Dean And Adam Skelos Schemed To Go After Sandra Lee As Leverage Against Cuomo

Ken Lovett in the Daily News:

The governor's girlfriend and even his daughter were fair game for former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son, according to court transcripts.

Facing a nagging corruption probe, and looking for a leg up in budget negotiations, the embattled Republican floated the idea of raising a stink over the outside income of Democrat Cuomo’s live-in girlfriend, Sandra Lee, and using it as leverage, transcripts of wire-tapped conversations between Skelos and his son Adam reveal.

In the March recordings, Skelos apparently outlined a plan to make an issue out of celebrity chef Lee’s income and use the political swipe as a bargaining chip.

“Later today, I’m going to go after (the governor) and I want him to disclose, you know (the governor’s significant other), and all this other stuff,” Dean Skelos is heard saying.

“Keep sticking with that,” his son replies. “You guys are smarter and just more experienced. “So, you know, you flip it on him. Then (the governor) goes crazy and then he comes back and he negotiates.”

“That’s exactly right,” Skelos said.

“I love it, though,” Adam Skelos said. “I think it’s hilarious.”

More:

Prosecutors argue that the recordings should be admissible because they show how Dean and Adam were discussing ways to pressure the governor as lawmakers tried to pass legislation that would benefit Adam.

“[The phone calls] involve discussions between Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos about the ways in which Dean Skelos can maximize his leverage with the Governor during the budget negotiations — the same negotiations during which the Government alleges Dean Skelos attempted to insert legislation that would benefit Adam Skelos and the Environmental Technology Company in the charged schemes,” prosecutors say in the court filings.

These Skelos wiretaps keep yielding gems.

Shelly Silver's fighting his charges, but given the wiretap transcripts we've seen already of conversations between Dean and Adam, I can conceive of a strategy where they say "You know, maybe a plea deal isn't such a bad idea..."