

Cuomo said the governor has executive power — under the state Moreland Act — to designate a deputy attorney general or other appointees to investigate corruption.

But he said he prefers that the Legislature enact a law to create an office to clean up Albany.

“Are there things the governor can do without legislation? Yes. Moreland Commission, et cetera. That is not the optimum from my point of view. That’s not where I want to start,” he said.

“I want to start with the optimum, which is a piece of legislation passed by the Legislature that reforms the entire system.”

Cuomo noted that most of the state’s newly elected officials had signed a reform pledge during their campaigns to root out Albany corruption.

“Everyone who ran — I don’t care if they’re a Democrat or Republican, Assembly, Senate, governor, attorney general — everybody ran saying we will clean up Albany, right? Everybody said that. Well, now you have to do it,” Cuomo said.

“Let’s clean up Albany. The best way to do it is not these hodgepodge efforts . . . Now they’ll have a piece of legislation they can pass.”

For his part, Schneiderman, who will succeed Cuomo as attorney general, said he’s on board with ethics reform.

“This is an issue that relates to ethics reform proposals, many of which I’ve sponsored before,” he said.

Fisch said he envisioned a corruption-fighting agency in the mold of the defunct State Investigations Commission. He worked as a prober at the SIC for 18 years.

david.seifman@nypost.com