AG candidate John Cahill attacks incumbent Eric Schneiderman over Moreland Commission

ALBANY -- Republican John Cahill Wednesday released the first TV ad of the campaign for state attorney general to try to link Democratic Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman to the federal investigation of a state corruption commission.

"As attorney general, I'll enforce the law and expose the corruption that cripples state government," Cahill, a top staffer for then-Gov. George Pataki, states in the ad.

At an Albany news conference, Cahill criticized Schneiderman for refusing to explain his role in the Moreland Commission on public corruption.

The panel was announced a year ago by Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, with Schneiderman at his side. Schneiderman deputized several commissioners so they would have the authority to investigate lawmakers.

News reports have carried claims that Cuomo's top aides interfered with the commission when it sought to subpoena a major campaign contributor to Cuomo. The same contributor, the Real Estate Board of New York, has contributed to Schneiderman and other candidates.

"When Eric Schneiderman's ethics commission began investigating his own contributors, it was shut down," Cahill said in his TV ad. "Cleaning up Albany starts with a new attorney general who's tough enough to clean out corruption."

Schneiderman has never commented on his role in Moreland or on the performance of his appointees or deputies, saying he doesn't want to hurt the federal investigation looking into how and why the commission ended and picking up the panel's unfinished corruption probes.

"It's time for him to stop hiding," Cahill said of Schneiderman at the news conference.

Schneiderman declined to comment Wednesday. His campaign noted a new Quinnipiac University poll showing Schneiderman with a 51-22 percent lead over Cahill."It must be tough to see Cahill's paltry poll numbers, so it's not surprising he's resorting to a Hail Mary move so early in his campaign," said Peter Ajemian, spokesman for Schneiderman's campaign. "This ad is the latest example of Cahill running from his own record as an oil and gas industry lobbyist whose views are too extreme for New York."

Cahill has been in private practice in