Cahill blasts Schneiderman’s job performance as attorney general
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman “has utterly failed to restore confidence in state government,” said John Cahill, the man who wants to replace him. Cahill, a former commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), is running against Schneiderman for attorney general and blasted the incumbent’s job performance during a recent reporter’s roundtable in Bay Ridge.
Over coffee with reporters at the Bridgeview Diner on Third Avenue, Cahill, a Republican, said Schneiderman, a Democrat, should have spoken out when the Moreland Commission, the panel investigating corruption in state government, was disbanded by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo’s action was highly controversial, given that fact that it was the governor himself who had created the commission, Cahill contended.
“When the governor essentially fired the Moreland Commission, he did nothing,” Cahill said, referring to Schneiderman. “When the governor created the Moreland Commission, the commissioners were deputized as assistant attorneys general. The governor essentially fired Mr. Schneiderman’s deputies and what did he do? Nothing. He had to know that there was political interference. He had an obligation to stand up. People are left to wonder why.”