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#Now even Cuomo himself feels free to attack AG James and investigators probing him

#Now even Cuomo himself feels free to attack AG James and investigators probing him

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is apparently feeling so good about the Biden administration’s Department of Justice decision to end its probe of his (mis)handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes that he feels free to personally malign state Attorney General Tish James’ investigation of sexual-harassment claims lodged against him.

And now, even Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is helping him.

Until recently, Cuomo was content to let his flacks hit James and the independent investigators she hired to conduct the probe of those allegations. But this week, he went on the attack himself, assailing the credibility of former acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon Kim and employment-discrimination lawyer Anne Clark.

“I have concerns as to the independence of the reviewers,” Cuomo said. “Is this all happening in a political system? Yes. That is undeniable.”

Cuomo urged reporters to “look at who the independent reviewers are.” “Go to Google. Google the independent reviewers and tell me what you see.” A classic Cuomo dodge: Accuse others of playing politics and imply bias without really making the charge himself.

Heastie, meanwhile, also moved to undercut James — and/or protect Cuomo — by suggesting her findings, which haven’t even been released yet, wouldn’t necessarily be enough for impeachment. New Yorkers might wonder: Is the fix in?

Though James is the state’s chief law-enforcement officer, she needed (and, given Cuomo’s political situation, got) the gov’s OK to begin her probe after three women accused him of inappropriate conduct. Yet soon after, Team Cuomo accused her of working her political ambitions with an eye on running for governor next year.

Chief among his muckrakers is his communications director Rich Azzopardi. His recent badmouthing of James earned him a written rebuke from the chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which is conducting a separate impeachment inquiry.

Apparently, Joon Kim’s alleged bias is having worked on then-Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara’s investigation of Cuomo’s premature closure of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption in 2014.

More than likely it’s Kim’s successful prosecution of close Cuomo ex-aide Joe Percoco — convicted on corruption charges on 2018 — that sticks in the gov’s craw. Yet does Cuomo seriously think the Moreland and Percoco probes were wholly unwarranted?

More: As The Post’s Page Six reported, the gov’s minions are behind a whisper campaign alleging ex-US Attorney and Cuomo nemesis Bharara is preparing to run for governor next year.

There’s just no blow too low for Team Cuomo — and now, for the governor himself — as he faces these damning probes.

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