Editorial: DiFiore must clean up this mess

It's pretty clear that politics is at the root of the controversy over whether Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore pulled strings to help a former live-in housekeeper receive public benefits.

But it doesn't excuse the county's chief prosecutor from answering some basic questions, especially given her role as head of the state's Joint Commission on Ethics, a position she was appointed to in 2011 by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

In fact, it's the best way for her, and the public, to get the truth and end this circus.

Leaked emails accuse the district attorney of intervening to get her former housekeeper food stamps and Medicaid benefits, even after the woman's applications apparently were rejected several times. There are also questions about the housekeeper's immigration status and whether DiFiore properly withheld taxes as employers are required to do by the IRS.

These issues make it all the more necessary for DiFiore to provide answers soon, and prevent the matter from dragging on indefinitely.

Westchester County officials should also find out who leaked information that is supposed to be confidential and why a politically connected social service worker was looking into the district attorney's alleged actions.

The county's Bureau of Case Review, the agency involved in this matter, doesn't even have the authority to investigate elected officials unless they apply for, or receive, these benefits.

The internal emails from 2011 were written by Dhyalma Vazquez, an $111,910-a-year investigator with the bureau who accused DiFiore of using her influence to help her housekeeper.

Vazquez's involvement is especially troubling given her role as the Yonkers Independence Party chair and her longtime allegiance to Giulio Cavallo, a DiFiore foe who chairs the Westchester County Independence Party.

In 2008, Cavallo sued DiFiore -- a former judge who switched from Republican to Democrat in 2007, two years after becoming district attorney -- for allegedly violating his free speech rights. (The case is pending.)

Westchester County government is littered with party hacks and bosses, and taxpayers deserve a clear accounting of what, if anything, was improper in the unfolding of this incident.

The whole situation smells like a political hit job, and that's why DiFiore needs to do more than say she's "done nothing wrong in any respect." She alone can clear up much of this controversy. We expect nothing less from the district attorney and the head of the state ethics board.