Bill’s sleight of hand

And just like that, as if the wizard of City Hall cast a magic spell lifting a charm, Bill de Blasio’s “agents of the city” vanished as absurdly as they had arrived — as a contrivance of a mayor scared of transparency as criminal investigations into his political operation swirled.

For months, the mayor’s lawyers have been stonewalling reporters who seek nothing more than release of official emails to and from five of de Blasio’s outside advisers, documents that unquestionably belong in the public domain. Except, abracadabra, de Blasio back in May designated the men as city “agents” for purposes of shielding their exchanges as internal government deliberations.

Presto-chango, de Blasio reversed course on Monday, telling NY1 that all communications with the five “will be disclosable going forward.” Why? “It’s obviously become a distraction.” To translate: The mayor is dropping the legal label as quickly as he applied it not to defend any principle, not in acknowledgment that he has anything to hide, but because he would rather not have a neverending public relations headache heading into an election year.

If only: The reversal in fact injures de Blasio’s weak case in court that the advisers — four of them the brain trust behind his Campaign for One New York shop — deserve special privileges as quasigovernment employees.

Give it up, mayor. Give up every last email and this increasingly ridiculous, untenable fight.