US News

DEFIANT VITO: I CAN CHEAT AND RUN

Defying disgusted constituents and angry Republican leaders, disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella has told pals he plans to seek re-election.

And, shockingly, the Staten Island pol is feeling “pretty good,” he confided to friends.

“I got every indication that he’s planning to run again,” said Guy Molinari, Fossella’s mentor, who’s been in close contact with the embattled, 43-year-old politician.

Fossella, a 10-year incumbent, is up for re-election in November.

“He’s not just inclined to run. He plans on running,” said Molinari, a former congressman and Staten Island borough president who was succeeded by Fossella as the de facto leader of the borough’s GOP.

Fossella’s goals are at odds with national-party leaders, who have said they won’t back him.

He said he was “surprised” and “puzzled” that party colleagues are being mentioned as possible replacements, Molinari said.

“What’s this all about?” Fossella asked Molinari of news reports naming potential GOP candidates.

Those close to Fossella continue to support him, Molinari said.

“Vito is surprised and emboldened by the support he’s been getting,” he said.

“He’s gotten a lot of encouragement. I told him ‘Nobody is going to run a primary against him if you decide to run again.’ ”

The congressman told Molinari he felt “pretty good” despite the public pounding he has taking over his double life.

Fossella confessed last week to having a 3-year-old daughter with leggy gal pal Laura Fay, a 45-year-old retired Air Force colonel who signed him out of the drunk tank the morning after a DWI arrest in Alexandria, Va. The congressman and his wife, Mary Pat, have three children.

Insiders whispered that Fossella’s career is over and that he should step down, while House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) pointedly called on Fossella to make a decision this weekend.

But Fossella spokeswoman Susan Del Percio said he wasn’t thinking about that right now.

“Politics is the furthest thing from the congressman’s mind right now,” said Del Percio. “He’ll be making decisions on his own timetable.”

A Fossella resignation would have a domino effect on Staten Island politics and the Republican Party.

The best option to replace Fossella right now, several sources said, is Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who has fielded calls from Boehner about the seat.

Donovan is an attractive option because of name recognition – and offers the contrast of a law-and-order official against a man arrested for drunken driving while en route to visit his second family, sources said.

Another option is state Sen. Andrew Lanza. But in addition to being one of Fossella’s closest friends, Lanza is helping the state Senate GOP cling to a slim majority.

Meanwhile, the disgraced pol’s wife put on a brave face yesterday and tended to the family business.

A male neighbor who dropped off Mary Pat at the Fossellas’ Great Kills home in the afternoon said she was doing “as well as can be expected.”

But a few miles away, her father was a lot more blunt when asked the same question.

“Bad,” Thomas Rowan said.

She spent the day celebrating the First Holy Communion of her husband’s goddaughter. The Staten Island pol ditched the ceremony, said a neighbor.

Additional reporting by Carolyn Salazar, James Fanelli, Lukas I. Alpert and Post Wire Services

carl.campanile@nypost.com