Gov. Cuomo and his top aides are looking to use last week’s round of embarrassing scandals in Albany to oust Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — and they’re already eyeing an upstate lawmaker to replace him, The Post has learned.
The governor and his team — stung hard by US Attorney Preet Bharara’s assertion that corruption is “rampant” and “pervasive” in the statehouse — are fed up with Silver, who they say has presided over two decades of dysfunction, sources said.
“Shelly’s been the master of gaming the corrupt system for 20 years. He’s made millions off of it, and the coalition that keeps him in power are the ones who feed off the corrupt system,” a Cuomo administration source said.
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Over the weekend, Cuomo huddled with top aides and talked to advisers to create a sweeping ethics agenda — and some urged him to get rid of Silver, sources said.
The governor is weighing whether he wants to take that step, sources said.
If he does, his strategy would first be to privately demand Silver step down as speaker or resign entirely.
But if Silver resists, Cuomo would use his clout as Democratic leader to start organizing a mutiny among lawmakers once loyal to the speaker, sources said.
Democratic insiders said they’re ready to stand behind Cuomo.
“If the governor threw his full weight behind ousting Silver, said it was necessary to clean up the state and help reform the Democratic Party, I think it would be possible,’’ said an influential Democratic Party source who has known Cuomo for years.
If Silver got the boot, his replacement could be Rochester Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, who became Democrat majority leader earlier this year with Silver and Cuomo’s blessing.
Morelle, in office since 1990, is regarded as a “straight shooter” on ethics — and sources said Cuomo would be comfortable with him in charge because he could combat corruption in the Legislature, sources said.
But Morelle would face fierce opposition by the Assembly’s huge bloc of New York City members, who wouldn’t want to see the powerful position shift upstate.
Every speaker since the Democrats recaptured the Assembly in 1974 has been a Big Apple Democrat.
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Silver’s possible ouster comes as Cuomo — who campaigned for governor in 2010 promising to end “pay-to-play” in Albany — plans to announce broad ethics reforms.
“This is a rare moment for sweeping change,” Cuomo told his aides this weekend.
The overhaul could include a Moreland Act Commission that would put influential lobbyists under oath to testify on how the system of corruption works.
Also under consideration is a ban on the “cross endorsement” of candidates of one political party by another party.
One of these guys arrested was in the State Senate. Oh, and that guy joined with Republicans to make a pro-Cuomo coalition to drive through anti-worker, anti-union, pro-charter legislation.
His name is Malcolm Smith.
How exactly would Shelly, the Assembly leader, be responsible for that guy?
Clearly Cuomo is worried that the corruption scandals are going to harm his 2016 presidential chances and now wants to "take action" to make it look like he's cleaning up Albany.
Of course he's still taking gobs of money from Wall Street and gambling interests and corporations and energy consortia through the Committee To Save New York PAC and refusing to disclose those donatrions.
But Cuomo's the one who's going to clean up the corruption in Albany.
Right.
This is a naked power play to take out someone with a lot of power in Albany and put in somebody who will be beholden to him to run the Assembly.
How does Silver respond to what is a very open attack upon him by Cuomo?
It will be interesting to see.
Silver, unlike Cuomo, knows how to work his power plays with subtlety.
But the fight between Cuomo and Silver is now out in the open.
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