Ethics panel that cleared gov aide hit as ‘toothless’

ALBANY — The state’s top ethics enforcement agency came under bipartisan fire Monday – just days after it cleared a former aide to Gov. Cuomo of sexual harassment.

Democratic state attorney general candidate Zephyr Teachout called the Joint Commission on Public Ethics a “toothless lapdog” of the governor and called for two of its top officials to resign.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Marcus Molinaro said the commission “has no integrity” and its exoneration of former Cuomo economic development aide Sam Hoyt “should be viewed with deep skepticism.”

The attacks come after it was revealed that commission Director Seth Agata sent a letter to Hoyt last week informing him that the sexual harassment allegations made against him last year were not credible and that his accuser — Lisa Marie Cater — had likely fabricated portions of her claim.

Hoyt, a Buffalo resident and former state assemblyman, resigned from his Cuomo administration post last fall after the allegations surfaced.