Before pulling the plug on a hearing on a council resolution that supported a Senate initiative by Barack Obama, Speaker Christine Quinn’s aides consulted with Sen. Hillary Rodham’s Clinton’s staff, The Post has learned.
Quinn, a Clinton supporter, canceled a hearing on a resolution supporting Obama’s voter-intimidation act. Her aides told Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn), the resolution’s sponsor, and other staffers that Quinn didn’t want to give the impression the council supported Obama.
Quinn later apologized to Mealy, saying that the hearing was delayed due to timing and that it had nothing to do with politics.
Sources said that before the decision was made to nix the hearing, calls were made to the Clinton camp seeking advice on whether to hold it. “If there was no politics, why did they have to call over there?” one council insider wondered.
A spokesman for Quinn said the calls were placed to both Clinton and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
A Clinton spokesman said the senator advised that the hearing go ahead.