#Assembly Dem insists $250K for Cuomo impeachment just for starters

ALBANY — The state Assembly will spend as much “as needed” on its impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a lawmaker insisted Wednesday — after The Post revealed its deal with an outside law firm would cover less than three weeks of full-time work.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine (D-Long Island) said the $250,000 contract with Davis Polk & Wardwell was just an “initial cap” on the firm’s fees.

“The cap may be amended as needed, and it will need to be amended here,” Lavine said.

“This is the payment mechanism routinely followed by the legislature in the state of New York.”

Lavine made his remarks at the start of a Judiciary Committee meeting that marked its third involving the sprawling impeachment probe that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) authorized in March.

Lavine said that Davis Polk — which has four lawyers being paid $600 an hour each to help with the probe — had spoken to attorneys for 75 “individuals and entities that have information relative to the issues under investigation.”

He also said the impeachment hotline had received an additional 90 tips since last month, bringing the total to 290.

The committee then went into a private, “executive session” to discuss what Lavine said would be “matters that may disclose information relating to current and future investigations, the disclosure of which could jeopardize the effectiveness of the investigations and the effective enforcement and application of pertinent laws.”

Earlier this month, critics blasted the Assembly for only allocating $250,000 for the impeachment probe, with Ethics Committee Chairwoman Alessandra Biaggi (D-The Bronx) suggesting that some lawmakers were trying to “buy more time for the governor.”

Cuomo and his aides are being represented by high-powered defense lawyer Elkan Arbamowitz, who previously represented Cuomo during a federal probe into his premature shuttering of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

Cuomo’s office has refused to release Abramowitz’s current contract, but he previously charged taxpayers a “discounted rate” of $937.50 an hour.

His firm — Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello — raked in a total of $3.1 million, according to records published online by the state comptroller’s office.