Attorney general, opponent trade barbs

Listen to this article

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman was handed the unique opportunity to root out corruption in Albany and failed, said his Republican opponent.

John P. Cahill, the Republican candidate in the race for state attorney general, called on Schneiderman to be more open on his and his office’s role in the anti-corruption Moreland Commission controversy during a stop Thursday in Rochester.

Instead, he sat idly by as Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as The New York Times reported and others have charged, interfered with the commission’s attempts to investigate groups with ties to the governor, even though Schneiderman deputized Moreland members who should have been reporting to him.

The commission was shuttered earlier this year after lawmakers OK’d campaign financing and other reform legislation. Schneiderman has failed to stand up for the independence of the attorney general’s office, Cahill said.

“There is nothing more important than integrity in our government,” Cahill said. “He gets a big fat ‘F.’”

Schneiderman has said he is unable to comment on the commission because he is involved in a continuing U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation.

Schneiderman’s campaign spokesman Peter Ajemian said in a statement that Schneiderman has taken on more than 50 politicians, government employees and nonprofit officials who abused the public trust while Cahill is being investigated for his work as an unregistered oil and gas industry lobbyist.

“We’re happy to compare Eric’s exceptional record rooting out public corruption any day of the week,” Ajemian said in the statement.

Cahill said Schneiderman is hiding behind the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to finish what the Moreland Commission started.

“It’s really time for the attorney general to stand up and be the lawyer of the people of the state and answer basic questions,” Cahill said.

Cahill is counsel at Chadbourne and Park and was chief of staff to former Republican Gov. George Pataki. He also is former general counsel to and commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation.

A Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this week indicates Schneiderman is leading Cahill by a 51-22 percent margin and voters approve of the job the attorney general is doing by similarly wide margin.

The poll also showed 72 percent of voters haven’t heard enough of Cahill to form an opinion while 41 percent of voters already have formed a favorable opinion of Schneiderman, who was elected attorney general in 2010.

A Sienna College poll released a week ago also showed Schneiderman with a comfortable lead.

Undaunted by the numbers, Cahill said his message will resonate with voters in the months ahead.

“I’m really looking forward to the next few months,” Cahill said. “I’m upbeat and very optimistic.”