Union ‘bribe’ bid: D’Amato

Ex-sen.’s Seabrook tale

Former Sen. Al D’Amato was close to being called as a witness at the corruption trial of former correction union head Norman Seabrook over a story the ex-senator has been telling for years about the labor boss soliciting him for a bribe, The Post has learned.

D’Amato, 80, now a Republican lobbyist, has said the alleged incident occurred in 2002 when he was working with an insurance company that wanted to sell life insurance to members of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, or COBA — the union Seabrook headed until his corruption arrest last year.

After a series of meetings, Seabrook, who goes on trial this week, asked representatives of the insurance company, including D’Amato, whether they could do something to benefit Seabrook personally, sources have said.

D’Amato took that to mean Seabrook was asking for a kickback. Seabrook was told no and talks ended, D’Amato has said, according to people familiar with his story.

D’Amato, a senator from 1981 to 1999, declined to comment.

A lawyer for Seabrook didn’t re- turn requests for comment.

Prosecutors were close to calling D’Amato to the stand to retell the story at Seabrook’s trial but they pulled back amid objections from the defense, who argued that the claims were never proven.

Seabrook stands accused of accepting as a bribe a black Ferragamo bag stuffed with $60,000 from hedge-fund manager Murray Huberfeld in 2014. In exchange, Seabrook funneled $20 million of the union’s money into Huberfeld’s fund, Platinum Partners, which was bleeding money at the time and is now bankrupt, prosecutors say.

Jury selection in Seabrook’s trial begins Monday at Manhattan federal court.

The feds’ star witness, real estate investor Jona Rechnitz, is expected to testify that he acted as the intermediary between Huberfeld and Seabrook, including buying the bag and delivering the dough to Seabrook.

Seabrook and Huberfeld have denied the charges. They are expected to try to undermine Rechnitz’s credibility by raising his numerous efforts to bribe public officials.