Gov. Cuomo’s reputation has been severely damaged and his chances of running for president destroyed by revelations that he interfered with the Moreland Commission’s efforts to probe political corruption, influential Democrats have told The Post.
The Democrats, who called the disclosures in last week’s New York Times “a political game changer” and a “Cuomo nightmare,’’ said the scandal would also provide the first real boost to the campaign of Cuomo’s long-shot Republican rival, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.
Aides to Astorino said over the weekend that they’ve seen a “significant uptick’’ in offers of support and campaign fund-raising as a result of the scandal — with $500,000 contributed over the past few days.
“This is a game changer and a personal nightmare for Andrew, without a doubt,’’ said a prominent Manhattan Democrat and longtime Cuomo associate.
“Andrew’s first promise to the public, as attorney general and as governor, was to clean up Albany.
“He said that’s what Moreland was going to do, and instead he blocked it, shut it down and turned himself into the central figure in ongoing corruption, not something you can have if you’re going to run for president.’’
Cuomo, who vowed to grant the commission a free hand to pursue all evidence of political corruption and then claimed he didn’t really mean it, has vanished from public view since the report appeared last Wednesday.
Insiders described Cuomo as “humiliated’’ and “paralyzed’’ and unable to develop a strategy to respond.
“If Cuomo had a good argument to make he’d make it, but he doesn’t know what to do,’’ said a source close to the governor.
This week, a grand jury convened by Southern District US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is investigating the circumstances of the commission’s shutdown, will hear testimony from former Moreland Commission staffers.
The collateral damage from Cuomo’s actions to his fellow Democrats is considerable.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who, like Cuomo, has remained silent, was a central figure in the commission’s probe since he named several of its members and then granted them law-enforcement status.
Yet Schneiderman, who said he was being kept regularly informed about the commission’s activities, said not a word about Cuomo’s actions.
Either the hyper-political Schneiderman violated his promise to keep in touch with what was occurring — an unlikely situation — or he simply kept his mouth shut, insiders at the Capitol agree.
“Eric could have been the hero in this, blowing the whistle on Cuomo’s meddling with the commission, but instead he looks like a shmuck — weak, insecure and corrupt himself,’’ said a key Democrat with ties to Schneiderman.
The Cuomo scandal has provided an enormous opening for John Cahill, Schneiderman’s Republican opponent, who has been quick to exploit it.
Meanwhile, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, a Moreland co-chair and Cuomo political ally who is running for a congressional seat on Long Island, also kept her mouth shut as Cuomo meddled with the commission and has yet to explain why.
That’s given a major opening to her Republican challenger, Bruce Blakeman.
NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s high-profile but badly timed (two days before the Moreland disclosures) dismissal of Astorino’s chances last week wasn’t the first time the head of the Republican Governors Association snubbed the gubernatorial hopeful.
Christie did it earlier this year at the RGA’s quarterly meeting at the Waldorf.
“At the dinner Christie mentioned every governor and candidate who was in the room, with one exception — Rob Astorino,’’ said a source who was present.