(
)
The state’s top Republican will request that Gov. Cuomo name a special prosecutor — possibly Attorney General Eric Schneiderman — to conduct a criminal probe of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s handling of the Vito Lopez affair, as well as of Lopez’s conduct itself, The Post has learned.
State Republican Chairman Ed Cox will issue the call in the next few days and say that neither of the bombshell reports made public last week detailing Silver’s coverup of Lopez’s alleged sexual harassment of eight female staff members was thorough or complete, GOP sources said
Cox will ask the Democratic governor to name Schneiderman — whose office signed off on the controversial confidential financial settlement Silver reached with two of the Lopez accusers — or a prominent criminal prosecutor to conduct a “multijurisdictional investigation,’’ a source familiar with the proposal said.
Cox, a lawyer who has called on Silver to resign as speaker, was described as having met with two “former top prosecutors’’ over the last few days to formulate the request to Cuomo. They said Silver could be guilty of criminal conduct for allegedly misrepresenting to the state Comptroller’s Office the true nature of payments made to two of Lopez’s alleged victims, who were then, at Silver’s request, sworn to silence.
“Neither the [Staten Island DA Dan] Donovan report or the JCOPE [Joint Commission on Public Ethics] report covered all the allegations against Lopez and Silver’s behavior because Donovan’s inquiry was limited to Brooklyn events and JCOPE, with Silver’s appointees serving on the panel, sharply limited its findings. A special prosecutor wouldn’t be under such limitations,” one source said.
Cox, in seeking a special prosecutor, is expected to cite Cuomo’s own role in the Troopergate probe of then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007, when, as attorney general, he investigated Spitzer’s use of the State Police to seek dirt on Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
While Cox has told friends that Cuomo is likely to reject his request, he also said it’s possible that the public outrage over Silver’s conduct will force the governor to act. Cox was said to be looking into the possibility of a radio or TV campaign linking the poll-sensitive Cuomo to Silver’s conduct.
The 71-year-old Lopez, the former Brooklyn Democratic boss, resigned from the Assembly, effective at 9 a.m. today.
*
Cuomo’s deputy secretary for public safety, Liz Glazer, has become the latest high-level departure from an administration concerned about the governor’s increasingly halting performance, insiders said.
The Post disclosed last week that several high-level departures were expected in the coming months and that two had already occurred.
After Cuomo denied the exclusive report, The Post planned a followup today about Glazer’s departure — but made the mistake of giving Cuomo’s increasingly notorious spokesman, Josh Vlasto, an opportunity to respond. Within an hour, Cuomo’s office leaked the exclusive to the Albany Times-Union.
Vlasto, considered untrustworthy by many reporters, recently claimed that another Post exclusive — that Cuomo told business leaders that he feared the Legislature’s reaction if he moved ahead with fracking — was “totally false.” But Vlasto was then directly contradicted by the Business Council of New York State’s president, Heather Briccetti, and others, who said they were there when the governor said it.